The Divisions of the Levites

1So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

2And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4Of these, twenty-four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were officers and judges, 5four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”

6Also David separated them into [a]divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7Of the Gershonites: [b]Laadan and Shimei. 8The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. 9The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, [c]Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. 11Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.

12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. 13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should [d]sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever. 14Now the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15The sons of Moses were [e]Gershon and Eliezer. 16Of the sons of Gershon, Shebuel[f] was the first. 17Of the descendants of Eliezer, Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18Of the sons of Izhar, Shelomith was the first. 19Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.

21The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters; and their [g]brethren, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. 23The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

24These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses—the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and above.

25For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”; 26and also to the Levites, “They shall no longer carry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.” 27For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; 28because 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, 29both with the showbread and the fine flour for the grain offering, with the unleavened cakes and what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of measures and sizes; 30to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; 31and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set[h] feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32and 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 brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.