1
When David had grown old and had lived out his years, he made his son Solomon king of Israel.
2
He gathered all the officials of Israel and the priests and Levites.
3
Every male Levite who was at least 30 years old was counted. There were 38,000.
4
Of these, 24,000 were appointed to supervise the work on the LORD's temple, 6,000 were appointed to be officers and judges,
5
4,000 were appointed to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 were appointed to praise the LORD with the instruments David had made for praising God.
6
David organized the Levites into divisions based on which of Levi's sons (Gershon, Kohath, or Merari) they were descended from.
7
Ladan and Shimei were Gershon's descendants.
8
Ladan had three sons: Jehiel was the first, then Zetham, and Joel.
9
Shimei had three sons: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran. They were the heads of Ladan's families.
10
Shimei's sons were Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. They were Shimei's four sons.
11
Jahath was the first, and Ziza was the second. Jeush and Beriah didn't have many sons, so they were given an assignment as one family.