The Holy Bible

[23:2] King David brought together all the Israelite leaders and all the priests and Levites.

[23:3] He took a census of all the male Levites aged thirty or older. The total was thirty-eight thousand.

[23:4] The king assigned twenty-four thousand to administer the work of the Temple, six thousand to keep records and decide disputes,

[23:5] four thousand to do guard duty, and four thousand to praise the Lord, using the musical instruments provided by the king for this purpose.

[23:6] David divided the Levites into three groups, according to their clans: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

[23:7] Gershon had two sons: Ladan and Shimei.

[23:8] Ladan had three sons: Jehiel, Zetham, and Joel,

[23:9] who were the heads of the clans descended from Ladan. (Shimei had three sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.)

[23:12] Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

[23:13] 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.

[23:14] But the sons of Moses, the man of God, were included among the Levites.)

[23:15] Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

[23:16] The leader among Gershom's sons was Shebuel.

[23:17] Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

[23:18] Kohath's second son, Izhar, had a son, Shelomith, the head of the clan.

[23:19] Kohath's third son, Hebron, had four sons: Jeriah, Amariah, Jahaziel, and Jekameam.

[23:20] Kohath's fourth son, Uzziel, had two sons, Micah and Isshiah.

[23:21] Merari had two sons, Mahli and Mushi. Mahli also had two sons, Eleazar and Kish,

[23:22] but Eleazar died without having any sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.

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

[23:24] 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.

[23:25] David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people, and he himself will live in Jerusalem forever.

[23:26] 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.”

[23:27] On the basis of David's final instructions all Levites were registered for service when they reached the age of twenty,

[23:28] 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;

[23:29] 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;

[23:30] and to praise and glorify the Lord every morning and every evening

[23:31] 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.

[23:32] 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.

[24:1] These are the groups to which the descendants of Aaron belong. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

[24:2] Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and left no descendants, so their brothers Eleazar and Ithamar became priests.

[24:3] 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.

[24:4] 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.

[24:5] Since there were Temple officials and spiritual leaders among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar, assignments were made by drawing lots.

[24:6] 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.

[24:19] 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.

[24:20] These are other heads of families descended from Levi: Jehdeiah, a descendant of Amram through Shebuel;

[24:21] Isshiah, a descendant of Rehabiah;

[24:22] Jahath, a descendant of Izhar through Shelomith;

[24:23] Jeriah, Amariah, Jehaziel, and Jekameam, sons of Hebron, in order of age;

[24:24] Shamir, a descendant of Uzziel through Micah;

[24:25] Zechariah, a descendant of Uzziel through Isshiah, Micah's brother;

[24:26] Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah, descendants of Merari.

[24:27] Jaaziah had three sons: Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

[24:30] Mushi had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth. These are the families of the Levites.

[24:31] 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.

[25:1] 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:

[25:2] 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.

[25:3] 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.

[25:4] The fourteen sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.

[25:5] 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.

[25:6] 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.

[25:7] All these twenty-four men were experts; and their fellow Levites were trained musicians. There were 288 men in all.

[25:8] To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners.

[26:1] These are the assignments of work for the Levites who served as Temple guards. From the clan of Korah there was Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the family of Asaph.

[26:2] He had seven sons, listed in order of age: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel,

[26:3] Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

[26:4] There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel,

[26:5] Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

[26:8] Obed Edom's family furnished a total of sixty-two highly qualified men for this work.

[26:9] Meshelemiah's family furnished eighteen qualified men.

[26:10] From the clan of Merari there was Hosah, who had four sons: Shimri (his father made him the leader, even though he was not the oldest son),

[26:11] Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. In all there were thirteen members of Hosah's family who were Temple guards.

[26:12] The Temple guards were divided into groups, according to families, and they were assigned duties in the Temple, just as the other Levites were.

[26:13] Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for.

[26:14] Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate.

[26:15] Obed Edom was allotted the south gate, and his sons were allotted to guard the storerooms.

[26:16] Shuppim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road. Guard duty was divided into assigned periods, one after another.

[26:17] On the east, six guards were on duty each day, on the north, four, and on the south, four. Four guards were stationed at the storerooms daily, two at each storeroom.

[26:18] Near the western pavilion there were four guards by the road and two at the pavilion itself.

[26:19] This is the assignment of guard duty to the clan of Korah and the clan of Merari.

[26:20] Others of their fellow Levites were in charge of the Temple treasury and the storerooms for gifts dedicated to God.

[26:21] Ladan, one of the sons of Gershon, was the ancestor of several family groups, including the family of his son Jehiel.

[26:22] Ladan's two other sons, Zetham and Joel, had charge of the Temple treasury and storerooms.

[26:23] Duties were also assigned to the descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

[26:24] Shebuel, of the clan of Moses' son Gershom, was the chief official responsible for the Temple treasury.

[26:25] Through Gershom's brother Eliezer he was related to Shelomith. Eliezer was the father of Rehabiah, who was the father of Jeshaiah, the father of Joram, the father of Zichri, the father of Shelomith.

[26:26] Shelomith and the members of his family were in charge of all the gifts dedicated to God by King David, the heads of families, leaders of clan groups, and army officers.

[26:27] They took some of the loot they captured in battle and dedicated it for use in the Temple.

[26:28] Shelomith and his family were in charge of everything that had been dedicated for use in the Temple, including the gifts brought by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, by Abner son of Ner, and by Joab son of Zeruiah.

[26:29] Among the descendants of Izhar, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned administrative duties: keeping records and settling disputes for the people of Israel.

[26:30] Among the descendants of Hebron, Hashabiah and seventeen hundred of his relatives, all outstanding men, were put in charge of the administration of all religious and civil matters in Israel west of the Jordan River.

[26:31] Jeriah was the leader of the descendants of Hebron. In the fortieth year that David was king, an investigation was made of the family line of Hebron's descendants, and outstanding soldiers belonging to this family were found living at Jazer in the territory of Gilead.

[26:32] King David chose twenty-seven hundred outstanding heads of families from Jeriah's relatives and put them in charge of administering all religious and civil matters in Israel east of the Jordan River—the territories of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

[27:23] King David did not take a census of the people who were under the age of twenty, because of the Lord's promise to make the people of Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.

[27:24] Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, began to take a census, but he did not complete it. God punished Israel because of this census, so the final figures were never recorded in King David's official records.