1 Chronicles 23; 1 Chronicles 24; 1 Chronicles 25

1 When David was very old, he made his son Solomon king of Israel.

2 King David brought together all the Israelite leaders and all the priests and Levites.

3 He took a census of all the male Levites aged thirty or older. The total was thirty-eight thousand.

4 The king assigned twenty-four thousand to administer the work of the Temple, six thousand to keep records and decide disputes

5 four thousand to do guard duty, and four thousand to praise the Lord, using the musical instruments provided by the king for this purpose.

6 David divided the Levites into three groups, according to their clans: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 Gershon had two sons: Ladan and Shimei.

8 Ladan had three sons: Jehiel, Zetham, and Joel,

9 who were the heads of the clans descended from Ladan. (Shimei had three sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.)

10 Shimei had four sons: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah, in order of age. Jeush and Beriah did not have many descendants, so they were counted as one clan.

12 Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

13 His oldest son, Amram, was the father of Aaron and Moses. (Aaron and his descendants were set apart to be in charge of the sacred objects forever, to burn incense in the worship of the Lord, to serve him, and to bless the people in his name.

14 But the sons of Moses, the man of God, were included among the Levites.

15 Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The leader among Gershom's sons was Shebuel.

17 Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

18 Kohath's second son, Izhar, had a son, Shelomith, the head of the clan.

19 Kohath's third son, Hebron, had four sons: Jeriah, Amariah, Jahaziel, and Jekameam

20 Kohath's fourth son, Uzziel, had two sons, Micah and Isshiah.

21 Merari had two sons, Mahli and Mushi. Mahli also had two sons, Eleazar and Kish

22 but Eleazar died without having any sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.

23 Merari's second son, Mushi, had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

24 These were the descendants of Levi, by clans and families, every one of them registered by name. Each of his descendants, twenty years of age or older, had a share in the work of the Lord's Temple.

25 David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people, and he himself will live in Jerusalem forever.

26 So there is no longer any need for the Levites to carry the Tent of the Lord's presence and all the equipment used in worship."

27 On the basis of David's final instructions all Levites were registered for service when they reached the age of twenty,

28 and were assigned the following duties: to help the priests descended from Aaron with the Temple worship, to take care of its courtyards and its rooms, and to keep undefiled everything that is sacred;

29 to be responsible for the bread offered to God, the flour used in offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the baked offerings, and the flour mixed with olive oil; to weigh and measure the Temple offerings;

30 and to praise and glorify the Lord every morning and every evening

31 and whenever offerings to the Lord are burned on the Sabbath, the New Moon Festival, and other festivals. Rules were made specifying the number of Levites assigned to do this work each time. The Levites were assigned the duty of worshiping the Lord for all time.

32 They were given the responsibility of taking care of the Tent of the Lord's presence and the Temple, and of assisting their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, in the Temple worship.

1 These are the groups to which the descendants of Aaron belong. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

2 Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and left no descendants, so their brothers Eleazar and Ithamar became priests.

3 King David organized the descendants of Aaron into groups according to their duties. He was assisted in this by Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, and by Ahimelech, a descendant of Ithamar.

4 The descendants of Eleazar were organized into sixteen groups, while the descendants of Ithamar were organized into eight; this was done because there were more male heads of families among the descendants of Eleazar.

5 Since there were Temple officials and spiritual leaders among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar, assignments were made by drawing lots.

6 The descendants of Eleazar and of Ithamar took turns drawing lots. Then they were registered by Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite secretary. The king, his officials, the priest Zadok, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of the priestly families and of the Levite families, were all witnesses.

7 This is the order in which the twenty-four family groups were given their assignments: 1) Jehoiarib; 2) Jedaiah; 3) Harim; 4) Seorim; 5) Malchijah; 6) Mijamin; 7) Hakkoz; 8) Abijah; 9) Jeshua; 10) Shecaniah; 11) Eliashib; 12) Jakim; 13) Huppah; 14) Jeshebeab; 15) Bilgah; 16) Immer; 17) Hezir; 18) Happizzez; 19) Pethahiah; 20) Jehezkel; 21) Jachin; 22) Gamul; 23) Delaiah; 24) Maaziah.

19 These men were registered according to their assignments for going to the Temple and performing the duties established by their ancestor Aaron in obedience to the commands of the Lord God of Israel.

20 These are other heads of families descended from Levi: Jehdeiah, a descendant of Amram through Shebuel;

21 Isshiah, a descendant of Rehabiah;

22 Jahath, a descendant of Izhar through Shelomith;

23 Jeriah, Amariah, Jehaziel, and Jekameam, sons of Hebron, in order of age;

24 Shamir, a descendant of Uzziel through Micah;

25 Zechariah, a descendant of Uzziel through Isshiah, Micah's brother;

26 Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah, descendants of Merari.

27 Jaaziah had three sons: Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

28 Mahli had two sons, Eleazar and Kish. Eleazar had no sons, but Kish had one son, Jerahmeel.

30 Mushi had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth. These are the families of the Levites.

31 The head of each family and one of his younger brothers drew lots for their assignments, just as their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, had done. King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites were witnesses.

1 King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the worship services: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God's messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed:

2 The four sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. They were under the direction of Asaph, who proclaimed God's messages whenever the king commanded.

3 The six sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. Under the direction of their father they proclaimed God's message, accompanied by the music of harps, and sang praise and thanks to the Lord.

4 The fourteen sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.

5 God gave to Heman, the king's prophet, these fourteen sons and also three daughters, as he had promised, in order to give power to Heman.

6 All of his sons played cymbals and harps under their father's direction, to accompany the Temple worship. And Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under orders from the king.

7 All these twenty-four men were experts; and their fellow Levites were trained musicians. There were 288 men in all.

8 To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners.

9 These 288 men were divided according to families into twenty-four groups of twelve, with a leader in charge of each group. This is the order in which they were on duty: 1) Joseph of the family of Asaph; 2) Gedaliah; 3) Zaccur; 4) Zeri; 5) Nethaniah; 6) Bukkiah; 7) Asharelah; 8) Jeshaiah; 9) Mattaniah; 10) Shimei; 11) Uzziel; 12) Hashabiah; 13) Shebuel; 14) Mattithiah; 15) Jerimoth; 16) Hananiah; 17) Joshbekashah; 18) Hanani; 19) Mallothi; 20) Eliathah; 21) Hothir; 22) Giddalti; 23) Mahazioth; 24) Romamti Ezer.