1 Chronicles 23 1-1 Chronicles 23 26
When David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel.David summoned all the leaders of Israel, together with the priests and Levites.All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000.Then David said,“ From all the Levites, 24,000 will supervise the work at the Temple of the Lord. Another 6,000 will serve as officials and judges.Another 4,000 will work as gatekeepers, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.”Then David divided the Levites into divisions named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi— Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni and Shimei, the sons of Gershon.Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehiel( the family leader), Zetham, and Joel.These were the leaders of the family of Libni. Three of the descendants of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.Four other descendants of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah.Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons.Four of the descendants of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s presence, to serve the Lord, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi.The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.The descendants of Gershom included Shebuel, the family leader.Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, the family leader. Rehabiah had numerous descendants.The descendants of Izhar included Shelomith, the family leader.The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah( the family leader), Amariah( the second), Jahaziel( the third), and Jekameam( the fourth).The descendants of Uzziel included Micah( the family leader) and Isshiah( the second).The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.Eleazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.Three of the descendants of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the Lord.For David said,“ The Lord, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem.Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings from place to place.”
Numbers 8:9-26
Then assemble the whole community of Israel, and present the Levites at the entrance of the Tabernacle.When you present the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel must lay their hands on them.Raising his hands, Aaron must then present the Levites to the Lord as a special offering from the people of Israel, thus dedicating them to the Lord’s service.“ Next the Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Present one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to purify the Levites and make them right with the Lord.Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and raise your hands and present them as a special offering to the Lord.In this way, you will set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.After this, they may go into the Tabernacle to do their work, because you have purified them and presented them as a special offering.“ Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me. I have claimed them for myself in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites; I have taken the Levites as their substitutes.For all the firstborn males among the people of Israel are mine, both of people and of animals. I set them apart for myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel.And of all the Israelites, I have assigned the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They will serve in the Tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites and make sacrifices to purify the people so no plague will strike them when they approach the sanctuary.”So Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel dedicated the Levites, carefully following all the Lord’s instructions to Moses.The Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron lifted them up and presented them to the Lord as a special offering. He then offered a sacrifice to purify them and make them right with the Lord.After that the Levites went into the Tabernacle to perform their duties, assisting Aaron and his sons. So they carried out all the commands that the Lord gave Moses concerning the Levites.The Lord also instructed Moses,“ This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty five,and they must retire at the age of fifty.After retirement they may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the service. This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.”
