1 Chronicles 22-24

22¹ Then David said, "Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel."

David's Preparation for the Temple

² David commanded to gather together the aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. ³ David also provided great stores of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, ⁴ and cedar timbers without number; for the Sido'nians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. ⁵ For David said, "Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands; I will therefore make preparation for it." So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

⁶ Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. ⁸ But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me upon the earth. ⁹ Behold, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace. I will give him peace from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ¹⁰ He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel for ever.' ¹¹ Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. ¹² Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ¹³ Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Fear not; be not dismayed. ¹⁴ With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add. ¹⁵ You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working ¹⁶ gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and be doing! The Lord be with you!"

¹⁷ David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸ "Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. ¹⁹ Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord."

23¹ When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

The Divisions and Duties of the Levites

² David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was thirty-eight thousand men. ⁴ "Twenty-four thousand of these," David said, "shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges ⁵ four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments which I have made for praise." ⁶ And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merar'i. ⁷ The sons of Gersham were Ladan and Shim'e-i. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehi'el the chief, and Zetham, and Jo'el, three. ⁹ The sons of Shim'e-i: Shelo'moth, Ha'zi-el, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shim'e-i: Jahath, Zina, and Je'ush, and Beri'ah. These four were the sons of Shim'e-i. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Je'ush and Beri'ah had not many sons, therefore they became a father's house in one reckoning. ¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uz'ziel, four. ¹³ The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons for ever should burn incense before the Lord, and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name for ever. ¹⁴ But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Elie'zer. ¹⁶ The sons of Gershom: Sheb'uel the chief. ¹⁷ The sons of Elie'zer: Rehabi'ah the chief; Elie'zer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabi'ah were very many. ¹⁸ The sons of Izhar: Shelo'mith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron: Jeri'ah the chief, Amari'ah the second, Jaha'ziel the third, and Jekame'am the fourth ²⁰ The sons of Uz'ziel: Micah the chief and Isshi'ah the second. ²¹ The sons of Merar'i: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Elea'zar and Kish ²² Elea'zar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jer'emoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses as they were registered according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. ²⁵ For David said, "The Lord, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem for ever. ²⁶ And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service" -- ²⁷ for by the last words of David these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and upward-- ²⁸ "but their duty shall be to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God; ²⁹ to assist also with the showbread, the flour for the cereal offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size. ³⁰ And they shall stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, continually before the Lord. ³² Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and shall attend the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of the Lord."

24¹ The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abi'hu, Elea'zar, and Ith'amar. ² But Nadab and Abi'hu died before their father, and had no children, so Elea'zar and Ith'amar became the priests. ³ With the help of Zadok of the sons of Elea'zar, and Ahim'elech of the sons of Ith'amar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴ Since more chief men were found among the sons of Elea'zar than among the sons of Ith'amar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers' houses of the sons of Elea'zar, and eight of the sons of Ith'amar. ⁵ They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Elea'zar and the sons of Ith'amar. ⁶ And the scribe Shemai'ah the son of Nethan'el, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahim'elech the son of Abi'athar, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites; one father's house being chosen for Elea'zar and one chosen for Ith'amar. ⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoi'arib, the second to Jedai'ah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Se-o'rim, ⁹ the fifth to Malchi'jah, the sixth to Mij'amin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abi'jah, ¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecani'ah, ¹² the eleventh to Eli'ashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jesheb'e-ab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Hap'pizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahi'ah, the twentieth to Jehez'kel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delai'ah, the twenty-fourth to Ma-azi'ah. ¹⁹ These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shu'ba-el; of the sons of Shu'ba-el, Jehde'iah. ²¹ Of Rehabi'ah: of the sons of Rehabi'ah, Isshi'ah the chief. ²² Of the Iz'harites, Shelo'moth; of the sons of Shelo'moth, Jahath. ²³ The sons of Hebron: Jeri'ah the chief, Amari'ah the second, Jaha'ziel the third, Jekame'am the fourth. ²⁴ The sons of Uz'ziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshi'ah; of the sons of Isshi'ah, Zechari'ah. ²⁶ The sons of Merar'i: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Ja-azi'ah: Beno. ²⁷ The sons of Merar'i: of Ja-azi'ah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Elea'zar, who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerah'meel. ³⁰ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jer'imoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. ³¹ These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brethren the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahim'elech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites.