Chronological
David Organizes the Levites
23 When David was old and approaching the end of his life,[a] he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
2 David[b] assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.[c] 4 David said,[d] “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; 5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.”[e] 6 David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the oldest, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all.
These were the leaders of the family of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina,[f] Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons—four in all.[g] 11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses.
Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name.[h] 14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.[i]
15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son[j] of Gershom: Shebuel[k] the oldest.
17 The son of Eliezer was[l] Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.
18 The son[m] of Izhar: Shelomith the oldest.
19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the oldest, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons; he had only daughters. The sons of Kish, their cousins, married them.[n]
23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up.[o] 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem. 26 So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.” 27 According to David’s final instructions, the Levites twenty years old or older were counted.[p]
28 Their job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s temple. They were to take care of the courtyards, the rooms, ceremonial purification of all holy items, and other jobs related to the service of God’s temple.[q] 29 They also took care of[r] the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.[s] 30 They also stood in a designated place[t] every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening 31 and whenever burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath and at new moon festivals and assemblies. A designated number were to serve before the Lord regularly in accordance with regulations.[u] 32 They were in charge of the meeting tent and the Holy Place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple.[v]
David Organizes the Priests
24 The divisions of Aaron’s descendants were as follows:
The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
2 Nadab and Abihu died before their father did; they had no sons. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
3 David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities.[w] 4 The descendants of Eleazar had more leaders than the descendants of Ithamar, so they divided them up accordingly; the descendants of Eleazar had sixteen leaders, while the descendants of Ithamar had eight.[x] 5 They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the Holy Place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.[y] 6 The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, wrote down their names before the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the priestly and Levite families. One family was drawn by lot from Eleazar, and then the next from Ithamar.[z]
7 The first lot went 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 Shecaniah,
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 Happizzez,
16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah,
the twentieth to Jehezkel,
17 the twenty-first to Jakin,
the twenty-second to Gamul,
18 the twenty-third to Delaiah,
the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
19 This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor[aa] Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.[ab]
Remaining Levites
20 The rest of the Levites included:[ac]
Shubael[ad] from the sons of Amram,
Jehdeiah from the sons of Shubael,
21 the firstborn Isshiah from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah,
22 Shelomoth from the Izharites,
Jahath from the sons of Shelomoth.
23 The sons of Hebron:[ae] Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
24 The son[af] of Uzziel: Micah;
Shamir from the sons of Micah.
25 The brother of Micah: Isshiah.
Zechariah from the sons of Isshiah.
26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
The son of Jaaziah: Beno.[ag]
27 The sons of Merari, from Jaaziah: Beno,[ah] Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
28 From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
29 From Kish: Jerahmeel.[ai]
30 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These were the Levites, listed by their families.
31 Like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with those of the youngest.[aj]
David Organizes the Musicians
25 David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals.[ak] The following men were assigned this responsibility:[al]
2 From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were supervised by Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision.[am]
3 From the sons of Jeduthun:[an] Gedaliah, Zeri,[ao] Jeshaiah,[ap] Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all,[aq] under supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied as he played a harp, giving thanks and praise to the Lord.
4 From the sons of Heman:[ar] Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s prophet. God had promised him these sons in order to make him prestigious.[as] God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
6 All these were under the supervision of their fathers; they were musicians in the Lord’s temple, playing cymbals and stringed instruments as they served in God’s temple. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the supervision of the king. 7 They and their relatives, all of them skilled and trained to make music to the Lord, numbered 288.[at]
8 They cast lots to determine their responsibilities—oldest as well as youngest, teacher as well as student.[au]
9 The first lot went to Asaph’s son Joseph and his relatives and sons—twelve in all,[av]
the second to Gedaliah and his relatives and sons—twelve in all,
10 the third to Zaccur and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
11 the fourth to Izri[aw] and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
12 the fifth to Nethaniah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
13 the sixth to Bukkiah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
14 the seventh to Jesharelah[ax] and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
15 the eighth to Jeshaiah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
16 the ninth to Mattaniah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
17 the tenth to Shimei and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
18 the eleventh to Azarel[ay] and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
19 the twelfth to Hashabiah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
20 the thirteenth to Shubael and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
21 the fourteenth to Mattithiah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
22 the fifteenth to Jerimoth and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
23 the sixteenth to Hananiah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
24 the seventeenth to Joshbekashah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
25 the eighteenth to Hanani and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
26 the nineteenth to Mallothi and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
27 the twentieth to Eliathah and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
28 the twenty-first to Hothir and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
29 the twenty-second to Giddalti and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
30 the twenty-third to Mahazioth and his sons and relatives—twelve in all,
31 the twenty-fourth to Romamti-Ezer and his sons and relatives—twelve in all.
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