Chronological

Census of Levites

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

² He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel along with the kohanim and the Levites. ³ The Levites 30 years old or more were counted; their head count was 38,000 men. ⁴ Of these, there were 24,000 to oversee the work of the House of Adonai, 6,000 officers and judges, ⁵ 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 for praising Adonai “with the instruments which I made for giving praise.”

⁶ David organized them into divisions:

The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

⁷ Of the Gershonites:

Ladan and Shimei.

⁸ The sons of Ladan:

Jehiel the leader, Zetham and Joel—three.

⁹ The sons of Shimei:

Shelomith, Haziel and Haran—three.

These were the heads of the clans of Ladan.

¹⁰ The sons of Shimei:

Jahath, Zina, Jeush and Beriah.

These were the sons of Shimei—four.

¹¹ Jahath was the first and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were enrolled together as a single clan.

¹² The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four.

¹³ The sons of Amram:

Aaron and Moses.

Aaron, along with his descendants, was set apart to be consecrated as most holy forever, to burn incense before Adonai, to minister to Him, and to bless in His name forever. ¹⁴ But as for Moses the man of God, his sons are named among the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵ The sons of Moses:

Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶ The sons of Gershom:

Shebuel, the leader.

¹⁷ The sons of Eliezer:

Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

¹⁸ The sons of Izhar:

Shelomith the leader.

¹⁹ The sons of Hebron:

Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰ The sons of Uzziel:

Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli:

Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died having no sons but only daughters; the sons of Kish, their kinsmen, took them as wives.

²³ The sons of Mushi:

Mahli, Eder, and Yeremot—three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by clans, with the heads of clans as they were enrolled and with a list of their names by heads who carried out the task of avodah in the House of Adonai from 20 years old and upward. ²⁵ For David said: “Adonai, the God of Israel, has given His people rest and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ Therefore, the Levites need not carry the Tabernacle and all the vessels for avodah.” ²⁷ For according to David’s final instructions, the Levites 20 years old and upward were counted.

²⁸ For their duty was to help the descendants of Aaron in the avodah of Adonai’s House concerning the courtyards and rooms, the purification of all holy things and the performance of the avodah of God’s House, ²⁹ the rows of bread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the matzot, the cake baked on the griddle or mixed and every measure of capacity and length, ³⁰ and to stand every morning to thank and praise Adonai. They also did this in the evening ³¹ and whenever burnt offerings were offered to Adonai on Shabbatot, New Moons and the moadim. They were to serve regularly before Adonai, according to the proper number in the manner prescribed for them. ³² They were to keep watch over the Tent of Meeting, the Holy Place and the sons of Aaron their kinsmen for avodah in the House of Adonai.

24 Now these were 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, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as kohanim. ³ David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them into their offices according to their avodah. ⁴ More leading men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, so they divided them: the sons of Eleazar had 16 leaders of clans and the sons of Ithamar had eight leaders of clans. ⁵ Thus, they were impartially divided by lot for there were officials of the Holy Place and officials of God, both from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar.

⁶ The scribe Shemaiah, son of Nethanel from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the clans of the kohanim and of the Levites: one clan taken for Eleazar and one for Ithamar.

⁷ Now the first lot came for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah, ⁸ the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim, ⁹ the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth for Jeshua, the tenth for Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh for Eliashib, the twelfth for Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth for Huppah, the fourteenth for Heshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth for Bilgah, the sixteenth for Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth for Hezir, the eighteenth for Hapizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth for Petahiah the twentieth for Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twentyfirst for Jachin, the twentysecond for Gamul, ¹⁸ the twentythird for Delaiah, the twentyfourth for Maaziah.

¹⁹ These were their duties for their avodah upon entering into the House of Adonai according to the ordinance given to them by the hand of Aaron their father, just as Adonai the God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ As for the rest of the sons of Levi:

from the sons of Amram: Shubael;

from the sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah.

²¹ As for Rehabiah, from the sons of Rehabiah

Isshiah was the first.

²² From the Izharites: Shelomoth;

from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath.

²³ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴ The sons of Uzziel: Micah;

from the sons of Micah: Shamir.

²⁵ The brother of Micah, Ishiah;

from the sons of Ishiah: Zechariah.

²⁶ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi;

the sons of Jaaziah: Beno.

²⁷ The sons of Merari:

from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri.

²⁸ From Mahli:

Eleazar, who had no sons.

²⁹ From Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel.

³⁰ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.

These were the sons of the Levites by their clans. ³¹ These also cast lots even as their kinsmen the sons of Aaron did in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech and the heads of the clans of the kohanim and the Levites—the families of the oldest just like those of his youngest brother.

Orders of Prophetic Levites

25 Moreover, David and the commanders of the army, set apart for avodah the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun who prophesied with lyres, harps and cymbals. The list of those who performed this work according to their service was: ² from the sons of Asaph:

Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the hand of the king.

³ As for Jeduthun, from Jeduthun’s sons:

Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah—six, under the charge of their father Jeduthun—who prophesied with the harp, giving thanks and praise to Adonai.

⁴ As for Heman, from Heman’s sons:

Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer according to the promise of God to lift up a horn. God gave Heman 14 sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these were under the direction of their father for singing in the House of Adonai with cymbals, harps and lyres for the avodah of the House of God under the hand of the king. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman along with ⁷ with their kinsmen all trained and skillfull singers of Adonai, numbered 288. ⁸ They cast lots for their divisions on the principal of small and great alike, teacher as well as student.

⁹ Now the first lot went to Asaph’s son Joseph—12

the second to Gedaliah, his brothers and sons—12;

¹⁰ the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹¹ the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹² the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹³ the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁴ the seventh to Jesarelah, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁵ the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁶ the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁷ the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁸ the 11^th to Azarel, his sons and his brothers—12;

¹⁹ the 12^th to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁰ the 13^th to Shubael, his sons and his brothers—12;

²¹ the 14^th to Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers—12;

²² the 15^th to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers—12;

²³ the 16^th to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁴ the 17^th to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁵ the 18^th to Hanani, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁶ the 19^th to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁷ the 20^th to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁸ the 21^st to Hothir, his sons and his brothers—12;

²⁹ the 22^nd to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers—12;

³⁰ the 23^rd to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers—12;

³¹ the 24^th to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers—12.