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1 Chronicles 23
Common English Bible
1 Chronicles 23
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.
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 23
New International Version
1 Chronicles 23
New International Version
The Levites
23 When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon(A) king over Israel.(B)
2 He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. 3 The Levites thirty years old or more(C) were counted,(D) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.(E) 4 David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge(F) of the work(G) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.(H) 5 Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments(I) I have provided for that purpose.”(J)
6 David separated(K) the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi:(L) Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
Gershonites
7 Belonging to the Gershonites:(M)
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei:
Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10 And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
11 Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.
Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath:(N)
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram:(O)
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart,(P) he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister(Q) before him and to pronounce blessings(R) in his name forever. 14 The sons of Moses the man(S) of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.(T)
16 The descendants of Gershom:(U)
Shubael was the first.
17 The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah(V) was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
18 The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith(W) was the first.
19 The sons of Hebron:(X)
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari:(Y)
Mahli and Mushi.(Z)
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.(AA)
23 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
24 These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more(AB) who served in the temple of the Lord. 25 For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest(AC) to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, 26 the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”(AD) 27 According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.
28 The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification(AE) of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. 29 They were in charge of the bread set out on the table,(AF) the special flour for the grain offerings,(AG) the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.(AH) 30 They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening(AI) 31 and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon(AJ) feasts and at the appointed festivals.(AK) They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.
32 And so the Levites(AL) carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting,(AM) for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.(AN)
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina
Common English Bible (CEB)
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