Ezra 6:18

⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

⁴Prepare yourselves after your fathers’ houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. ⁵Stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brothers the children of the people, and let there be for each a portion of a fathers’ house of the Levites.

¹These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

¹Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel. ²He gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. ³The Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. ⁴David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the LORD’s house, six thousand were officers and judges, ⁵four thousand were doorkeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made for giving praise.”

⁶David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. ⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. ¹⁰The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah didn’t have many sons; therefore they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name forever. ¹⁴But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. ¹⁷The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸The son of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.

²¹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ²²Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only; and their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. ²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴These were the sons of Levi after their fathers’ houses, even the heads of the fathers’ houses of those who were counted individually, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the LORD’s house, from twenty years old and upward. ²⁵For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶Also the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service.”

⁹You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ¹⁰You shall present the Levites before the LORD. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.

¹²“The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the LORD. ¹⁴Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

¹⁵“After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. ¹⁶For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. ¹⁷For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. ¹⁸I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ¹⁹I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”

²⁰Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ²¹The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the LORD and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“This is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; ²⁵and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more, ²⁶but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties.”