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23 When David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel. ² David summoned all the leaders of Israel, together with the priests and Levites. ³ All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000. ⁴ Then David said, “From all the Levites, 24,000 will supervise the work at the Temple of the Lord. Another 6,000 will serve as officials and judges. ⁵ Another 4,000 will work as gatekeepers, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.” ⁶ Then David divided the Levites into divisions named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷ The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni and Shimei, the sons of Gershon. ⁸ Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehiel (the family leader), Zetham, and Joel. ⁹ These were the leaders of the family of Libni.

Three of the descendants of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. ¹⁰ Four other descendants of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. ¹¹ Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons.

¹² Four of the descendants of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s presence, to serve the Lord, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.

¹⁴ As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The descendants of Gershom included Shebuel, the family leader. ¹⁷ Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, the family leader. Rehabiah had numerous descendants.

¹⁸ The descendants of Izhar included Shelomith, the family leader.

¹⁹ The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah (the family leader), Amariah (the second), Jahaziel (the third), and Jekameam (the fourth).

²⁰ The descendants of Uzziel included Micah (the family leader) and Isshiah (the second).

²¹ The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.

²³ Three of the descendants of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

²⁴ These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. ²⁶ Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings from place to place.” ²⁷ In accordance with David’s final instructions, all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for service.

²⁸ The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served at the house of the Lord. They also took care of the courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God. ²⁹ They were in charge of the sacred bread that was set out on the table, the choice flour for the grain offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the cakes cooked in olive oil, and the other mixed breads. They were also responsible to check all the weights and measures. ³⁰ And each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. ³¹ They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days, at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The required number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.

³² And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out their duties of service at the house of the Lord.

24 This is how Aaron’s descendants, the priests, were divided into groups for service. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons. So only Eleazar and Ithamar were left to carry on as priests.

³ With the help of Zadok, who was a descendant of Eleazar, and of Ahimelech, who was a descendant of Ithamar, David divided Aaron’s descendants into groups according to their various duties. ⁴ Eleazar’s descendants were divided into sixteen groups and Ithamar’s into eight, for there were more family leaders among the descendants of Eleazar.

⁵ All tasks were assigned to the various groups by means of sacred lots so that no preference would be shown, for there were many qualified officials serving God in the sanctuary from among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶ Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, acted as secretary and wrote down the names and assignments in the presence of the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the family leaders of the priests and Levites. The descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar took turns casting lots.

⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoiarib.
The second lot fell to Jedaiah.
⁸ The third lot fell to Harim.
The fourth lot fell to Seorim.
⁹ The fifth lot fell to Malkijah.
The sixth lot fell to Mijamin.
¹⁰ The seventh lot fell to Hakkoz.
The eighth lot fell to Abijah.
¹¹ The ninth lot fell to Jeshua.
The tenth lot fell to Shecaniah.
¹² The eleventh lot fell to Eliashib.
The twelfth lot fell to Jakim.
¹³ The thirteenth lot fell to Huppah.
The fourteenth lot fell to Jeshebeab.
¹⁴ The fifteenth lot fell to Bilgah.
The sixteenth lot fell to Immer.
¹⁵ The seventeenth lot fell to Hezir.
The eighteenth lot fell to Happizzez.
¹⁶ The nineteenth lot fell to Pethahiah.
The twentieth lot fell to Jehezkel.
¹⁷ The twenty-first lot fell to Jakin.
The twenty-second lot fell to Gamul.
¹⁸ The twenty-third lot fell to Delaiah.
The twenty-fourth lot fell to Maaziah.

¹⁹ Each group carried out its appointed duties in the house of the Lord according to the procedures established by their ancestor Aaron in obedience to the commands of the Lord, the God of Israel.

²⁰ These were the other family leaders descended from Levi:

From the descendants of Amram, the leader was Shebuel.
From the descendants of Shebuel, the leader was Jehdeiah.
²¹ From the descendants of Rehabiah, the leader was Isshiah.
²² From the descendants of Izhar, the leader was Shelomith.
From the descendants of Shelomith, the leader was Jahath.
²³ From the descendants of Hebron, Jeriah was the leader, Amariah was second, Jahaziel was third, and Jekameam was fourth.
²⁴ From the descendants of Uzziel, the leader was Micah.
From the descendants of Micah, the leader was Shamir, ²⁵ along with Isshiah, the brother of Micah.
From the descendants of Isshiah, the leader was Zechariah.
²⁶ From the descendants of Merari, the leaders were Mahli and Mushi.
From the descendants of Jaaziah, the leader was Beno.
²⁷ From the descendants of Merari through Jaaziah, the leaders were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
²⁸ From the descendants of Mahli, the leader was Eleazar, though he had no sons.
²⁹ From the descendants of Kish, the leader was Jerahmeel.
³⁰ From the descendants of Mushi, the leaders were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

These were the descendants of Levi in their various families. ³¹ Like the descendants of Aaron, they were assigned to their duties by means of sacred lots, without regard to age or rank. Lots were drawn in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the family leaders of the priests and the Levites.

25 David and the army commanders then appointed men from the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to proclaim God’s messages to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. Here is a list of their names and their work:

² From the sons of Asaph, there were Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. They worked under the direction of their father, Asaph, who proclaimed God’s messages by the king’s orders.

³ From the sons of Jeduthun, there were Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six in all. They worked under the direction of their father, Jeduthun, who proclaimed God’s messages to the accompaniment of the lyre, offering thanks and praise to the Lord.

⁴ From the sons of Heman, there were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer, for God had honored him with fourteen sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these men were under the direction of their fathers as they made music at the house of the Lord. Their responsibilities included the playing of cymbals, harps, and lyres at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman reported directly to the king. ⁷ They and their families were all trained in making music before the Lord, and each of them—288 in all—was an accomplished musician. ⁸ The musicians were appointed to their term of service by means of sacred lots, without regard to whether they were young or old, teacher or student.

⁹ The first lot fell to Joseph of the Asaph clan and twelve of his sons and relatives.
The second lot fell to Gedaliah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁰ The third lot fell to Zaccur and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹¹ The fourth lot fell to Zeri and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹² The fifth lot fell to Nethaniah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹³ The sixth lot fell to Bukkiah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁴ The seventh lot fell to Asarelah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁵ The eighth lot fell to Jeshaiah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁶ The ninth lot fell to Mattaniah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁷ The tenth lot fell to Shimei and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁸ The eleventh lot fell to Uzziel and twelve of his sons and relatives.
¹⁹ The twelfth lot fell to Hashabiah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁰ The thirteenth lot fell to Shubael and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²¹ The fourteenth lot fell to Mattithiah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²² The fifteenth lot fell to Jerimoth and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²³ The sixteenth lot fell to Hananiah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁴ The seventeenth lot fell to Joshbekashah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁵ The eighteenth lot fell to Hanani and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁶ The nineteenth lot fell to Mallothi and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁷ The twentieth lot fell to Eliathah and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁸ The twenty-first lot fell to Hothir and twelve of his sons and relatives.
²⁹ The twenty-second lot fell to Giddalti and twelve of his sons and relatives.
³⁰ The twenty-third lot fell to Mahazioth and twelve of his sons and relatives.
³¹ The twenty-fourth lot fell to Romamti-ezer and twelve of his sons and relatives.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

2023 Prayer 113: I Chronicles 23-25 TBR-145

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding I Chronicles 23-25:

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?    

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

I Chronicles 23

1. The LORD God (not we ourselves) chooses in what capacity we will serve Him. 

2. It is up to people (both individuals and groups) to listen to His instructions and carry out His plans. 

I Chronicles 24

1. God does not “play favorites” among His servants, and neither should we.

2. People should strive to serve the LORD (and other people) with excellence whatever their position. 

I Chronicles 25

1. God is the One who inspires and equips those who proclaim His messages to the people (whether by spoken word or music).

2. People should pursue training and strive for proficiency in whatever field of service God has called them to fill. 

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding I Chronicles 23-25?  

Dear LORD God, You are beautiful and the ultimate standard of order and excellence. Thank You for passing on to human beings those aspects of Your being. You made us to reflect You in everything we do. You created beautiful sounds, colors, scents, textures, and tastes for Your pleasure and people’s enjoyment. Thank You that You have equipped us to combine and use them to bless others as the writers and musicians did in the days of King David and Solomon. Thank You for wonderful musicians and song writers like Fannie Crosby in the past and Michael W. Smith and Keith and Kristyn Getty (and many others) in the present. You have equipped them to write and/or perform amazing music that, like the Psalms, leads us into heartfelt worship. LORD, please lead pastors, worship leaders, evangelists, Christian counselors, and ordinary believers to live and proclaim Your truth to people in such a way that increasing numbers are brought into Your family and kingdom. This will bring You great glory, LORD. AMEN 

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to I Chronicles 23-25? With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:

• I will diligently practice whatever skills or talents God has given me.
• I will use whatever skills and talents God has given me to serve Him and other people (not just to make money).
• I will seek to please God and represent Him well in everything I do.
• I will pass on to the next generations the skills, understandings, or accomplishments with which God has blessed me.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.