1 ¶ So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon, his son, king over Israel.

2 A nd he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests and the Levites,

3 w ere numbered from the age of thirty years and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

4 O f which, twenty-four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the LORD, and six thousand were officers and judges;

5 m oreover, four thousand were porters, and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which David had made to praise therewith.

6 A nd David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 T he sons of Gershon: Laadan and Shimei.

8 T he sons of Laadan: Jehiel, the first, Zetham and Joel, three.

9 T he sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.

10 A nd the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

11 A nd Jahath was the first, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not multiply in many sons; therefore, they were in one reckoning, according to their father’s house.

12 T he sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

13 T he sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated, that he should be dedicated to the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister unto him and to bless in his name for ever.

14 A nd the sons of Moses, the man of God, were counted in the tribe of Levi.

15 T he sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer.

16 O f the sons of Gershon, Shebuel was the chief.

17 A nd the son of Eliezer was Rehabiah, the chief. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

18 T he sons of Izhar: Shelomith, the chief.

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

20 T he sons of Uzziel: Michah, the first, and Jesiah, the second.

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

22 A nd Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters and their brethren, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.

23 T he sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

24 ¶ These are the sons of Levi after the houses of their fathers, even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did work in the ministry of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.

25 F or David said, The LORD God of Israel has given rest unto his people, and he shall dwell in Jerusalem for ever.

26 A nd also unto the Levites, they shall no longer carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for its ministry.

27 F or by the last words of David, the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above.

28 A nd their station was at the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and in the work of the ministry of the house of God,

29 b oth for the showbread and for the fine flour for the sacrifice and for the unleavened cakes and for that which is baked in the pan and for that which is fried and for all manner of measure and size,

30 a nd to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise in the evening;

31 a nd to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons and solemnities, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD.

32 A nd that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony and the charge of the holy place and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, in the ministry of the house of the LORD.