Ezra 6:18

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

This was their ordering in their service, to come into Yahweh’s house according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

Prepare 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.

Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.

The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),

They stood in their place after their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites.

So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the king’s commandment.

I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,

and I brought them into Yahweh’s house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

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

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

He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets.

Now when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,

The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers close to them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.

and his brothers, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them.

Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,

For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.

These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.

“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

“ ‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster.

This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings.

Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded.

“Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.

Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by Yahweh’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into Yahweh’s house, in current money, the money of the people for whom each man is evaluated, and all the money that it comes into any man’s heart to bring into Yahweh’s house,

King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering, his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.”

The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon had built Yahweh’s house in Jerusalem. They performed the duties of their office according to their order.

the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.

These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,

So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required;

and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

and to stand every morning to thank and praise Yahweh, and likewise in the evening;

Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals. The number of those who did the work according to their service was:

also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of Yahweh’s house, and for all the vessels of service in Yahweh’s house;

“All this”, David said, “I have been made to understand in writing from Yahweh’s hand, even all the works of this pattern.”

When the priests had come out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions;

He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate, for David the man of God had so commanded.

This is the thing that you must do. A third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be gatekeepers of the thresholds.

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they each took his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath; with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest didn’t dismiss the shift.

Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of Yahweh’s house was set in order.

Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of Yahweh’s camp.

and those who were listed by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their offices by their divisions;

He set the priests in their offices, and encouraged them in the service of Yahweh’s house.

Stand 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.

and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing.

Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division

When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.

Let all things be done decently and in order.

But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you,