Beginning
Plans for the Temple
22 Then David said, “This is the place for the House of the Lord God and for the altar for burnt offerings for Israel.” 2 David said to gather together the aliens who were residents in the land of Israel. He lined up stonecutters to prepare trimmed stones for building the house for God. 3 He provided a large amount of iron for making nails for the doors of the gates, and he provided so much bronze for the fittings[a] that it was not weighed. 4 He provided cedar logs beyond number because the Sidonians and Tyrians brought a large supply of cedar logs to David.
5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced. The house to be built for the Lord will make his name very great and give him glory in all the lands. Therefore, I will make preparations for it.” So David completed many of the preparations before his death. 6 He summoned his son Solomon and commanded him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 David said to Solomon:
My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But this word of the Lord was laid upon me: “You have shed much blood. You have waged great wars. You will not build a house for my name because of the great amount of blood you have shed on the earth in my presence. 9 You see, a son has been born to you. He will be a man of peace. To him I will give peace from all the enemies around him. Solomon will be his name. I will bestow peace and quiet upon Israel in his days. 10 He will build a house for my name. He will be my son. I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom in Israel forever.”
11 Now, my son, the Lord will be with you. You will succeed. You will build the house for the Lord your God, as he has said about you. 12 The Lord will give you discretion and understanding. He will give you orders about Israel and about how to keep the Law of the Lord your God. 13 You will prosper if you will continue to carry out the statutes and the judgments that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and be courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed.
14 Look! With great effort I have provided one hundred thousand talents[b] of gold for the House of the Lord, a million talents of silver, and too much bronze and iron to be weighed. I have provided lumber and stones. You may add to what I have provided. 15 There are plenty of laborers available to you, namely, stonecutters, masons, and wood workers, and those capable in all kinds of crafts, 16 also workers with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, too many to count. Get up and do it. The Lord will be with you.
17 David commanded all the officials and officers of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said:
18 Is not the Lord your God with you? He has given you peace on all sides by giving the inhabitants of the land into my hand. The land has been subdued before the Lord and before his people. 19 Now devote your hearts and your minds to seek the Lord your God. Get up and build the holy place for the Lord God, in order 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.
David Organizes the Levites
23 When David was old and had lived a long life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 He gathered together all the officials and officers of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites who were thirty years old and over were counted, and their total number, man by man,[c] was thirty-eight thousand. 4 David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to oversee the work of the Lord’s house, six thousand are to be officers and judges, 5 four thousand are to be gatekeepers, and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments that I made for giving praise.”
David’s Divisions of the Levites
6 David assigned them to divisions based on their descent from the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon,[d] Kohath, and Merari.
Divisions of the Gershonites
7 The Gershonites were descended from Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel, who was the head, then Zetham[e] and Joel, three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei[f] were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza,[g] 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. That is why they were counted as only one father’s house.[h]
Divisions of the Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four in all.
Descendants of Amram
13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things. He and his sons received a permanent assignment to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to him, and to bless his name forever.
14 The sons of Moses, the man of God, however, were classified along with the rest of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son of Gershom was Shebuel the head.
17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the head.
Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had very many sons.
Descendants of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel
18 The son of Izhar was Shelomith the head.
19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the head, and Ishiah the second.
Divisions of the Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died, and he had no sons but only daughters, so their cousins the sons of Kish took them as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three in all.
24 These were the descendants of Levi who were registered by their fathers’ houses. They were listed under the heads of their fathers’ houses. All those twenty years old and older were counted man by man and registered by name to perform the work for the service of the Lord’s house. 25 For David had said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever, 26 so the Levites will no longer need to carry the Dwelling and all the vessels and utensils for its service.”
27 So according to the last directions given by David, the descendants of Levi twenty years old and older were counted. 28 Their work was to assist the descendants of Aaron in the service of the Lord’s house, in the courtyards, in the storage rooms, and in the purification of all the holy things, that is, in all the work of the service of God’s house. 29 Their responsibilities included the bread that was to be set out and the fine flour for the grain offerings (whether for unleavened wafers, or for offerings baked in a pan, or those soaked in oil). They also did all of the measuring and mixing.
30 They also were to stand and thank and praise the Lord every morning, and likewise in the evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the prescribed festivals. They were to serve continually before the Lord, in the number specified by the regulations, 32 so that they would diligently carry out their duties for the Tent of Meeting, their duties for the Holy Place, and their duties with their brothers, the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the Lord’s house.
The Divisions of the Priests
24 The following were the divisions for the sons of Aaron.
The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 But because Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
3 David, together with Zadok, the representative of the male descendants of Eleazar, and Ahimelek, the representative of the male descendants of Ithamar, divided the priests into divisions to be assigned different forms of service.
4 Because the descendants of Eleazar had more men who were leaders of large groups than the descendants of Ithamar did, this is how the priests were divided: From the descendants of Eleazar there were sixteen heads of fathers’ houses, and from the descendants of Ithamar there were eight heads of their fathers’ houses.
5 They were assigned to their duties impartially by drawing lots. There were officials for the sanctuary and officials to serve in the presence of God from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar. 6 Shemaiah son of Nethanel, the scribe, who was a Levite, recorded the lots in the presence of the king and the government officials, namely, Zadok the priest, Ahimelek son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites. One father’s house was chosen from the descendants of Eleazar, then another, and then one was chosen from the descendants of Ithamar.[i]
7 The first lot came out for Jehoiarib,
the second for Jedaiah,
8 the third for Harim,
the fourth for Seorim,
9 the fifth for Malkijah,
the sixth for Mijamin,
10 the seventh for Hakkoz,
the eighth for Abijah,
11 the ninth for Jeshua,
the tenth for Shekaniah,
12 the eleventh for Eliashib,
the twelfth for Jakim,
13 the thirteenth for Huppah,
the fourteenth for Jeshebeab,
14 the fifteenth for Bilgah,
the sixteenth for Immer,
15 the seventeenth for Hezir,
the eighteenth for Happizzez,
16 the nineteenth for Pethahiah,
the twentieth for Jehezkel,
17 the twenty-first for Jakin,
the twenty-second for Gamul,
18 the twenty-third for Delaiah,
and the twenty-fourth for Ma’aziah.
19 These were their assigned groups for their service, to come into the Lord’s house according to the regulations given to them by their forefather Aaron, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded him.
The Divisions of Levites
20 From the rest of the descendants of Levi, the following were the heads and founders of divisions.
Leaders of the Kohathites
Shubael was from the sons of Amram,
and Jehdeiah was from the sons of Shubael.
21 Ishiah was the head from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah.
22 Shelomoth was from the Izharites,
and Jahath was from the sons of Shelomoth.
23 The sons of Hebron[j] were Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
24 Micah was from the sons of Uzziel,
and Shamir was from the sons of Micah.
25 Ishiah was the brother of Micah,
and Zechariah was from the sons of Ishiah.
Leaders of the Merarites
26 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
The son of Ja’aziah was Beno.[k]
27 The sons of Merari from Ja’aziah were Beno,[l] Shoham, Zakkur, and Ibri.
28 From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
29 From Kish: the son of Kish was Jerahme’el.
30 The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These were the descendants of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.[m] 31 These all cast lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron had done in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelek, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites. The fathers’ houses of the oldest son cast lots just as those of his youngest brother did.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.