The Work of the Levites

23 When David was an old man, he made his son Solomon king of Israel. ² He gathered together all the leaders of Israel, the religious leaders, and the Levites. ³ The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and older. Their number was 38,000. ⁴ Of these, 24,000 were to watch over the work of the Lord’s house. There were 6,000 who were leaders and men who were to judge. ⁵ There were 4,000 gate-keepers. And 4,000 were praising the Lord with the things for playing music that David had made. ⁶ David divided them into groups by the sons of Levi, Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

⁷ The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, then Zetham and Joel, three in all. ⁹ The three sons of Shimei were Shelemoth, Haziel and Haran. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, 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 were numbered together as one father’s house.

¹² The four sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart for holy work, he and his sons forever. They were to burn special perfume before the Lord, and do His work. And they were to pray for good to come to the people in the Lord’s name forever. ¹⁴ But the names of the sons of Moses the man of God were among the family of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom was Shebuel the leader. ¹⁷ The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the leader. Eliezer had no other sons. But Rehabiah had many sons. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar was Shelomith the leader. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jehaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first, and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died and had no sons, only daughters. Their brothers the sons of Kish married them. ²³ The three sons of Mushi were Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses. They were the heads of the fathers’ houses of those whose names were numbered from twenty years old and older. They were to do the work of the Lord’s house. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people. And He lives in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ The Levites do not need to carry the meeting tent and all the parts for its work any longer.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and older. ²⁸ He said, “Their duties are to help Aaron’s sons with the work of the Lord’s house, in the open spaces and in the rooms. They are to make clean all the holy things, and do any work needed to be done in the house of God. ²⁹ They are to take care of the holy bread, the fine flour for a grain gift, and the bread without yeast. They are to take care of what is baked, and what is well mixed, of all the right amounts. ³⁰ They are to stand every morning and evening to thank and praise the Lord. ³¹ And they are to give all the burnt gifts to the Lord on the Days of Rest, the new moons, and the special days. They are to do this before the Lord all the time, by the number set by the Law. ³² In this way they are to take care of the meeting tent, the holy place, and help their brothers the sons of Aaron, for the work of the Lord’s house.