Study Desk

Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord , the God of Israel.

See, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace. I will give him peace from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.

He shall build a house for my name. He shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.'

Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed.

With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add more.

"Is not the Lord your God with you? Has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people.

Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Go and build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord ."

four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise."

but as for Moses the man of God, his sons were to be reckoned among the tribe of Levi.

And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei. The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three. The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of families of Ladan. And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were enrolled as a single family. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, so that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord , and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever; but as for Moses the man of God, his sons were to be reckoned among the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses, the heads of families as they were enrolled according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord .

For David said, "The Lord , the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he resides in Jerusalem forever.

And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service"—

for according to the last words of David these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and upward—

"but their duty shall be to assist the descendants of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord , having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God;

to assist also with the rows of bread, the choice flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size.

Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and shall attend the descendants of Aaron, their kindred, for the service of the house of the Lord ."

They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.

The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the officers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of ancestral houses of the priests and of the Levites; one ancestral house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

These had as their appointed duty in their service to enter the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.