Then David said: This is the house of God, And this is the altar for the holocaust of Israel.

And he commanded to gather together all the proselytes of the land of Israel, and out of them he appointed stonecutters to hew stones and polish them, to build the house of God.

And David prepared in abundance iron for the nails of the gates, and for the closures and joinings: and of brass an immense weight.

And the cedar trees were without number, which the Sidonians, and Tyrians brought to David.

And David said: Solomon my son is very young and tender, and the house which I would have to be built to the Lord, must be such as to be renowned in all countries: therefore I will prepare him necessaries. And therefore before his death he prepared all the charges.

And he called for Solomon his son: and commanded him to build a house to the Lord the God of Israel.

And David said to Solomon: My son, it was my desire to have built a house to the name of the Lord my God.

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou hast shed much blood, and fought many battles, so thou canst not build a house to my name, after shedding so much blood before me:

The son, that shall be born to thee, shall be a most quiet man: for I will make him rest from all his enemies round about: and therefore he shall be called Peaceable: and I will give peace and quietness to Israel all his days.

He shall build a house to my name, and he shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

Now then, my son, the Lord be with thee, and do thou prosper, and build the house to the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken of thee.

The Lord also give thee wisdom and understanding, that thou mayest be able to rule Israel, and to keep the law of the Lord thy God.

For then thou shalt be able to prosper, if thou keep the commandments, and judgments, which the Lord commanded Moses to teach Israel: take courage and act manfully, fear not, nor be dismayed.

Behold I in my poverty have prepared the charges of the house of the Lord, of gold a hundred thousand talents, and of silver a million of talents: but of brass, and of iron there is no weight, for the abundance surpasseth all account: timber also and stones I have prepared for all the charges.

Thou hast also workmen in abundance, hewers of stones, and masons, and carpenters, and of all trades the most skilful in their work,

In gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, whereof there is no number. Arise then, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee.

David also charged all the princes of Israel, to help Solomon his son,

Saying: You see, that the Lord your God is with you, and hath given you rest round about, and hath delivered all your enemies into your hands, and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

Give therefore your hearts and your souls, to seek the Lord your God and arise, and build a sanctuary to the Lord God, that the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the vessels consecrated to the Lord, may be brought into the house, which is built to the name of the Lord.

David being old and full of days, made Solomon his son king over Israel.

And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites.

And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand men.

Of these twenty-four thousand were chosen, and distributed unto the ministry of the house of the Lord: and six thousand were the overseers and judges.

Moreover four thousand were porters: and as many singers singing to the Lord with the instruments, which he had made to sing with.

And David distributed them into courses by the families of the sons of Levi, to wit, of Gerson, and of Caath, and of Merari.

The sons of Gerson were Leedan and Semei.

The sons of Leedan: the chief Jahiel, and Zethan, and Joel, three.

The sons of Semei: Salomith, and Hosiel, and Aran, three: these were the heads of the families of Leedan.

And the sons of Semei were Leheth, and Ziza, and Jaus, and Baria: these were the sons of Semei, four.

And Leheth was the first, Ziza the second: but Jaus and Baria had not many children, and therefore they were counted in one family, and in one house.

The sons of Caath were Amram, and Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel, four.

The sons of Amram, Aaron, and Moses. And Aaron was separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to bless his name for ever.

The sons also of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the tribe of Levi.

The sons of Moses were Gersom and Eliezer:

The sons of Gersom: Subuel the first.

And the sons of Eliezer were: Rohobia the first: and Eliezer had no more sons. But the sons of Rohobia were multiplied exceedingly.

The sons of Isaar: Salomith the first.

The sons of Hebron: Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaam the fourth.

The sons of Oziel: Micha the first, Jesia the second.

The sons of Merari: Moholi, and Musi. The sons of Moholi: Eleazar and Cis.

And Eleazar died, and had no sons but daughters: and the sons of Cis their brethren took them.

The sons of Musi: Moholi, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.

These are the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families, princes by their courses, and the number of every head that did the works of the ministry of the house of the Lord from twenty years old and upward.

For David said: The Lord the God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem for ever.

And it shall not be the office of the Levites to carry any more the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the service thereof.

So according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi are to be numbered from twenty years old and upward.

And they are to be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the porches, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord.

And the priests have the charge of the loaves of proposition, and of the sacrifice of fine flour, and of the unleavened cakes, and of the fryingpan, and of the roasting, and of every weight and measure.

And the Levites are to stand in the morning to give thanks, and to sing praises to the Lord: and in like manner in the evening,

As well in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the sabbaths and in the new moons, and the rest of the solemnities, according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing, continually before the Lord.

And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the ceremonies of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, that they may minister in the house of the Lord.

Now these were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

But Nadab and Abiu died before their father, and had no children: so Eleazar, and Ithamar did the office of the priesthood.

And David distributed them, that is, Sadoc of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their courses and ministry.

And there were found many more of the sons of Eleazar among the principal men, than of the sons of Ithamar. And he divided them so, that there were of the sons of Eleazar, sixteen chief men by their families: and of the sons of Ithamar eight by their families and houses.

And he divided both the families one with the other by lot: for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.

And Semeias the son of Nathanael the scribe a Levite, wrote them down before the king and the princes, and Sadoc the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the princes also of the priestly and Levitical families: one house, which was over the rest, of Eleazar: and another house, which had the rest under it, of Ithamar.

Now the first lot came forth to Joiarib, the second to Jedei,

The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,

The fifth to Melchia, the sixth to Maiman,

The seventh to Accos, the eighth to Abia,

The ninth to Jesua, the tenth to Sechenia,

The eleventh to Eliasib, the twelfth to Jacim,

The thirteenth to Hoppha, the fourteenth to Isbaab,

The fifteenth to Belga, the sixteenth to Emmer,

The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,

The nineteenth to Pheteia, the twentieth to Hezechiel,

The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul,

The three and twentieth to Dalaiau, the four and twentieth to Maaziau.

These are their courses according to their ministries, to come into the house of the Lord, and according to their manner under the hand of Aaron their father: as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded.

Now of the rest of the sons of Levi, there was of the sons of Amram, Subael: and of the sons of Subael, Jehedeia.

Also of the sons of Rohobia the chief Jesias.

And the son of Isaar Salemoth, and the son of Salemoth Jahath:

And his son Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaan the fourth.

The son of Oziel, Micha: the son of Micha, Samir.

The brother of Micha, Jesia: and the son of Jesia, Zacharias.

The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi: the son of Oziau: Benno.

The son also of Merari Oziau, and Soam, and Zacchur, and Hebri.

And the son of Moholi: Eleazar, who had no sons.

And the son of Cis, Jeramael.

The sons of Musi: Moholi, Eder, and Jerimoth. These are the sons of Levi according to the houses of their families.

And they also cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron before David the king, and Sadoc, and Ahimelech, and the princes of the priestly and Levitical families, both the elder and the younger. The lot divided all equally.

Moreover David and the chief officers of the army separated for the ministry the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Idithun: to prophesy with harps, and with psalteries, and with cymbals according to their number serving in their appointed office.

Of the sons of Asaph: Zacchur, and Joseph, and Nathania, and Asarela, sons of Asaph: under the hand of Asaph prophesying near the king.

And of Idithun: the sons of Idithun, Godolias, Sori, Jeseias, and Hasabias, and Mathathias, six, under the hand of their father Idithun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord.

Of Heman also: the sons of Heman, Bocciau, Mathaniau, Oziel, Subuel, and Jerimoth, Hananias, Hanani, Eliatha, Geddelthi, and Romemthiezer, and Jesbacassa, Mellothi, Othir, Mahazioth:

All these were the sons of Heman the seer of the king in the words of God, to lift up the horn: and God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

All these under their father’s hand were distributed to sing in the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries and harps, for the service of the house of the Lord near the king: to wit, Asaph, and Idithun, and Heman.

And the number of them with their brethren, that taught the song of the Lord, all the teachers, were two hundred and eighty-eight.

And they cast lots by their courses, the elder equally with the younger, the learned and the unlearned together.

And the first lot came forth to Joseph, who was of Asaph. The second to Godolias, to him and his sons, and his brethren twelve.

The third to Zachur, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The fourth to Isari, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The fifth to Nathania, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The sixth to Bocciau, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The seventh to Isreela, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The eighth to Jesaia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The ninth to Mathanaias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The tenth to Semeias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The eleventh to Azareel, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The twelfth to Hasabia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The thirteenth to Subael, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The fourteenth to Mathathias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The fifteenth to Jerimoth, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The sixteenth to Hananias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The seventeenth to Jesbacassa, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The eighteenth to Hanani, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The nineteenth to Mellothi, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The twentieth to Eliatha, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The one and twentieth to Othir, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The two and twentieth to Geddelthi, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, to his sons and his brethren twelve.

The four and twentieth to Romemthiezer, to his sons and his brethren twelve.