1 Chronicles 23

The Divisions of the Levites

So when David was old and full of days, he made his son ^aSolomon king over Israel.
2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of ^athirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to ^alook after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were ^bofficers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand ^apraised the Lord with musical instruments, ^b“which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”
6 Also ^aDavid separated them into ¹divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the ^aGershonites: ¹Laadan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, ¹Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.
12 ^aThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. 13 The sons of ^aAmram: Aaron and Moses; and ^bAaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should ¹sanctify the most holy things, ^cto burn incense before the Lord, ^dto minister to Him, and ^eto give the blessing in His name forever. 14 Now ^athe sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15 ^aThe sons of Moses were ¹Gershon and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershon, ^aShebuel¹ was the first. 17 Of the descendants of Eliezer, ^aRehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 Of the sons of Izhar, ^aShelomith was the first. 19 ^aOf the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.
21 ^aThe sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and ^bKish. 22 And Eleazar died, and ^ahad no sons, but only daughters; and their ¹brethren, the sons of Kish, ^btook them as wives. 23 ^aThe sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the sons of ^aLevi by their fathers’ houses—the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of ^btwenty years and above.
25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel ^ahas given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”; 26 and also to the Levites, “They shall no longer ^acarry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.” 27 For by the ^alast words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; 28 because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 both with ^athe showbread and ^bthe fine flour for the grain offering, with ^cthe unleavened cakes and ^dwhat is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of ^emeasures and sizes; 30 to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; 31 and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord ^aon the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the ^bset¹ feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32 and that they should ^aattend to the ^bneeds of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the ^cneeds of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.

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