CHAPTER 23
1 Then David was eld [or old] and full of days, and he ordained Solomon, his son, king upon Israel.
2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests, and deacons [or Levites];
3 and the deacons [or Levites] were numbered from twenty years and above, and eight and thirty thousand of men were found of them.
4 And four and twenty thousand men were chosen of them, and were parted or set apart into the service of the house of the Lord; and of sov-ereigns, and judges, six thousand;
5 and four thousand that were porters of gates and doors, and so many singers, singing to the Lord in organs, which David had made for to sing with.
6 And David separated them by the whiles of the sons of Levi, that is, of Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
7 And the sons of Gershon were Laadan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan were three; the prince Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel.
9 The sons of Shimei were three, Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran; these were the princes of the meines of Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, and Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei.
11 And Jahath was the former, and Zizah, the second; and Jeush and Beriah had not full many sons, and therefore they were reckoned in one meine, and in one house.
12 The sons of Kohath were four, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.
13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should minister in the holy of holy things, he and his sons without end, and to burn incense to the Lord by his custom, and to bless his name without end.
14 Also the sons of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the lineage of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The sons of Gershom; Shebuel the first.
17 And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the first, and other sons were not to Eliezer; forsooth the sons of Rehabiah were multiplied full much.
18 The sons of Izhar; Shelomith the first.
19 The sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel; Micah the first, Jesiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar, and Kish.
22 And Eleazar was dead, and had not sons, but daughters; and the sons of Kish, the brethren of them, that is, cousins-germane, wedded them.
23 The sons of Mushi were three, Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth.
24 These were the sons of Levi in their kindreds and meines, and they were princes by whiles, and the number of all the heads, that did the travail of the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years and above.
25 For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a dwelling in Jerusalem into with-out end;
26 and it shall not be the office of deacons [or Levites] for to bear [any] more the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof for to minister therein.
27 Also by the last behests of David the number of the sons of Levi shall be reckoned from twenty years and above;
28 and they shall be under the hand of the sons of Aaron, into the worship of the house of the Lord, in porches, and in chambers, and in the place of cleansing, and in the saintuary, and in all works of the service of the temple of the Lord.
29 And [the] priests shall be over the loaves of proposition, that is, setting forth, and to the sacrifice of [tried] flour, and to the pastes sodden in water, and to the therf loaves, and to the frying pan, and to [the] hot flour, and to singe, and over all weight and measure.
30 And the deacons [or Levites]shall be, that they stand early, for to ac-knowledge and sing to the Lord, and in like manner at eventide,
31 as well in the offering of burnt sacrifices of the Lord, as in sabbaths, and calends, and other solemnities, by the number and ceremonies of each thing, continually before the Lord;
32 and that they keep the observ-ances of the tabernacle of the bond of peace of the Lord, and the custom of the saintuary, and the observance of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, that they minister in the house of the Lord.