Font Size
1 Chronicles 23
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
1 Chronicles 23
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
23 And David being old and full of days, made Solomon his son king over Israel.
2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites.
3 And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand men.
4 Of these twenty-four thousand were chosen, and distributed unto the ministry of the house of the Lord: and six thousand were the overseers and judges.
5 Moreover four thousand were porters: and as many singers singing to the Lord with the instruments, which he had made to sing with.
6 And David distributed them into courses by the families of the sons of Levi, to wit, of Gerson, and of Caath, and of Merari.
7 The sons of Gerson were Leedan and Semei.
8 The sons of Leedan: the chief Jahiel, and Zethan, and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Semei: Salomith, and Hosiel, and Aran, three: these were the heads of the families of Leedan.
10 And the sons of Semei were Leheth, and Ziza, and Jaus, and Baria: these were the sons of Semei, four.
11 And Leheth was the first, Ziza the second: but Jaus and Baria had not many children, and therefore they were counted in one family, and in one house.
12 The sons of Caath were Amram, and Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram, Aaron, and Moses. And Aaron was separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to bless his name for ever.
14 The sons also of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were Gersom and Eliezer:
16 The sons of Gersom: Subuel the first.
17 And the sons of Eliezer were: Rohobia the first: and Eliezer had no more sons. But the sons of Rohobia were multiplied exceedingly.
18 The sons of Isaar: Salomith the first.
19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaam the fourth.
20 The sons of Oziel: Micha the first, Jesia the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Moholi, and Musi. The sons of Moholi: Eleazar and Cia.
22 And Eleazar died, and had no sons but daughters: and the sons of Cis their brethren took them.
23 The sons of Musi: Moholi, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.
24 These are the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families, princes by their courses, and the number of every head that did the works of the ministry of the house of the Lord from twenty years old and upward.
25 For David said: The Lord the God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem for ever.
26 And it shall not be the office of the Levites to carry any more the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the service thereof.
27 So according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi are to be numbered from twenty years old and upward.
28 And they are to be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the porches, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord.
29 And the priests have the charge of the leaves of proposition, and of the sacrifice of fine flour, and of the unleavened cakes, and of the fryingpan, and of the roasting, and of every weight and measure.
30 And the Levites are to stand in the morning to give thanks, and to sing praises to the Lord: and in like manner in the evening,
31 As well in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the sabbaths and in the new moons, and the rest of the solemnities, according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing, continually before the Lord.
32 And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the ceremonies of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, that they may minister in the house of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 23
New International Version
1 Chronicles 23
New International Version
The Levites
23 When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon(A) king over Israel.(B)
2 He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. 3 The Levites thirty years old or more(C) were counted,(D) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.(E) 4 David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge(F) of the work(G) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.(H) 5 Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments(I) I have provided for that purpose.”(J)
6 David separated(K) the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi:(L) Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
Gershonites
7 Belonging to the Gershonites:(M)
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei:
Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10 And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
11 Jahath 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
12 The sons of Kohath:(N)
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram:(O)
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart,(P) he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister(Q) before him and to pronounce blessings(R) in his name forever. 14 The sons of Moses the man(S) of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.(T)
16 The descendants of Gershom:(U)
Shubael was the first.
17 The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah(V) was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
18 The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith(W) was the first.
19 The sons of Hebron:(X)
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari:(Y)
Mahli and Mushi.(Z)
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.(AA)
23 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
24 These 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(AB) who served in the temple of the Lord. 25 For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest(AC) to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, 26 the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”(AD) 27 According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.
28 The 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(AE) of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. 29 They were in charge of the bread set out on the table,(AF) the special flour for the grain offerings,(AG) the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.(AH) 30 They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening(AI) 31 and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon(AJ) feasts and at the appointed festivals.(AK) They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.
32 And so the Levites(AL) carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting,(AM) for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.(AN)
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.