Passage: 1 Chronicles 22, 23, 24 (RSV)


1 Chronicles 22


1Then David said, "Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel."
2David 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.
3David 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,
4and cedar timbers without number; for the Sido'nians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.
5For 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.
6Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.
7David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.
8But 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.
9Behold, 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.
10He 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.'
11Now, 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.
12Only, 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.
13Then 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.
14With 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.
15You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working
16gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and be doing! The LORD be with you!"
17David 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.
19Now 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."

1 Chronicles 23


1When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
2David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.
3The 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,
5four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the LORD with the instruments which I have made for praise."
6And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merar'i.
7The sons of Gersham were Ladan and Shim'e-i.
8The sons of Ladan: Jehi'el the chief, and Zetham, and Jo'el, three.
9The sons of Shim'e-i: Shelo'moth, Ha'zi-el, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan.
10And the sons of Shim'e-i: Jahath, Zina, and Je'ush, and Beri'ah. These four were the sons of Shim'e-i.
11Jahath 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.
12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uz'ziel, four.
13The 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.
14But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi.
15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Elie'zer.
16The sons of Gershom: Sheb'uel the chief.
17The sons of Elie'zer: Rehabi'ah the chief; Elie'zer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabi'ah were very many.
18The sons of Izhar: Shelo'mith the chief.
19The sons of Hebron: Jeri'ah the chief, Amari'ah the second, Jaha'ziel the third, and Jekame'am the fourth.
20The sons of Uz'ziel: Micah the chief and Isshi'ah the second.
21The sons of Merar'i: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Elea'zar and Kish.
22Elea'zar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them.
23The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jer'emoth, three.
24These 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.
25For David said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem for ever.
26And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service" --
27for 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;
29to 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.
30And they shall stand every morning, thanking and praising the LORD, and likewise at evening,
31and 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.
32Thus 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."

1 Chronicles 24


1The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abi'hu, Elea'zar, and Ith'amar.
2But Nadab and Abi'hu died before their father, and had no children, so Elea'zar and Ith'amar became the priests.
3With 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.
4Since 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.
5They 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.
6And 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.
7The first lot fell to Jehoi'arib, the second to Jedai'ah,
8the third to Harim, the fourth to Se-o'rim,
9the fifth to Malchi'jah, the sixth to Mij'amin,
10the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abi'jah,
11the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecani'ah,
12the eleventh to Eli'ashib, the twelfth to Jakim,
13the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jesheb'e-ab,
14the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,
15the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Hap'pizzez,
16the nineteenth to Pethahi'ah, the twentieth to Jehez'kel,
17the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,
18the twenty-third to Delai'ah, the twenty-fourth to Ma-azi'ah.
19These 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.
20And 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.
21Of Rehabi'ah: of the sons of Rehabi'ah, Isshi'ah the chief.
22Of the Iz'harites, Shelo'moth; of the sons of Shelo'moth, Jahath.
23The sons of Hebron: Jeri'ah the chief, Amari'ah the second, Jaha'ziel the third, Jekame'am the fourth.
24The sons of Uz'ziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir.
25The brother of Micah, Isshi'ah; of the sons of Isshi'ah, Zechari'ah.
26The sons of Merar'i: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Ja-azi'ah: Beno.
27The sons of Merar'i: of Ja-azi'ah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
28Of Mahli: Elea'zar, who had no sons.
29Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerah'meel.
30The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jer'imoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses.
31These 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.



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