1. David was old when he chose his son Solomon to be king of Israel.
2. Some time later, David called together all of Israel's leaders, priests, and Levites.
3. He then counted the Levite men who were at least thirty years old, and the total was thirty-eight thousand.
4. He said, “Twenty-four thousand of the Levites will be in charge of the temple, six thousand will be temple officials and judges,
5. four thousand will be guards at the temple, and four thousand will praise the Lord by playing the musical instruments I have given them.”
6. David then divided the Levites into three groups according to the clans of Levi's sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7. Gershon had two sons: Ladan and Shimei.
8. Ladan was the father of Jehiel, Zetham, and Joel.
9. They were all family leaders among their father's descendants. Shimei was the father of Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.
10-11. Later, Shimei had four more sons, in the following order: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. But Jeush and Beriah didn't have many children, so their descendants were counted as one family.
12. Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
13. Amram was the father of Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be in charge of all the sacred things. They served the Lord by offering sacrifices to him and by blessing the people in his name.