Chronological

The Work of the Levites

23 When David was an old man, he made his son Solomon king of Israel. ² He gathered together all the leaders of Israel, the religious leaders, and the Levites. ³ The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and older. Their number was 38,000. ⁴ Of these, 24,000 were to watch over the work of the Lord’s house. There were 6,000 who were leaders and men who were to judge. ⁵ There were 4,000 gate-keepers. And 4,000 were praising the Lord with the things for playing music that David had made. ⁶ David divided them into groups by the sons of Levi, Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

⁷ The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, then Zetham and Joel, three in all. ⁹ The three sons of Shimei were Shelemoth, Haziel and Haran. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zina, Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the first, and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were numbered together as one father’s house.

¹² The four sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart for holy work, he and his sons forever. They were to burn special perfume before the Lord, and do His work. And they were to pray for good to come to the people in the Lord’s name forever. ¹⁴ But the names of the sons of Moses the man of God were among the family of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom was Shebuel the leader. ¹⁷ The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the leader. Eliezer had no other sons. But Rehabiah had many sons. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar was Shelomith the leader. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jehaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first, and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died and had no sons, only daughters. Their brothers the sons of Kish married them. ²³ The three sons of Mushi were Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses. They were the heads of the fathers’ houses of those whose names were numbered from twenty years old and older. They were to do the work of the Lord’s house. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people. And He lives in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ The Levites do not need to carry the meeting tent and all the parts for its work any longer.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and older. ²⁸ He said, “Their duties are to help Aaron’s sons with the work of the Lord’s house, in the open spaces and in the rooms. They are to make clean all the holy things, and do any work needed to be done in the house of God. ²⁹ They are to take care of the holy bread, the fine flour for a grain gift, and the bread without yeast. They are to take care of what is baked, and what is well mixed, of all the right amounts. ³⁰ They are to stand every morning and evening to thank and praise the Lord. ³¹ And they are to give all the burnt gifts to the Lord on the Days of Rest, the new moons, and the special days. They are to do this before the Lord all the time, by the number set by the Law. ³² In this way they are to take care of the meeting tent, the holy place, and help their brothers the sons of Aaron, for the work of the Lord’s house.

The Work of the Religious Leaders

24 These were the family groups of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ² Nadab and Abihu died before their father died. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the religious leaders. ³ With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David divided them by their given duties. ⁴ More leaders were found from the sons of Eleazar than the sons of Ithamar. So they were divided in this way. There were sixteen heads of families of the sons of Eleazar. And there were eight heads of families of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵ They were divided by drawing names, all alike. For there were leaders of the holy place and leaders of God, from both the sons of Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶ The writer Shemaiah, the Levite son of Nethanel, wrote down their names. He wrote them in front of the king, the princes, Zadok the religious leader, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the families of the religious leaders and of the Levites. One family was taken for Eleazar, and one for Ithamar.

⁷ The first name drawn was Jehoiarib, the second Jedaiah, ⁸ the third Harim, the fourth Seorim, ⁹ the fifth Malchijah, the sixth Mijamin. ¹⁰ The seventh name was Hakkoz, the eighth Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth Jeshua, the tenth Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh Eliashib, the twelfth Jakim. ¹³ The thirteenth name was Huppah, the fourteenth Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth Bilgah, the sixteenth Immer. ¹⁵ The seventeenth name was Hezir, the eighteenth Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth Pethahiah, the twentieth Jehezkel. ¹⁷ The twenty-first name was Jachin, the twenty-second Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth Maaziah. ¹⁹ This was the way they were to come on duty to work in the Lord’s house. It was a rule given to them through their father Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had told him.

²⁰ The rest of the sons of Levi were Shubael of the sons of Amram, Jehdeiah of the sons of Shubael, ²¹ and Isshiah was the first of the sons of Rehabiah. ²² There was Shelomoth of the Izharites, and Jahath of the sons of Shelomoth. ²³ Of the sons of Hebron, there were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴ There was Micah of the sons of Uzziel, and Shamir of the sons of Micah. ²⁵ The brother of Micah was Isshiah. There was Zechariah of the sons of Isshiah. ²⁶ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. Jaaziah’s son was Beno. ²⁷ The sons of Merari by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri. ²⁸ His son by Mahli was Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹ His son by Kish was Jerahmeel. ³⁰ And the sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites by their families. ³¹ The head of each family and his younger brother drew names just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did. They drew them in front of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the religious leaders and of the Levites.

Songs of Joy

25 David and the captains of the army set apart for the work some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman and of Jeduthun. They were to speak God’s Word while harps and timbrels were playing. These are the names of those who served in this way. ² The sons of Asaph were: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asharelah. They were led by Asaph, who spoke for God under the leading of the king. ³ The six sons of Jeduthun were: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. They were led by their father Jeduthun, who spoke God’s Word using the harp, giving thanks and praising the Lord. ⁴ The sons of Heman were: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king’s man of God, to honor him by the Words of God. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All of them were led by their father to sing in the Lord’s house. They sang and played timbrels and harps, serving in the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were led by the king. ⁷ The number of those and their brothers who were taught to sing to the Lord, all who were very good singers, was 288. ⁸ They drew names for their work, the young and old alike, also the teacher and the one who was taught.

⁹ These are how the names were drawn. First was Joseph the son of Asaph. The second was Gedaliah. Together with his brothers and sons, there were twelve. ¹⁰ The third was Zaccur. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹¹ The fourth was Izri. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹² The fifth was Nethaniah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹³ The sixth was Bukkiah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁴ The seventh was Jesharelah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁵ The eighth was Jeshaiah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁶ The ninth was Mattaniah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁷ The tenth was Shimei. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁸ The eleventh was Azarel. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ¹⁹ The twelfth was Hashabiah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁰ The thirteenth was Shubael. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²¹ The fourteenth was Mattithiah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²² The fifteenth was Jeremoth. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²³ The sixteenth was Hananiah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁴ The seventeenth was Joshbekashah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁵ The eighteenth was Hanani. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁶ The nineteenth was Mallothi. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁷ The twentieth was Eliathah. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁸ The twenty-first was Hothir. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ²⁹ The twenty-second was Giddalti. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ³⁰ The twenty-third was Mahazioth. With his sons and brothers there were twelve. ³¹ And the twenty-fourth was Romamti-ezer. With his sons and brothers there were twelve.