1 When David had grown old and was full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
2 He brought together all Israel's leaders, along with the priests and the Levites.
3 The Levites aged thirty and over were counted, and their total by heads, man by man, came to thirty-eight thousand.
4 David said, "Out of these, twenty-four thousand are to direct the work of the house of the LORD, six thousand are to be officials and judges,
5 four thousand are to be gatekeepers, and four thousand are to praise the LORD on the instruments I made for giving praise."
6 David organized them in divisions by the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had few sons, so they were counted as a single father's house, one assignment.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart, he and his sons for all time, to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to serve him, and to bless in his name for all time.
14 As for Moses the man of God, his sons were counted with the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
17 The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no more sons, but Rehabiah's sons were extremely numerous.
18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.
19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without sons; he had only daughters, and their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi by fathers' houses, the heads of the fathers' houses as they were registered, counted name by name, head by head, those who did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, aged twenty and over.
25 For David said, "The LORD God of Israel has given his people rest, and he has made his dwelling in Jerusalem forever.
26 So the Levites will no longer have to carry the tabernacle or any of the vessels used in its service."
27 For according to David's last words, the Levites were counted from twenty years old and over.
28 Their place was at the side of Aaron's sons for the service of the house of the LORD, over the courts and the chambers, over the cleansing of every holy thing, and over the work of the service of the house of God;
29 over the bread set in rows, the fine flour for grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, what was baked on the griddle, what was mixed with oil, and every measure of volume and length.
30 And they were to stand morning by morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and the same in the evening,
31 and at every presenting of burnt offerings to the LORD on Sabbaths, new moons, and appointed feasts, in the number required for them, always before the LORD.
32 In this way they kept watch over the tent of meeting, watch over the holy place, and watch over the sons of Aaron their brothers in the service of the house of the LORD.