1 Chronicles 23-25
Easy-to-Read Version
The Levites Work in the Temple
23 David became an old man, so he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel. 2 David gathered all the leaders of Israel and also the priests and Levites. 3 David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. All together there were 38,000 Levites. 4 David said, “24,000 will supervise the work of building the Lord’s Temple. 6000 will be court officers and judges. 5 4000 will be gatekeepers, and 4000 will be musicians. I made special musical instruments for them. They will use them to praise the Lord.”
6 David separated the Levites into three groups. They were the tribes of Levi’s three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The Gershon Family Group
7 From the tribe of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei. 8 Ladan had three sons. His oldest son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zethan and Joel. 9 Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These three sons were leaders in Ladan’s families.
10 Shimei had four sons. They were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the oldest son and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children. So Jeush and Beriah were counted like one family.
The Kohath Family Group
12 Kohath had four sons. They were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was chosen for a special work. He and his descendants were chosen to always be the ones to do this special work—to prepare the holy things for the Temple service. They were the ones to burn the incense before the Lord, to serve him as priests and give blessings to the people in his name forever.
14 Moses was the man of God, and his sons were part of the tribe of Levi. 15 Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 Gershom’s oldest son was Shubael. 17 Eliezer’s oldest son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons. But Rehabiah had very many sons.
18 Izhar’s oldest son was Shelomith.
19 Hebron’s oldest son was Jeriah. Hebron’s second son was Amariah. Jahaziel was the third son, and Jekameam was the fourth son.
20 Uzziel’s oldest son was Micah, and Isshiah was his second son.
The Merari Family Group
21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died without having sons. He only had daughters. Eleazar’s daughters married their own relatives. Their relatives were Kish’s sons. 23 Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth. There were three sons in all.
The Levites’ Work
24 These were Levi’s descendants. They were listed by their families. They were the leaders of families. Each person’s name was listed. The people who were listed were 20 years old or older. They served in the Lord’s Temple.
25 David had said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people. And he has come to live in Jerusalem forever. 26 So the Levites don’t need to carry the Holy Tent or any of the things used in its services anymore.”
27 David’s last instructions for the Israelites were to count the descendants from the tribe of Levi. They counted the Levite men who were 20 years old and older.
28 The Levites had the job of helping Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s Temple. They also cared for the Temple courtyard and the side rooms in the Temple. And they made sure all the holy things were kept pure. It was their job to serve in God’s Temple. 29 They were responsible for putting the special bread on the table in the Temple and for the flour, the grain offerings, and the bread made without yeast. They were also responsible for the baking pans and the mixed offerings. They did all the measuring. 30 The Levites stood every morning and gave thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this every evening. 31 The Levites prepared all the burnt offerings to the Lord on the Sabbath days, during New Moon celebrations, and on the other special meeting days. They served before the Lord every day. There were special rules for how many Levites should serve each time. 32 So the Levites did everything that they were supposed to do. They took care of the Holy Tent and the Holy Place. And they helped their relatives, the priests, Aaron’s descendants, with the services at the Lord’s Temple.
The Groups of the Priests
24 These were the groups of Aaron’s sons: Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did. Nadab and Abihu had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. 3 David separated the tribes of Eleazar and Ithamar into two different groups. He did this so that these groups could do the duties of work they were given to do. David did this with the help of Zadok and Ahimelech. Zadok was a descendant of Eleazar, and Ahimelech was a descendant of Ithamar. 4 There were more leaders from Eleazar’s family than from Ithamar’s. There were 16 leaders from Eleazar’s family and there were eight leaders from Ithamar’s family. 5 Men were chosen from each family. They were chosen by throwing lots. Some of the men were chosen to be in charge of the Holy Place. And other men were chosen to serve as priests. All these men were from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.
6 Shemaiah was the secretary.[a] He was Nethanel’s son. Shemaiah was from the tribe of Levi. Shemaiah wrote the names of those descendants. He wrote their names in front of King David and these leaders: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech, and the leaders from the families of the priests and of the Levites. Ahimelech was Abiathar’s son. Each time they threw the lots a man was chosen, and Shemaiah wrote down that man’s name. So they divided the work among groups of men from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.
7 The first was Jehoiarib’s group.
The second was Jedaiah’s group.
8 The third was Harim’s group.
The fourth was Seorim’s group.
9 The fifth was Malkijah’s group.
The sixth was Mijamin’s group.
10 The seventh was Hakkoz’s group.
The eighth was Abijah’s group.
11 The ninth was Jeshua’s group.
The tenth was Shecaniah’s group.
12 The eleventh was Eliashib’s group.
The twelfth was Jakim’s group.
13 The thirteenth was Huppah’s group.
The fourteenth was Jeshebeab’s group.
14 The fifteenth was Bilgah’s group.
The sixteenth was Immer’s group.
15 The seventeenth was Hezir’s group.
The eighteenth was Happizzez’s group.
16 The nineteenth was Pethahiah’s group.
The twentieth was Jehezkel’s group.
17 The twenty-first was Jakin’s group.
The twenty-second was Gamul’s group.
18 The twenty-third was Delaiah’s group.
The twenty-fourth was Maaziah’s group.
19 These were the groups chosen to serve in the Lord’s Temple. They obeyed Aaron’s rules for serving in the Temple. The Lord, the God of Israel, had given them to Aaron.
The Other Levites
20 These are the names of the rest of Levi’s descendants:
Shubael was a descendant of Amram.
Jehdeiah was a descendant of Shubael.
21 Isshiah was the oldest son of Rehabiah.
22 From the Izhar family group there was Shelomoth.
Jahath was a descendant of Shelomoth.
23 Jeriah was the oldest son of Hebron.
Amariah was Hebron’s second son.
Jahaziel was his third son,
and Jekameam was his fourth son.
24 Uzziel’s son was Micah.
Micah’s son was Shamir.
25 Isshiah was Micah’s brother.
Isshiah’s son was Zechariah.
26 [b] Merari’s descendants were Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah his son.
27 Jaaziah son of Merari had sons named Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
28 Mahli’s son was Eleazar, but Eleazar did not have sons.
29 Kish’s son was Jerahmeel.
30 Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These are the leaders of the Levite families. They are listed by their families. 31 They were chosen for special jobs by throwing lots, like their relatives, the priests. The priests were Aaron’s descendants. They threw lots in front of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the leaders of the priests’ and Levite families. The older families and the younger families were treated the same when their jobs were chosen.
The Music Groups
25 David and the leaders of the army separated the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun for special service. Their special service was to prophesy God’s message with harps, lyres, and cymbals. Here is a list of the men who served this way:
2 From Asaph’s family: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. King David chose Asaph to prophesy. And Asaph led his sons.
3 From Jeduthun’s family: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. There were six of them. Jeduthun led his sons. Jeduthun used harps to prophesy and give thanks and praise to the Lord.
4 Heman’s sons who served were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 All these men were Heman’s sons. Heman was David’s seer. God promised to make Heman strong. So Heman had many sons. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
6 Heman led all his sons in singing in the Lord’s temple.[c] His sons used cymbals, lyres, and harps. That was their way of serving in God’s temple. King David chose these men. 7 These men and their relatives from the tribe of Levi were trained to sing. There were 288 men who learned to sing praises to the Lord. 8 They threw lots to choose the different kinds of work each person was to do. Everyone was treated the same. Young and old were treated the same. And the teacher was treated the same as the student.
9 The first one chosen was Asaph (Joseph).
Second, there were 12 men chosen from Gedaliah’s sons and relatives.
10 Third, there were 12 men chosen from Zaccur’s sons and relatives.
11 Fourth, there were 12 men chosen from Izri’s sons and relatives.
12 Fifth, there were 12 men chosen from Nethaniah’s sons and relatives.
13 Sixth, there were 12 men chosen from Bukkiah’s sons and relatives.
14 Seventh, there were 12 men chosen from Asarelah’s sons and relatives.
15 Eighth, there were 12 men chosen from Jeshaiah’s sons and relatives.
16 Ninth, there were 12 men chosen from Mattaniah’s sons and relatives.
17 Tenth, there were 12 men chosen from Shimei’s sons and relatives.
18 Eleventh, there were 12 men chosen from Azarel’s sons and relatives.
19 Twelfth, there were 12 men chosen from Hashabiah’s sons and relatives.
20 Thirteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Shubael’s sons and relatives.
21 Fourteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Mattithiah’s sons and relatives.
22 Fifteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Jeremoth’s sons and relatives.
23 Sixteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Hananiah’s sons and relatives.
24 Seventeenth, there were 12 men chosen from Joshbekashah’s sons and relatives.
25 Eighteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Hanani’s sons and relatives.
26 Nineteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Mallothi’s sons and relatives.
27 Twentieth, there were 12 men chosen from Eliathah’s sons and relatives.
28 Twenty-first, there were 12 men chosen from Hothir’s sons and relatives.
29 Twenty-second, there were 12 men chosen from Giddalti’s sons and relatives.
30 Twenty-third, there were 12 men chosen from Mahazioth’s sons and relatives.
31 Twenty-fourth, there were 12 men chosen from Romamti Ezer’s sons and relatives.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 24:6 secretary A man who wrote down and copied books and letters.
- 1 Chronicles 24:26 The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
- 1 Chronicles 25:6 temple Here, this means the Holy Tent where people went to worship the Lord.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
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