1 Chronicles 23 1-1 Chronicles 23 26
So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand.Of these, twenty-four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were officers and judges,four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments,“ which I made,” said David,“ for giving praise.”Also David separated them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei.The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel— three in all.The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran— three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan.And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei.Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel— four in all.The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever.Now the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi.The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer.Of the sons of Gershon, Shebuel was the first.Of the descendants of Eliezer, Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.Of the sons of Izhar, Shelomith was the first.Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters; and their brethren, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth— three in all.These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses— the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and above.For David said,“ The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”;and also to the Levites,“ They shall no longer carry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.”
Numbers 8:9-26
And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel.So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the Lord.Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.“ And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord.Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering.For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself.I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,“ This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting;and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more.They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”