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v1

Now David was old and full of days. And he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

v2

And he assembled all the commanders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.

v3

And the Levites thirty years old and above were counted, and their number according to their head count for the men was thirty-eight thousand.

v4

Of these, David said, “Twenty-four thousand are to direct the work of the house of Yahweh, along with six thousand judges and officials,

v5

four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand offering praise with the instruments that I have made for praise.”

v6

And David organized them in divisions according to the sons of Levi: to Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

v7

For the Gershonites were Ladan and Shimei.

v8

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief and Zetham and Joel, three.

v9

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the families ^[Literally “fathers”] of Ladan.

v10

And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei.

v11

And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. They were enrolled as one for the house of a father.

v12

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

v13

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things. He and his sons were to burn offerings forever before Yahweh to serve him and to bless in his name forever.

v14

But Moses the man of God and his sons were reckoned among the tribe of Levi.

v15

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

v16

The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.

v17

And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah, the head. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

v18

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.

v19

The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

v20

The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

v21

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

v22

And Eleazar died, and he did not have sons, but only daughters. And the sons of Kish, their relatives, married them.

v23

The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

v24

These were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, the heads of the families, ^[Literally “fathers”] according to their enrollment, by the number of the names, according to their head count, who were to do the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and above.

v25

For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

v26

And also, the Levites do not need to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service.”

v27

For by the last words of David, they are the number of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and above.

v28

For their station was to assist ^[Literally “for the hand of”] the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Yahweh, over the courtyards, over the chambers, and over the cleansing of all the sanctified objects, and with the work of the service of the house of God,

v29

and with the rows of bread, the flour, the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and for all the amounts and measurements.

v30

And they were to stand every morning, ^[Literally “in the morning, in the morning”] thanking and praising Yahweh, and likewise in the evening,

v31

and for every burnt offering offered to Yahweh, on Sabbaths, on new moon festivals, and at the appointed feasts, according to the customary number required of them, ^[Literally “over them”] regularly before Yahweh.

v32

And they shall keep the responsibility of the tent of assembly, ^[Or “meeting”] the responsibility of the sanctified objects, and the responsibility of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, to serve the house of Yahweh.