Beginning

22 And David said, “This is the House of the LORD God. And this is the Altar for the Burnt Offering of Israel.”

² And David commanded to gather together the strangers who were in the land of Israel. And he set masons to cut and polish stones to build the House of God.

³ David also prepared a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors and of the gates, and for the joinings, and abundance of bronze surpassing weight,

⁴ and cedar trees without number. For the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought a large amount of cedar wood to David.

⁵ And David said, “Solomon, my son, is young and tender. And we must build a House for the LORD, magnificent, excellent and of great fame and dignity throughout all countries. I will now prepare for it.” So, David prepared very much before his death.

⁶ Then he called Solomon, his son, and charged him to build a House for the LORD God of Israel.

⁷ And David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a House to the Name of the LORD my God,

⁸ “but the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood, and have made great battles. You shall not build a House to My Name. For you have shed much blood upon the Earth in My sight.

⁹ ‘Behold, a son is born to you who shall be a man of rest. For I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. Therefore, his name is Solomon. And I will send peace and quietness upon Israel in his days.

¹⁰ ‘He shall build a House for My Name. And he shall be My son. And I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom upon Israel forever.’

¹¹ “Now, therefore, my son, the LORD shall be with you. And you shall prosper. And you shall build a House to the LORD your God, as He has spoken of you.

¹² “May the LORD alone give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, to keep the Law of the LORD your God.

¹³ “Then you shall prosper, if you take heed to observe the Statutes and the Judgments which the LORD Commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and of good courage! Neither fear nor be afraid!

¹⁴ “For behold, according to my poverty have I prepared a hundred thousand talents of gold for the House of the LORD, and a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron of surpassing weight. For there was abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may provide more to it.

¹⁵ “Moreover, you have enough workmen with you, stonecutters and workmen of timber and all men expert in every work.

¹⁶ Of gold, silver, bronze and iron there is no limit. Up and get to work! And the LORD will be with you!”

¹⁷ David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon, his son, saying,

¹⁸ “Is not the LORD your God with you, giving you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand. And the land is subdued before the LORD and before His people.

¹⁹ “Now, set your hearts and your souls to seek the LORD your God! And arise and build the Sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and the Holy Vessels of God into the House built for the Name of the LORD!”

23 So, when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon, his son, king over Israel.

² And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

³ And the Levites were counted, from the age of thirty years and above. And their total number was thirty-eight thousand men.

⁴ Of these, twenty-four thousand were set to advance the work of the House of the LORD. And six thousand were overseers and judges.

⁵ And four thousand were gatekeepers. And four thousand praised the LORD with instruments (“…which I made for praise!” said David).

⁶ So David separated the sons of Levi — Gershon, Kohath, and Merari — into divisions.

⁷ Of the Gershonites were Laadan and Shimei.

⁸ The sons of Laadan were the chief (Jehiel) and Zetham and Joel (three).

⁹ The Sons of Shimei were Shelomith and Haziel and Haran (three). These were the chief fathers of Laadan.

¹⁰ Also the sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zina, Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹ And Jahath was the chief and Zizah was the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. Therefore, they were in the families of their father, counted but as one.

¹² The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel (four).

¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated to sanctify the Most Holy Place, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him, and to bless in His Name forever.

¹⁴ Also Moses, the man of God, and his children were named with the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer.

¹⁶ Of the sons of Gershon was Shebuel the chief.

¹⁷ And the son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief. For Eliezer had no other sons. But there were very many sons of Rehabiah.

¹⁸ The son of Izhar was Shelomith the chief.

¹⁹ The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰ The sons of Uzziel were Michah the first, and Jesshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

²² And Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters. And their brethren, the sons of Kish, took them.

²³ The sons of Mushi were Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth (three).

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi, according to the House of their fathers, the chief fathers according to their offices, according to the number of names, all who did the work for the service of the House of the LORD from the age of twenty years and above.

²⁵ For David said, “The LORD God of Israel has given rest to His people, so that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever.

²⁶ “And also the Levites shall no longer bear the Tabernacle and all the Vessels for its service.”

²⁷ Therefore, according to the last words of David, the Levites were numbered from twenty years and above.

²⁸ And their office was under the hand of the sons of Aaron, for the service of the House of the LORD in the courts and chambers and in the purifying of all Holy things and in the work of the service of the House of God,

²⁹ both for the showbread and for the fine flour, for the Meat Offering and for the unleavened cakes and for the fried things and for that which was roasted and for all measures and size.

³⁰ And they were to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise at evening,

³¹ and to offer all Burnt Offerings to the LORD on the Sabbaths — in the months, at the appointed times, according to the number and according to their custom — continually before the LORD.

³² And they were to keep the charge of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the charge of the Holy Place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, in the service of the House of the LORD.

24 Also, these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children. Therefore, Eleazar and Ithamar executed the Priest’s office.

³ And David distributed them, Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their ministration.

⁴ And more men were found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, so they divided them. Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads, according to the household of their fathers. And eight were among the sons of Ithamar, according to the household of their fathers.

⁵ Thus they distributed them by lot the one from the other. And so the rulers of the Sanctuary and the rulers of the House of God were of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of Ithamar.

⁶ And Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, the scribe of the Levites, wrote them down before the king and the princes and Zadok the Priest and Ahimelech (the son of Abiathar) and the chief fathers of the priests and of the Levites, one family being reserved for Eleazar and another reserved for Ithamar.

⁷ And the first lot fell to Jehoiarib, and the second to Jedaiah,

⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,

⁹ the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,

¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eight to Abijah,

¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah,

¹² the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,

¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,

¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,

¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez,

¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezekel,

¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,

¹⁸ The twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

¹⁹ These were their orders, according to their offices when they entered into the House of the LORD, according to their custom under the hand of Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had Commanded him.

²⁰ And these are who remained of the sons of Levi. Of the sons of Amram was Shubael. Of the sons of Shubael was Jehdeiah.

²² Of Izhari was Shelomoth. Of the sons of Shelomoth was Jahath.

²³ And his sons were Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴ The son of Uzziel was Michah. The son of Michah was Shamir.

²⁵ The brother of Michah was Isshiah. The son of Isshiah was Zechariah.

²⁶ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah was Beno.

²⁷ The sons of Merari by Jaaziah were Beno and Shoham and Zaccur and Ibri.

²⁸ Of Mahli came Eleazar, who had no sons.

²⁹ Of Kish, the son of Kish was Jerahmeel.

³⁰ And the sons of Mushi were Mahli and Eder and Jerimoth. These were sons of the Levites, after the household of their fathers.

³¹ And these also cast lots with their brethren, the sons of Aaron, before King David and Zadok and Ahimelech and the chief fathers of the priests and of the Levites, the chief of the families along with their younger brethren.