11 The sons of (A)Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be (A)attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 29:34 Levi sounds like the Hebrew for attached

22 Then David said, (A)“Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

David commanded to gather together the (B)resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he (C)set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, (D)as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, and cedar timbers without number, (E)for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. For David said, (F)“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

Solomon Charged to Build the Temple

Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, “My son, (G)I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (H)‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. (I)I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. (J)For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 (K)He shall build a house for my name. (L)He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’

11 “Now, my son, (M)the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. 12 (N)Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 (O)Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. (P)Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. 14 With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord (Q)100,000 talents[a] of gold, a million talents of silver, and (R)bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. 15 You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working 16 gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! (S)The Lord be with you!”

17 David also commanded (T)all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? And (U)has he not given you peace[b] on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now (V)set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, (W)so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built (X)for the name of the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 22:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  2. 1 Chronicles 22:18 Or rest (see 22:9)

16 [a] The (A)sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 6:16 Ch 6:1 in Hebrew

Descendants of Levi

[a] (A)The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (B)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (C)The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. (D)The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 6:1 Ch 5:27 in Hebrew

16 And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. (A)The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.

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11 Nahshon fathered (A)Salmon,[a] Salmon fathered (B)Boaz,

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:11 Septuagint (compare Ruth 4:21); Hebrew Salma

A Genealogy of David

These are the sons of (A)Israel: (B)Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, (C)Issachar, Zebulun,

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And (A)of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi[a] (B)your Thummim,
    and your Urim to your godly one,
(C)whom you tested at Massah,
    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I regard them not’;
(D)he disowned his brothers
    and ignored his children.
For (E)they observed your word
    and kept your covenant.
10 (F)They shall teach Jacob your rules
    and Israel your law;
(G)they shall put incense before you
    and (H)whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
    and (I)accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi

57 (A)This was the list of the Levites according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58 These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.

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The Seven Lamps

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. And (A)this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing of the Levites

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the (B)water of purification upon them, and (C)let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a bull from the herd and (D)its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, (E)and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. (F)And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting (G)and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. 10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel (H)shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. 12 Then the Levites (I)shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer (J)the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as (K)a wave offering to the Lord.

14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and (L)the Levites shall be mine. 15 And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a (M)wave offering. 16 For they are (N)wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. (O)Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17 (P)For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18 and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. 19 (Q)And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and (R)to make atonement for the people of Israel, (S)that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. 21 And (T)the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and (U)Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This applies to the Levites: (V)from twenty-five years old and upward they[a] shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister[b] to their brothers in the tent of meeting (W)by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 8:24 Hebrew he; also verses 25, 26
  2. Numbers 8:26 Hebrew He ministers

Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses, (A)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: (B)the most holy things. When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down (C)the veil of the screen and cover (D)the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin[a] and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its (E)poles. And over the (F)table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; (G)the regular showbread also shall be on it. Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall (H)put in its poles. And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover (I)the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over (J)the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12 And they shall take all (K)the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that (L)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, (M)but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of (N)the oil for the light, the (O)fragrant incense, (P)the regular grain offering, and (Q)the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”

17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to (R)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 (S)but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”

21 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses and by their clans. 23 (T)From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can (U)come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 (V)they shall carry (W)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with (X)its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26 and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be (Y)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers' houses. 30 (Z)From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And (AA)this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall (AB)list by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, (AC)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 35 (AD)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 (AE)This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 39 (AF)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers' houses were 2,630. 41 (AG)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 43 (AH)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 (AI)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 47 (AJ)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, (AK)each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, (AL)as the Lord commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5

17 (A)And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: (B)Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: (C)Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: (D)Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.

21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was[a] 7,500.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:22 Hebrew their listing was

16 These are the names of the (A)sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.

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(A)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons (B)of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
    (C)O my glory, (D)be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
    and in their willfulness they (E)hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will (F)divide them in Jacob
    and scatter them in Israel.

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