1 Chronicles 22-23

1Then David said, “The house of the LORD God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

Preparations for the Temple 2So David gave orders to assemble the foreigners residing in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God. 3He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.

4He also provided more cedar logs than could be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to David.

5David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death. 6Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it 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 have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, Solomon sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for peace. and I will grant 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.’ 11“Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would. 12May the LORD give you discretion 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 have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. 14“I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand talents That is, about 3,750 tons or about 3,400 metric tons of gold, a million talents That is, about 37,500 tons or about 34,000 metric tons of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them. 15You have many workers: stonecutters, masons and carpenters, as well as those skilled in every kind of work

16in gold and silver, bronze and iron—craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and the LORD be with you.” 17Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. 18He said to them, “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 hands, and the land is subject to the LORD and to his people. 19Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the LORD .”

The Levites 1When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. 3The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the LORD and six thousand are to be officials and judges.

5Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the LORD with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”

6David separated the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

Gershonites 7Belonging to the 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, Ziza, One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina Jeush and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

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

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

13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the LORD, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.

14The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16The descendants of Gershom: Shubael was the first.

17The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

18The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first.

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

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

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

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

23The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all. 24These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more who served in the temple of the LORD . 25For David had said, “Since the LORD, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, 26the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”

27According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more. 28The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the LORD : to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. 29They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the special flour for the grain offerings, the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. 30They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD . They were to do the same in the evening

31and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals. They were to serve before the LORD regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them. 32And so the Levites carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the LORD .