Chronological

David Organizes the Levites

23 Now David was old and full of days. And he made Solomon his son king over Israel. ² And he assembled all the commanders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ And the Levites thirty years old and above were counted, and their number according to their head count for the men was thirty-eight thousand. ⁴ Of these, David said, “Twenty-four thousand are to direct the work of the house of Yahweh, along with six thousand judges and officials, ⁵ four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand offering praise with the instruments that I have made for praise.” ⁶ And David organized them in divisions according to the sons of Levi: to Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷ For the Gershonites were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief and Zetham and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the families^[a] of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. They were enrolled as one for the house of a father.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ¹³ The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things. He and his sons were to burn offerings forever before Yahweh to serve him and to bless in his name forever. ¹⁴ But Moses the man of God and his sons were reckoned among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. ¹⁷ And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah, the head. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸ The sons 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. ²² And Eleazar died, and he did not have sons, but only daughters. And the sons of Kish, their relatives, married them. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, the heads of the families,^[b] according to their enrollment, by the number of the names, according to their head count, who were to do the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and above. ²⁵ For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ And also, the Levites do not need to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David, they are the number of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and above. ²⁸ For their station was to assist^[c] the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Yahweh, over the courtyards, over the chambers, and over the cleansing of all the sanctified objects, and with the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹ and with the rows of bread, the flour, the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and for all the amounts and measurements. ³⁰ And they were to stand every morning,^[d] thanking and praising Yahweh, and likewise in the evening, ³¹ and for every burnt offering offered to Yahweh, on Sabbaths, on new moon festivals, and at the appointed feasts, according to the customary number required of them,^[e] regularly before Yahweh. ³² And they shall keep the responsibility of the tent of assembly,^[f] the responsibility of the sanctified objects, and the responsibility of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, to serve the house of Yahweh.

David Organizes the Priests

24 And as for the sons of Aaron, these were their divisions. The sons of Aaron were Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ² And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons,^[g] so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ³ And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their appointments for their service. ⁴ And more sons of Eleazar were found as heads of the men than the sons of Ithamar, so they divided them to the sons of Eleazar to be sixteen heads over the house of the fathers, and to the sons of Ithamar over the house of the fathers were eight heads. ⁵ They divided them by lot all alike,^[h] for they were commanders of the sanctuary and commanders of God from among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶ And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them before the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the families^[i] of the priests and Levites, one father’s house drawn by Lot for Eleazar and one drawn by lot for Ithamar. ⁷ And the first lot went out to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹ the fifth to Malkijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shekaniah, 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 Ha-Pizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Ezekiel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jakin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹ These were their appointments for their service to come into the house of Yahweh according to their custom by the hand of Aaron their father, as Yahweh the God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ And as for the remainder of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ²¹ Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ²² Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³ Of the sons of Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴ The sons of Uzziel, Micah; the sons of Micah, Shamur. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ²⁶ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, his son.^{[j] 27} The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, his son,^[k] Shoham, Zakkur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel. ³⁰ And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. ³¹ And lots were also cast for these, just as their brothers, the sons of Aaron, before David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families^[l] for the priests and for the Levites the fathers, on the principle of the chief and younger brother alike.^[m]

David Organizes the Musicians

25 And David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with stringed instruments, with harps, and with cymbals. And their inventory of the men of the work and for their duty was: ² for the sons of Asaph: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under the hand^[n] of Asaph, who prophesied under the hands^[o] of the king. ³ Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah,^[p] Heshabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands^[q] of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the stringed instrument with thanksgiving and praise to Yahweh. ⁴ Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were sons to Heman, the seer of the king, according to the words of God to raise a horn.^[r] And God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All these were under the direction^[s] of their father in the music of the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction^[t] of the king. ⁷ And their number, along with their brothers, trained singers, all the skilled people for Yahweh, were two hundred and eighty-eight. ⁸ And they cast lots for responsibilities on the principle of small and great alike,^[u] teacher with student.

⁹ And the first lot for Asaph went out to Joseph; the second to Gedaliahu; he and his brothers and his twelve sons. ¹⁰ The third, Zakkur, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹¹ the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹² the fifth, Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹³ the sixth, Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh, Jesarelah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth, Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth, Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁷ the tenth, Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁸ eleventh, Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁰ to the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²¹ to the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²² to the fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²³ to the sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁴ to the seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁵ to the eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁶ to the nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁷ to the twentieth, to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁸ to the twenty-first, to Hothir, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁹ to the twenty-second, to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ³⁰ to the twenty-third, to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ³¹ to the twenty-fourth, to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers, twelve.