²⁷ They would spend the night stationed around the house of God,^(A) because they had to guard it; and they had charge of the key^(B) for opening it each morning.

²⁸ Some of them were in charge of the articles used in the temple service; they counted them when they were brought in and when they were taken out. ²⁹ Others were assigned to take care of the furnishings and all the other articles of the sanctuary,^(C) as well as the special flour and wine, and the olive oil, incense and spices.

² He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. ³ The Levites thirty years old or more^(A) were counted,^(B) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.^{(C) 4} David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge^(D) of the work^(E) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.^{(F) 5} Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments^(G) I have provided for that purpose.”^(H)

⁶ David separated^(I) the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi:^(J) Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

Gershonites

⁷ Belonging to the Gershonites:^(K)

Kohathites

¹² The sons of Kohath:^(L)

Merarites

²¹ The sons of Merari:^(W)

²⁴ These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more^(Z) who served in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵ For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest^(AA) to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, ²⁶ the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”^{(AB) 27} According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.

²⁸ The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification^(AC) of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. ²⁹ They were in charge of the bread set out on the table,^(AD) the special flour for the grain offerings,^(AE) the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.^{(AF) 30} They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening^{(AG) 31} and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon^(AH) feasts and at the appointed festivals.^(AI) They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.

³² And so the Levites^(AJ) carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting,^(AK) for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.^(AL)

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah,^(A) Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, ²⁵ and I weighed out^(B) to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. ²⁶ I weighed out to them 650 talents^[a] of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents,^[b] 100 talents^[c] of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,^[d] and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.

²⁸ I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord.^(C) The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. ²⁹ Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” ³⁰ Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal^(D) to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us,^(E) and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. ³² So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.^(F)

³³ On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out^(G) the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth^(H) son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad^(I) son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.^{(J) 34} Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.