1 Chronicles 23-25
Common English Bible
David appoints the Levites
23 When David had grown old after a long life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 He then gathered together all Israel’s leaders along with the priests and the Levites. 3 When the Levites were counted, the head count of every male 30 and older totaled 38,000. 4 Of these, there were 24,000 to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple, 6,000 officers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 praising the Lord with instruments made[a] for offering praise. 6 Then David divided them into three groups named after Levi’s family members: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.
8 Ladan’s family: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all. 9 Jehiel’s[b] family: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the households of Ladan.
10 Shimei’s family: Jahath, Ziza,[c] Jeush, and Beriah. These four were Shimei’s family: 11 Jahath was the first, and Ziza the second; since Jeush and Beriah didn’t have many children, they became a single household.
Kohathites
12 Kohath’s family: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
13 Amram’s family: Aaron and Moses. Aaron, together with his sons, was set apart to make the holiest objects holy, to make offerings before the Lord, to serve him, and to give blessings in his name forever.
14 As for Moses the man of God, his sons were considered to be Levites. 15 Moses’ family: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 Gershom’s family: Shebuel the first.
17 Eliezer’s family: Rehabiah the first; Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many children.
18 Izhar’s family: Shelomoth[d] the first.
19 Hebron’s family: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 Uzziel’s family: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
Merarites
21 Merari’s family: Mahli and Mushi.
Mahli’s family: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without sons, but he did have daughters who married their relatives from Kish’s family.
23 Mushi’s family: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the members of Levi’s family according to their households. The household heads were registered, along with a listing of the names of each person 20 years old and above who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple.
Levites’ duties
25 David said, “Since the Lord, Israel’s God, has given his people peace and has made his home in Jerusalem forever, 26 the Levites need no longer carry the dwelling or any of the equipment used in its service.” 27 David’s last instructions were to count the Levites 20 years old and above. 28 Their assignment was to be at the side of the Aaronites to serve in the Lord’s temple, maintaining the courtyards and side rooms and cleansing all of the holy objects and doing whatever was needed in the service of God’s temple. 29 They were responsible for the stacks of bread, the fine flour for grain offerings, the wafers of unleavened bread, the cakes made on the griddle, the offering mixed with oil, as well as all the measuring. 30 They were to be present every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and to do the same every evening. 31 Whenever entirely burned offerings were offered to the Lord for the sabbaths, the new moons, and festivals, a designated number were to serve in the Lord’s presence continuously. 32 In this way they were to observe the instructions for the meeting tent, the instructions for the sanctuary, and the instructions for Aaron’s family and relatives about serving in the Lord’s temple.
Divisions of the priests
24 The divisions of the Aaronites:
Aaron’s family: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
2 Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, without having sons, and so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. 3 David, with the help of Zadok from Eleazar’s family and Ahimelech from Ithamar’s family, divided them according to their appointed duties. 4 Since Eleazar’s family was found to have more male heads than Ithamar’s family, they divided them so that Eleazar’s family had sixteen household heads and Ithamar’s family had eight. 5 They divided both groups by lots because there were holy leaders, even outstanding leaders, among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants. 6 Shemaiah, Nethanel’s son, the levitical scribe, recorded their names in the presence of the king; the leaders; Zadok the priest; Ahimelech, Abiathar’s son; and the household heads of the priests and Levites. One household was taken from Eleazar followed by one from Ithamar.
7 The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
8 the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
9 the fifth to Malchijah, 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 Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,
18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
19 These were to enter the Lord’s temple according to their appointed duty and by the procedure established for them by their ancestor Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.
Rest of the Levites
20 The rest of the Levites included:
from Amram’s family: Shubael;
from Shubael’s family: Jehdeiah;
21 from Rehabiah and his family: Isshiah the first;
22 from the Izharites: Shelomoth;
from Shelomoth’s family: Jahath;
23 Hebron’s family:[e] Jeriah the first,[f] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth;
24 Uzziel’s family: Micah;
from Micah’s family: Shamir;
25 Micah’s brother Isshiah;
from Isshiah’s family: Zechariah;
26 Merari’s family: Mahli, Mushi and his son Jaaziah’s family;
27 Merari’s family by his son Jaaziah: Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri;
28 from Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons;
29 from Kish and his family: Jerahmeel;
30 and Mushi’s family: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These were the Levites according to their households. 31 Both the household head and his youngest brother cast lots, just as their relatives, Aaron’s descendants, had done in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the priestly and levitical households.
Temple musicians
25 David and the army officers[g] set apart Asaph’s family, Heman and Jeduthun, for service to prophesy[h] accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals.
This is the list of those who performed this special service:
2 From Asaph’s family: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. Asaph’s family was under Asaph’s direction and prophesied by order of the king.
3 From Jeduthun and his family: Gedaliah, Izri,[i] Jeshaiah, Shimei,[j] Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all. They were under their father Jeduthun’s direction, prophesying with the lyre and giving thanks and praise to the Lord.
4 From Heman and his family: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.
5 All these were the family of Heman the king’s seer, according to God’s promise to honor him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6 They were all under their father’s direction when singing in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres to provide service in God’s temple, by order of the king.
As for Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, 7 the number of themselves and their relatives, who were trained in singing to the Lord and who were all skillful, was 288.
8 They cast lots for their assigned duties, small as well as great, teacher and pupil alike.
9 The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, his relatives, and his family, 12;
10 the third to Zaccur, his family, and his relatives, 12;
11 the fourth to Izri, his family, and his relatives, 12;
12 the fifth to Nethaniah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
13 the sixth to Bukkiah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
14 the seventh to Jesarelah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
15 the eighth to Jeshaiah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
16 the ninth to Mattaniah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
17 the tenth to Shimei, his family, and his relatives, 12;
18 the eleventh to Uzziel,[k] his family, and his relatives, 12;
19 the twelfth to Hashabiah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
20 the thirteenth to Shubael, his family, and his relatives, 12;
21 the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
22 the fifteenth to Jerimoth,[l] his family, and his relatives, 12;
23 the sixteenth to Hananiah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
24 the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
25 the eighteenth to Hanani, his family, and his relatives, 12;
26 the nineteenth to Mallothi, his family, and his relatives, 12;
27 the twentieth to Eliathah, his family, and his relatives, 12;
28 the twenty-first to Hothir, his family, and his relatives, 12;
29 the twenty-second to Giddalti, his family, and his relatives, 12;
30 the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his family, and his relatives, 12;
31 and the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his family, and his relatives, 12.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:5 LXX, Vulg; MT I made
- 1 Chronicles 23:9 Cf 23:8, 10; MT Shimei’s
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 LXX; MT Zina
- 1 Chronicles 23:18 LXX, Syr, Aram; MT Shelomith
- 1 Chronicles 24:23 LXX; MT my sons
- 1 Chronicles 24:23 Cf 1 Chron 23:19; MT lacks Jeriah.
- 1 Chronicles 25:1 Or liturgical officers
- 1 Chronicles 25:1 DSS, LXX, Vulg; MT the prophets
- 1 Chronicles 25:3 Cf 25:11: MT Zeri
- 1 Chronicles 25:3 LXX, cf 25:17; MT lacks Shimei.
- 1 Chronicles 25:18 LXX, Syr; MT Azrael
- 1 Chronicles 25:22 Cf 25:4; MT Jeremoth
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