The Levites
1When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
2He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. 3The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges. 5Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”
6David separated the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
Gershonites
7Belonging to the Gershonites:
Ladan and Shimei.
8The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
9The sons of Shimei:
Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
11Jahath 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
12The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
13The sons of Amram:
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.
16The descendants of Gershom:
Shubael was the first.
17The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
18The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith was the first.
19The sons of Hebron:
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
Merarites
21The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
22Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
24These 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 who served in the temple of the Lord. 25For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, 26the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.” 27According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.
28The 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 of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. 29They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the special flour for the grain offerings, the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. 30They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening 31and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals. They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.
32And so the Levites carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.
利未人的职务
1大卫年纪老迈，寿数将尽，就立他儿子所罗门为以色列王。 2他召集了以色列的众首领、祭司和利未人。 3凡三十岁以上的利未人都在统计之列，共有三万八千男子， 4其中有两万四千人在耶和华的殿里司职，六千人做官长和审判官， 5四千人守门，四千人用大卫提供的乐器颂赞耶和华。 6大卫将利未人革顺、哥辖和米拉利的子孙分成班次。
7革顺的儿子有拉但和示每。 8拉但有长子耶歇，还有西坦和约珥，共三个儿子， 9都是拉但族的族长。示每的儿子有示罗密、哈薛和哈兰三人。 10示每的儿子还有雅哈、细撒、耶乌施和比利亚四人。 11雅哈是长子，细撒是次子。耶乌施和比利亚的子孙不多，所以合为一族。
12哥辖有暗兰、以斯哈、希伯伦、乌薛四个儿子。 13暗兰的儿子是亚伦和摩西。亚伦和他的子孙永远被分别出来事奉耶和华，向祂献至圣之物，在祂面前烧香，奉祂的名祝福，直到永远。 14上帝的仆人摩西的子孙归在利未支派的名下。 15摩西的儿子是革舜和以利以谢。 16革舜的长子是细布业。 17以利以谢只有一个儿子利哈比雅，但利哈比雅子孙众多。 18以斯哈的长子是示罗密。 19希伯伦的长子是耶利雅，次子是亚玛利亚，三子是雅哈悉，四子是耶加缅。 20乌薛的长子是米迦，次子是耶西雅。
21米拉利的儿子是抹利和姆示。抹利的儿子是以利亚撒和基士。 22以利亚撒终生没有儿子，只有女儿，同族人基士的儿子娶了她们为妻。 23姆示的三个儿子是末力、以得和耶利摩。 24以上是利未各宗族的子孙，他们登记在各自族长的名下，凡二十岁以上的男子都在耶和华的殿里任职。 25大卫说：“以色列的上帝耶和华已使祂的子民安享太平，祂永远住在耶路撒冷。 26利未人再不用抬圣幕和其中的器皿了。” 27按照大卫临终时的嘱咐，二十岁以上的利未人都在统计之列。 28他们的任务是帮助亚伦的子孙在耶和华的殿里司职，管理殿的院子和厢房，负责洁净圣物等事务。 29他们还负责供饼、做素祭的细面粉、无酵薄饼的调和、烤制、分量和尺寸。 30他们每天早晚要肃立、颂赞耶和华， 31每逢安息日、朔日23:31 “朔日”即每月初一。或其他节期，他们要按照规定的数目将燔祭献给耶和华。 32他们负责看守会幕和圣所，帮助他们的亲族亚伦的子孙在耶和华的殿里供职。
