Serving Instead Of Sitting

Solomon Reigns

23 Now when David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.² And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.

Offices of the Levites

³ Now the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and their number by head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. ⁴ Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges, ⁵ and four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise. ⁶ David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Gershonites

⁷ Of the Gershonites there were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan wereJehiel the first, and Zetham and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. ¹⁰ 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 became a father’s household, one group for duty.

Kohathites

¹² The sons of Kohath were four in number: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the Lord, to serve Him and bless in His name forever. ¹⁴ But as for Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom was Shebuel the chief. ¹⁷ The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar was Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

Merarites

²¹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died and had no sons, but only daughters; so their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. ²³ The sons of Mushi were three: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

Duties Revised

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those among them who were counted, in the number of names by their head count, doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were counted from twenty years old and upward. ²⁸ For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, in the courtyards and in the chambers, and in the purification of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹ and with the showbread, and the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or what is baked in the pan or what is well-mixed, and all measures of volume and size. ³⁰ They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, on the Sabbaths, the new moons and the appointed festivals, in the number determined by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. ³² So they are to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, the holy place, and of assisting the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.

Divisions of the Levites

24 Now the divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these: the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ³ David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their offices for their ministry. ⁴ Since more chief men were found from the descendants of Eleazar than the descendants of Ithamar, they divided them this way: there were sixteen heads of fathers’ households of the descendants of Eleazar, and eight of the descendants of Ithamar according to their fathers’ households. ⁵ So they were divided by lot, the one as the other; for they were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God, both from the descendants of Eleazar and the descendants of Ithamar. ⁶ Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar and one taken for Ithamar.

⁷ Now the first lot came out for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah, ⁸ the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim, ⁹ the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth for Jeshua, the tenth for Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh for Eliashib, the twelfth for Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth for Huppah, the fourteenth for Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth for Bilgah, the sixteenth for Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth for Hezir, the eighteenth for Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth for Pethahiah, the twentieth for Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first for Jachin, the twenty-second for Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third for Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth for Maaziah. ¹⁹ These were their offices for their ministry when they entered the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given to them through their father Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ Now for the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ²¹ Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah, the first.²² Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴ Of the sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ²⁶ The sons of Merari, Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, Beno. ²⁷ The sons of Merari: by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ By Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹ By Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel. ³⁰ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. ³¹ These also cast lots just as their relatives, the sons of Aaron did in the presence of David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites—the head of fathers’ households as well as those of his younger brother.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation