The Shared Word Translation · Study & Discuss
1 Chronicles 23
When David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
He gathered all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and Levites.
The Levites from thirty years old and upward were counted. Their number, counted individually by men, was thirty-eight thousand.
Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, and six thousand were officers and judges.
Four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand were to praise the LORD with the instruments that I made for praise.
David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
For the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.
The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel—three.
The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three. These were the heads of the ancestral houses of Ladan.
The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah—four.
Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became one ancestral house for one enrollment.
The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four.
The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name forever.
But as for Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
The sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah became exceedingly numerous.
The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.
The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.
The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
Eleazar died without sons, having only daughters; and the sons of Kish, their relatives, married them.
The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth—three.
These were the sons of Levi according to their ancestral houses, the heads of the ancestral houses, as they were enrolled by name, individually: those twenty years old and upward who did the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.
The Levites also no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of its equipment for its service.”
For according to the last words of David, the sons of Levi from twenty years old and upward were counted.
Their duty was alongside the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD: concerning the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of every holy thing, and the work of the service of the house of God;
also the bread of the arrangement, the fine flour for the grain offering, the unleavened wafers, what is prepared on the griddle, what is mixed, and every measure and dimension;
and to stand morning by morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise at evening;
and for every offering of burnt offerings to the LORD on the Sabbaths, at the new moons, and at the appointed times, according to the number required of them by ordinance, continually before the LORD.
They were to keep the charge of the tent of meeting, the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their relatives, for the service of the house of the LORD.