1. David had lived long and was old. Then he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel.
2. David gathered all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and Levites.
3. David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. In all, there were 38,000 Levites.
4. David said, “Of these, 24,000 Levites will direct the work of the Temple of the Lord. And 6,000 Levites will be officers and judges.
5. And 4,000 Levites will be gatekeepers. And 4,000 Levites will praise the Lord with musical instruments. I made these instruments for them to use for praise.”
6. David separated the Levites into three groups. These groups were led by Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
7. From the people of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei.
8. Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zetham and Joel.
9. Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families.
10. Shimei had four sons. They were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah.
11. Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children. So they were counted as if they were one family.
12. Kohath had four sons. They were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
13. Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be special forever. They were chosen to prepare the holy things for the Lord’s service. They were to offer sacrifices before the Lord. They were to serve him as priests. They were to give blessings in the Lord’s name forever.