Sermon Central
1 Chronicles 23-26
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,
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 .
The Divisions of Priests 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 the priests. 3With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelek a descendant of Ithamar, David separated them into divisions for their appointed order of ministering. 4A larger number of leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than among Ithamar’s, and they were divided accordingly: sixteen heads of families from Eleazar’s descendants and eight heads of families from Ithamar’s descendants.
5They divided them impartially by casting lots, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.
6The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officials: Zadok the priest, Ahimelek son of Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and of 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 Malkijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
10the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
11the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shekaniah,
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 Jakin, the twenty-second to Gamul,
18the twenty-third to Delaiah and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
19This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.
The Rest of the Levites 20As for 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: Ishiah was the first.
22From the Izharites: Shelomoth; from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath.
23The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first,
24The son of Uzziel: Micah; from the sons of Micah: Shamir.
25The brother of Micah: Ishiah; from the sons of Ishiah: Zechariah.
26The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno.
27The sons of Merari: from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zakkur and Ibri.
28From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
29From Kish: the son of Kish: Jerahmeel.
30And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth. These were the Levites, according to their families. 31They also cast lots, just as their relatives the descendants of Aaron did, in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelek, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites. The families of the oldest brother were treated the same as those of the youngest.
The Musicians 1David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service:
2From the sons of Asaph: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision.
3As for Jeduthun, from his sons: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,
4As for Heman, from his sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth.
5(All these were sons of Heman the king’s seer. They were given him through the promises of God to exalt him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.)
6All these men were under the supervision of their father for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. 7Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD —they numbered 288. 8Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties.
The Gatekeepers 1The divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.
2Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,
3Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth and Eliehoenai the seventh.
4Obed-Edom also had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sakar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,
5Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth. (For God had blessed Obed-Edom.) 6Obed-Edom’s son Shemaiah also had sons, who were leaders in their father’s family because they were very capable men. 7The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad; his relatives Elihu and Semakiah were also able men.
8All these were descendants of Obed-Edom; they and their sons and their relatives were capable men with the strength to do the work—descendants of Obed-Edom, 62 in all.
9Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, who were able men—18 in all. 10Hosah the Merarite had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him the first),
11Hilkiah the second, Tabaliah the third and Zechariah the fourth. The sons and relatives of Hosah were 13 in all. 12These divisions of the gatekeepers, through their leaders, had duties for ministering in the temple of the LORD, just as their relatives had.
13Lots were cast for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.
14The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah.
16The lots for the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road fell to Shuppim and Hosah. Guard was alongside of guard: 17There were six Levites a day on the east, four a day on the north, four a day on the south and two at a time at the storehouse.
18As for the court
19These were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.
The Treasurers and Other Officials
20Their fellow Levites were
22the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries of the temple of the LORD .
23From the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites: 24Shubael, a descendant of Gershom son of Moses, was the official in charge of the treasuries. 25His relatives through Eliezer: Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zikri his son and Shelomith his son. 26Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries for the things dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and by the other army commanders. 27Some of the plunder taken in battle they dedicated for the repair of the temple of the LORD .
28And everything dedicated by Samuel the seer and by Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner and Joab son of Zeruiah, and all the other dedicated things were in the care of Shelomith and his relatives.
29From the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons were assigned duties away from the temple, as officials and judges over Israel. 30From the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives—seventeen hundred able men—were responsible in Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the LORD and for the king’s service. 31As for the Hebronites, Jeriah was their chief according to the genealogical records of their families. In the fortieth year of David’s reign a search was made in the records, and capable men among the Hebronites were found at Jazer in Gilead. 32Jeriah had twenty-seven hundred relatives, who were able men and heads of families, and King David put them in charge of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.