1 Chronicles

So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward; and their number by head count, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, six thousand were officers and judges,

four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, "which I made," said David, "for giving praise."

And David divided them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei.

The sons of Laadan: Jehiel the chief, then Zetham and Joel, three in all.

The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three in all. These were the heads of the father’s houses of Laadan.

And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were counted as one father’s house according to their family.

The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four in all.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever.

Now the sons of Moses the man of God were counted with the tribe of Levi.

The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.

Of the sons of Eliezer, Rehabiah was the chief. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

Of the sons of Izhar, Shelomith was the chief.

Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.

The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters; and their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.

The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth, three in all.

These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers, even the heads of the father's houses, as they were counted by number of names by their head count, that did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.

For David said, "the LORD God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever;

and also that the Levites shall no longer carry the tabernacle, nor any of the vessels for its service."

For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and upward;

because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God,

both for the showbread and for the fine flour for the grain offering, whether for the unleavened cakes or for what is baked in the pan, or for what is well-mixed, and for all measures of volume and length;

to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening;

and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance commanded to them, continually before the LORD;

and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brothers in the work of the service of the house of the LORD.