1 Chronicles 22-24

1 Chronicles 22

¹Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

²So David gave orders to gather the foreigners in the land of Israel, from whom he appointed stonecutters to prepare finished stones for building the house of God.

³David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed

⁴and more cedar logs than could be counted; for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.

⁵And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore I must make preparations for it.” So David made lavish preparations before his death.

⁶Then David called for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God,

⁸but this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.

⁹But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as He said you would.

¹²Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.

¹³Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

¹⁴Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also provided timber and stone, and you may add to them.

¹⁵You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work—

¹⁶in gold and silver, bronze and iron—craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the LORD be with you.”

¹⁷Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon:

¹⁸“Is not the LORD your God with you, and has He not granted you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land has been subdued before the LORD and His people.

¹⁹Now set your heart and soul to seek the LORD your God. Begin building the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy articles of God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the LORD.”

1 Chronicles 23

¹When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

²Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

³The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.

⁴“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

⁵4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”

⁶Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.

⁹The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

¹⁰And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

¹¹Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one family and received a single assignment.

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.

¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

¹⁴As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.

¹⁷The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

¹⁸The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first.

¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰The sons of Uzziel: Micah was the first and Isshiah the second.

²¹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

²²Eleazar died without having any sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

²⁴These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.

²⁵For David had said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever.

²⁶So now the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles for its service.”

²⁷For according to the final instructions of David, the Levites twenty years of age or older were counted,

²⁸but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

²⁹as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

³⁰They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening.

³¹Whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, they were to serve regularly before the LORD in the numbers prescribed for them.

³²So the Levites were to carry out the responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place, and, under their brothers the descendants of Aaron, the service of the house of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 24

¹These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

³With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.

⁴Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar.

⁵Thus they were divided by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants.

⁶The scribe, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officers: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar, and then one from Ithamar.

⁷The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,

⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,

⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,

¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,

¹¹the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah,

¹²the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,

¹³the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,

¹⁴the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,

¹⁵the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez,

¹⁶the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel,

¹⁷the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,

¹⁸the twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

¹⁹This was their appointed order for service when they entered the house of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

²⁰Now these were the rest of the descendants of Levi: From the sons of Amram: Shubael; from the sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah.

²¹As for Rehabiah, from his sons: The first was Isshiah.

²²From the Izharites: Shelomoth; from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath.

²³From the sons of Hebron: Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴From the sons of Uzziel: Micah; from the sons of Micah: Shamir.

²⁵The brother of Micah: Isshiah; from the sons of Isshiah: Zechariah.

²⁶The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno.

²⁷The descendants of Merari from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

²⁸From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.

²⁹From Kish: Jerahmeel the son of Kish.

³⁰And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites, according to their families.

³¹As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.