1 Chronicles 23 1-1 Chronicles 23 26
David had become very old. So he made his son Solomon king over Israel.He gathered together all the leaders of Israel. He also gathered the priests and the Levites together.The Levites who were 30 years old or more were counted. The total number of men was 38,000.David said,“ From them, 24,000 will be in charge of the work of the Lord’ s temple. And 6,000 will be officials and judges.Another 4,000 will guard the gates. And 4,000 will praise the Lord with the instruments of music I’ve provided for that purpose.”David separated the Levites into groups. He did it according to the sons of Levi. The sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.Ladan and Shimei belonged to the family of Gershon.The sons of Ladan were Jehiel, Zetham and Joel. Jehiel was the oldest son. The total number of sons was three.The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran. The total number of sons was three. They were the leaders of the families of Ladan.The sons of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah. The total number of the sons of Shimei was four.Jahath was the first son. Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah didn’t have many sons. So they were counted as one family. They had only one task.The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. The total number of sons was four.The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his family line were set apart forever as the Lord’ s priests. They had the duty of setting the most holy things apart to the Lord. They offered sacrifices to the Lord. They served him. They gave blessings in his name forever.The sons of Moses, the man of God, were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.Shubael was the oldest son in the family line of Gershom.Rehabiah was the oldest son in the family line of Eliezer. Eliezer didn’t have any other sons. But Rehabiah had a great many sons.Shelomith was the oldest son of Izhar.Jeriah was the first son of Hebron. Amariah was his second son. Jahaziel was the third. Jekameam was the fourth.Micah was the first son of Uzziel. Ishiah was his second son.The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.Eleazar died without having any sons. All he had was daughters. They married their cousins. The cousins were the sons of Kish.The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth. The total number of sons was three.Those were the family lines of Levi. They were recorded under the names of the family leaders. Each worker who was 20 years old or more was counted. They served in the Lord’ s temple.David had said,“ The Lord is the God of Israel. He has given peace and rest to his people. He has come to Jerusalem to live there forever.So the Levites don’t need to carry the holy tent anymore. They don’t need to carry any of its objects anymore. Those were the things that were used to serve there.”
Nehemiah 12:1-26
Some priests and Levites returned to Judah with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Here are the names of those priests and Levites. Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah All of them were the leaders of the priests and those who helped them. They lived in the days of Joshua.The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah and Judah. There were also Mattaniah and those who helped him. They were in charge of the songs for giving thanks.Bakbukiah and Unni helped them. They stood and sang across from them during the services.Joshua was the father of Joiakim. Joiakim was the father of Eliashib. Eliashib was the father of Joiada.Joiada was the father of Jonathan. And Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.Here are the names of the family leaders of the priests. They were the leaders in the days of Joiakim. Meraiah was from Seraiah’s family. Hananiah was from Jeremiah’s family.Meshullam was from Ezra’s family. Jehohanan was from Amariah’s family.Jonathan was from Malluk’s family. Joseph was from Shekaniah’s family.Adna was from Harim’s family. Helkai was from Meremoth’s family.Zechariah was from Iddo’s family. Meshullam was from Ginnethon’s family.Zikri was from Abijah’s family. Piltai was from Miniamin’s and Moadiah’s family.Shammua was from Bilgah’s family. Jehonathan was from Shemaiah’s family.Mattenai was from Joiarib’s family. Uzzi was from Jedaiah’s family.Kallai was from Sallu’s family. Eber was from Amok’s family.Hashabiah was from Hilkiah’s family. And Nethanel was from Jedaiah’s family.The names of the family leaders of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua were written down. So were the names of the family leaders of the priests. That happened while Darius ruled over Persia.The names of the leaders in Levi’s family line up to the time of Johanan were written down. They were written in the official records. Johanan was the son of Eliashib.The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua. Jeshua was the son of Kadmiel. Those who helped them stood across from them to sing praises and give thanks. One group would sing back to the other. That’s what David, the man of God, had ordered.Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub stood at the gates of the temple. They guarded the storerooms at the gates.They served in the days of Joiakim. He was the son of Joshua. Joshua was the son of Jozadak. They also served in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. Nehemiah was the governor. Ezra was a priest and the teacher of the Law.