²⁷ And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them.

²⁸ And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels, that they should bring them in and out by tale.

²⁹ Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.

² And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

³ Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

⁴ Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges:

⁵ Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

⁶ And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷ Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.

⁸ The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

⁹ The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.

¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹ And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.

¹² The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹³ The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.

¹⁴ Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵ The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.

¹⁶ Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.

¹⁷ And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

¹⁸ Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.

¹⁹ Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰ Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first and Jesiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.

²² And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.

²³ The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward.

²⁵ For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:

²⁶ And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.

²⁷ For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:

²⁸ Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;

²⁹ Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;

³⁰ And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even:

³¹ And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:

³² And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord.

²⁴ Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

²⁵ And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:

²⁶ I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;

²⁷ Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

²⁸ And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers.

²⁹ Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.

³⁰ So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

³² And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

³³ Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;

³⁴ By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.