1 Chronicles 23
New American Standard Bible
Solomon Reigns
23 (A)Now when David [a]reached old age, (B)he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
Offices of the Levites
3 (C)Now the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and (D)their number by [b]head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were (E)to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were (F)officers and judges, 5 and four thousand were gatekeepers, and (G)four thousand were praising the Lord with the instruments which [c]David made for giving praise. 6 David divided them into divisions (H)according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 Of the Gershonites there were [d]Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, and Zetham and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. 10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, [e]Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one group for duty.
Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were four in number: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 (I)The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And (J)Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, (K)to burn incense before the Lord, to serve Him and bless in His name forever. 14 But as for (L)Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The [f]son of Gershom was [g]Shebuel the chief. 17 The [h]son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The [i]son of Izhar was [j]Shelomith the chief. 19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died and had no sons, but only daughters; so their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. 23 The sons of Mushi were three: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.
Duties Revised
24 (M)These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those among them who were [k]counted, in the number of names by their [l]head count, doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, (N)from twenty years old and upward. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel (O)has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 Also, (P)the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were counted from twenty years old and upward. 28 For their office is [m]to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, in the courtyards and in the chambers, and in the purification of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 (Q)and with the showbread, and (R)the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or (S)what is baked in the pan or (T)what is well-mixed, and (U)all measures of volume and size. 30 They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, (V)on the Sabbaths, the new moons and (W)the appointed festivals, in the number determined by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. 32 So (X)they are to perform the [n]duties of the tent of meeting, the holy place, and (Y)of assisting the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:1 Lit became old and sated with days
- 1 Chronicles 23:3 Lit their heads
- 1 Chronicles 23:5 Lit I made
- 1 Chronicles 23:7 In Ex 6:17, Libni
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 In v 11, Zizah
- 1 Chronicles 23:16 Lit sons
- 1 Chronicles 23:16 In 24:20, Shubael
- 1 Chronicles 23:17 Lit sons...were
- 1 Chronicles 23:18 Lit sons
- 1 Chronicles 23:18 In 24:22, Shelomoth
- 1 Chronicles 23:24 Lit mustered
- 1 Chronicles 23:24 Lit heads
- 1 Chronicles 23:28 Lit at the hand of
- 1 Chronicles 23:32 Lit duty of...the duty of...
1 Chronicles 23
King James Version
23 So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.
3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
4 Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges:
5 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
6 And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.
12 The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.
14 Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.
16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.
17 And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.
19 Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first and Jesiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.
22 And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.
23 The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward.
25 For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:
26 And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.
27 For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:
28 Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;
29 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;
30 And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even:
31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:
32 And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 23
Living Bible
23 By this time David was an old, old man, so he stepped down from the throne and appointed his son Solomon as the new king of Israel. 2 He summoned all the political and religious leaders of Israel for the coronation ceremony. 3 At this time a census was taken of the men of the tribe of Levi who were thirty years or older. The total came to 38,000.
4-5 “Twenty-four thousand of them will supervise the work at the Temple,” David instructed, “6,000 are to be bailiffs and judges, 4,000 will be Temple guards, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.”
6 Then David divided them into three main divisions named after the sons of Levi—the
7 Subdivisions of the Gershom corps were named after his sons
10-11 The subclans of Shimei were named after his four sons: Jahath was greatest, Zizah[b] was next, and Jeush and Beriah were combined into a single subclan because neither had many sons.
12 The division of Kohath was subdivided into four groups named after his sons
13 Amram was the ancestor of Aaron and Moses.[c] Aaron and his sons were set apart for the holy service of sacrificing the people’s offerings to the Lord. He served the Lord constantly and pronounced blessings in his name at all times.
14-15 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons,
18 The sons of Izhar were led by Shelomith.
19 The sons of Hebron were led by Jeriah. Amariah was second in command, Jahaziel was third, and Jekameam was fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were led by Micah, and Isshiah was the second in command.
21 The sons of Merari were
24 In the census, all the men of Levi who were twenty years old or older were classified under the names of these clans and subclans; and they were all assigned to the ministry at the Temple. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. 26 Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its instruments from place to place.”
27 (This census of the tribe of Levi was one of the last things David did before his death.) 28 The work of the Levites was to assist the priests—the descendants of Aaron—in the sacrifices at the Temple; they also did the custodial work and helped perform the ceremonies of purification. 29 They provided the Bread of the Presence, the flour for the grain offerings, and the wafers made without yeast (either fried or mixed with olive oil); they also checked all the weights and measures. 30 Each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing thanks and praise to him. 31 They assisted in the special sacrifices of burnt offerings, the Sabbath sacrifices, the new moon celebrations, and at all the festivals. There were always as many Levites present as were required for the occasion. 32 And they took care of the Tabernacle and the Temple and assisted the priests in whatever way they were needed.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:8 Shimei, probably not the same Shimei as in v. 7.
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 Zizah, or “Zina.”
- 1 Chronicles 23:13 Amram was the ancestor of Aaron and Moses, literally, “the sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses.”
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.