1 Chronicles 23

1When David was old and had lived a full life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2He gathered together all the officials of Israel, and the priests and the Levites. 3The Levites who were thirty years old and over were counted, and the total, counted man by man, was 38,000. 4David said, “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work on the house of the LORD, and 6,000 are to serve as officials and judges, 54,000 are to be gatekeepers, while 4,000 are to praise the LORD, playing the instruments I made for giving praise.” 6David organized them into divisions by the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

7The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

8The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham and Joel, three in all.

9The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran, three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

10The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei, four in all. 11Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. Jeush and Beriah had few sons, so they were counted as a single family with one assignment.

12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel, four in all.

13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart, he and his sons for all time, to consecrate the most holy things, to burn offerings before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name forever. 14As for Moses the man of God, his sons were counted as part of the tribe of Levi. 15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. 17The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very many. 18The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.

19The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth. 20The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

21The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 22Eleazar died without sons; he had only daughters. Their relatives, the sons of Kish, married them. 23The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jeremoth, three in all. 24These were the descendants of Levi by their ancestral houses, the heads of the families as they were registered, listed by name one by one. They did the work of serving in the house of the LORD, from twenty years old and up. 25For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his home in Jerusalem forever. 26So the Levites also no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things used in its service.” 27So, by David’s last instructions, the descendants of Levi were counted from twenty years old and up. 28Their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD: to have charge of the courts and the side rooms, the cleansing of all the holy things, and the work of serving in the house of God, 29and for the bread set out in rows, the fine flour for the grain offering, the unleavened wafers, what was baked on the griddle and what was mixed with oil, and all the measures of quantity and size, 30and to stand each morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and to do the same in the evening, 31and to help whenever burnt offerings were offered to the LORD on Sabbaths, at new moons and at the appointed festivals, in the numbers the rules set for them, regularly before the LORD, 32So they carried out their duties for the tent of meeting and for the holy place, and served their relatives the sons of Aaron, in the service of the house of the LORD.