The Living Bible (136 page)

1 Chronicles
23

By this time David was an old, old man, so he stepped down from the throne and appointed his son Solomon as the new king of Israel.
²
 He summoned all the political and religious leaders of Israel for the coronation ceremony.
³
 At this time a census was taken of the men of the tribe of Levi who were thirty years or older. The total came to 38,000.

    
^4-5
 “Twenty-four thousand of them will supervise the work at the Temple,” David instructed, “6,000 are to be bailiffs and judges, 4,000 will be Temple guards, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.”

    
⁶
 Then David divided them into three main divisions named after the sons of Levi—the
Gershom
division, the
Kohath
division, and the
Merari
division.

    
⁷
 Subdivisions of the
Gershom
corps were named after his sons
Ladan
and
Shimei.
^8-9
 These subdivisions were still further divided into six groups named after the sons of
Ladan:
Jehiel the leader, Zetham, Joel; and the sons of Shimei
*
—Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.

    
^10-11
 The subclans of
Shimei
were named after his four sons: Jahath was greatest, Zizah
*
was next, and Jeush and Beriah were combined into a single subclan because neither had many sons.

    
¹²
 The division of
Kohath
was subdivided into four groups named after his sons
Amram, Izhar, Hebron,
and
Uzziel.

    
¹³
 
Amram
was the ancestor of Aaron and Moses.
*
Aaron and his sons were set apart for the holy service of sacrificing the people’s offerings to the Lord. He served the Lord constantly and pronounced blessings in his name at all times.

    
^14-15
 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons,
Gershom
and
Eliezer,
were included with the tribe of Levi.
¹⁶
 
Gershom’s
sons were led by Shebuel,
¹⁷
 and
Eliezer’s
only son, Rehabiah, was the leader of his clan, for he had many children.

    
¹⁸
 The sons of
Izhar
were led by Shelomith.

    
¹⁹
 The sons of
Hebron
were led by Jeriah. Amariah was second in command, Jahaziel was third, and Jekameam was fourth.

    
²⁰
 The sons of
Uzziel
were led by Micah, and Isshiah was the second in command.

    
²¹
 The sons of
Merari
were
Mahli
and
Mushi.
The sons of
Mahli
were
Eleazar
and
Kish.
²²
 
Eleazar
died without any sons, and his daughters were married to their cousins, the sons of
Kish.
²³
 
Mushi’s
sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

    
²⁴
 In the census, all the men of Levi who were twenty years old or older were classified under the names of these clans and subclans; and they were all assigned to the ministry at the Temple.
²⁵
 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem.
²⁶
 Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its instruments from place to place.”

    
²⁷
 (This census of the tribe of Levi was one of the last things David did before his death.)
²⁸
 The work of the Levites was to assist the priests—the descendants of Aaron—in the sacrifices at the Temple; they also did the custodial work and helped perform the ceremonies of purification.
²⁹
 They provided the Bread of the Presence, the flour for the grain offerings, and the wafers made without yeast (either fried or mixed with olive oil); they also checked all the weights and measures.
³⁰
 Each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing thanks and praise to him.
³¹
 They assisted in the special sacrifices of burnt offerings, the Sabbath sacrifices, the new moon celebrations, and at all the festivals. There were always as many Levites present as were required for the occasion.
³²
 And they took care of the Tabernacle and the Temple and assisted the priests in whatever way they were needed.

1 Chronicles
24

The priests (the descendants of Aaron) were placed into two divisions named after Aaron’s sons,
Eleazar
and
Ithamar.

    
Nadab and Abihu were also sons of Aaron, but they died before their father did and had no children; so only Eleazar and Ithamar were left to carry on.
³
 David consulted with Zadok, who represented the Eleazar clan, and with Ahimelech, who represented the Ithamar clan; then he divided Aaron’s descendants into many groups to serve at various times.
⁴
 
Eleazar’s
descendants were divided into sixteen groups and
Ithamar’s
into eight (for there was more leadership ability among the descendants of Eleazar).

    
⁵
 All tasks were assigned to the various groups by coin-toss
*
so that there would be no preference, for there were many famous men and high officials of the Temple in each division.
⁶
 Shemaiah, a Levite and the son of Nethanel, acted as recording secretary and wrote down the names and assignments in the presence of the king and of these leaders: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the priests and Levites. Two groups from the division of Eleazar and one from the division of Ithamar were assigned to each task.

    
^7-18
 The work was assigned (by coin-toss) in this order:

    
First, the group led by Jehoiarib;

    
Second, the group led by Jedaiah;

    
Third, the group led by Harim;

    
Fourth, the group led by Seorim;

    
Fifth, the group led by Malchijah;

    
Sixth, the group led by Mijamin;

    
Seventh, the group led by Hakkoz;

    
Eighth, the group led by Ahijah;

    
Ninth, the group led by Jeshua;

    
Tenth, the group led by Shecaniah;

    
Eleventh, the group led by Eliashib;

    
Twelfth, the group led by Jakim;

    
Thirteenth, the group led by Huppah;

    
Fourteenth, the group led by Jeshebeab;

    
Fifteenth, the group led by Bilgah;

    
Sixteenth, the group led by Immer;

    
Seventeenth, the group led by Hezir;

    
Eighteenth, the group led by Happizzez;

    
Nineteenth, the group led by Pethahiah;

    
Twentieth, the group led by Jehezkel;

    
Twenty-first, the group led by Jachin;

    
Twenty-second, the group led by Gamul;

    
Twenty-third, the group led by Delaiah;

    
Twenty-fourth, the group led by Maaziah.

    
¹⁹
 Each group carried out the Temple duties as originally assigned by God through their ancestor Aaron.

    
²⁰
 These were the other descendants of Levi: Amram; his descendant Shubael; and Shubael’s descendant Jehdeiah;
²¹
 the Rehabiah group, led by his oldest son Isshiah;
²²
 the Izhar group, consisting of Shelamoth and his descendant Jahath.
²³
 The Hebron group: Jeriah, Hebron’s oldest son; Amariah, his second son; Jahaziel, his third son; Jekameam, his fourth son.

    
^24-25
 The Uzziel group was led by his son Micah and his grandsons Shamir and Isshiah, and by Isshiah’s son Zechariah.

    
^26-27
 The Merari group was led by his sons:
Mahli
and
Mushi.
(Jaaziah’s group, led by his son Beno, included his brothers Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.)
²⁸
 
Mahli’s
descendants were Eleazar, who had no sons,
²⁹
 and Kish, among whose sons was Jerahmeel.
³⁰
 The sons of
Mushi
were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

    
These were the descendants of Levi in their various clans.
³¹
 Like the descendants of Aaron, they were assigned to their duties by coin-toss without distinction as to age or rank. It was done in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the leaders of the priests and the Levites.

1 Chronicles
25

David and the officials of the Tabernacle then appointed men to prophesy to the accompaniment of zithers, harps, and cymbals. These men were from the groups of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. Here is a list of their names and their work:

    
²
 Under the leadership of Asaph, the king’s private prophet, were his sons Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah.

    
³
 Under Jeduthun, who led in giving thanks and praising the Lord (while accompanied by the zither), were his six sons: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah.

    
^4-5
 Under the direction of Heman, the king’s private chaplain, were his sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Geddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. (For God had honored him with fourteen sons and three daughters.)
^6-7
 Their music ministry included the playing of cymbals, harps, and zithers; all were under the direction of their father as they performed this ministry in the Tabernacle.

    
Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman reported directly to the king. They and their families were all trained in singing praises to the Lord; each one—288 of them in all—was a master musician.
⁸
 The singers were appointed to their particular term of service by coin-toss, without regard to age or reputation.

    
^9-31
 The first toss indicated Joseph of the Asaph clan;

    
The second, Gedaliah, along with twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
The third, Zaccur and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
The fourth, Izri and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Fifth, Nethaniah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Sixth, Bukkiah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Seventh, Jesharelah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Eighth, Jeshaiah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Ninth, Mattaniah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Tenth, Shimei and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Eleventh, Azarel and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twelfth, Hashabiah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Thirteenth, Shubael and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Fourteenth, Mattithiah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Fifteenth, Jeremoth and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Sixteenth, Hananiah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Seventeenth, Joshbekasha and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Eighteenth, Hanani and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Nineteenth, Mallothi and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twentieth, Eliathah and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twenty-first, Hothir and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twenty-second, Giddalti and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twenty-third, Mahazioth and twelve of his sons and brothers;

    
Twenty-fourth, Romamti-ezer and twelve of his sons and brothers.