⁴ Make preparations by your ancestral houses by your divisions, following the written directions of King David of Israel and the written directions of his son Solomon.^(A)

¹⁴ According to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry alongside the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for the several gates, for so David the man of God had commanded.^(A)

Families of the Levites and Their Functions

23 When David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.^(A)

² David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ The Levites, thirty years old and up, were counted, and the total head count of men was thirty-eight thousand.^{(B) 4} “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges,^{(C) 5} four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”^{(D) 6} And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.^(E)

⁷ The sons of Gershon^[a] were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of families of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were enrolled as a single family.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.^{(F) 13} The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, so that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever,^{(G) 14} but as for Moses the man of God, his sons were to be reckoned among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.^{(H) 17} The son of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief; Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.^{(I) 22} Eleazar died having no sons but only daughters; their kindred, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses, the heads of families as they were enrolled according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and up who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord.^{(J) 25} For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he resides in Jerusalem forever.^{(K) 26} And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service”^(L)—

¹⁰ Of the priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin,^{(A) 11} Seraiah son of Hilkiah son of Meshullam son of Zadok son of Meraioth son of Ahitub, officer of the house of God, ¹² and their associates who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and Adaiah son of Jeroham son of Pelaliah son of Amzi son of Zechariah son of Pashhur son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his associates, heads of ancestral houses, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai son of Azarel son of Ahzai son of Meshillemoth son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their associates, valiant warriors, one hundred twenty-eight; their overseer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵ And of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub son of Azrikam son of Hashabiah son of Bunni; ¹⁶ and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the leaders of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God;^{(B) 17} and Mattaniah son of Mica son of Zabdi son of Asaph, who was the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua son of Galal son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.^(C)

¹⁹ The gatekeepers Akkub, Talmon, and their associates, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two. ²⁰ And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, all of them in their inheritance.

Divisions of the Priests

24 The divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.^(A)

Priestly Families

¹⁰ Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,^{(A) 11} and Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God; ¹² and Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; ¹³ besides their kindred, heads of their ancestral houses, one thousand seven hundred sixty, qualified for the work of the service of the house of God.

Levitical Families

¹⁴ Of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;^{(B) 15} and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; ¹⁶ and Obadiah son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

¹⁷ The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman; and their kinsman Shallum was the chief, ¹⁸ stationed previously in the king’s gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites.^{(C) 19} Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kindred of his ancestral house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, guardians of the thresholds of the tent, as their ancestors had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, guardians of the entrance. ²⁰ And Phinehas son of Eleazar was chief over them in former times; the Lord was with him.^{(D) 21} Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting.^{(E) 22} All these who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds were two hundred twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and the seer Samuel established them in their office of trust.^{(F) 23} So they and their descendants were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. ²⁴ The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north, and south; ²⁵ and their kindred who were in their villages were obliged to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with them,^{(G) 26} for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in charge of the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. ²⁷ And they would spend the night near the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning.^(H)

²⁸ Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. ²⁹ Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the choice flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices.^{(I) 30} Others of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices,^{(J) 31} and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of making the flat cakes. ³² Also some of their kindred of the Kohathites had charge of the rows of bread, to prepare them for each Sabbath.^(K)

³³ Now these are the singers, the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites, living in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.^{(L) 34} These were heads of ancestral houses of the Levites, according to their generations; these leaders lived in Jerusalem.