1 Chronicles 6
The full text of 1 Chronicles 6 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
2 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
3 The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
4 Eleazar fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua,
5 Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi,
6 Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered Meraioth,
7 Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub,
8 Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz,
9 Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan,
10 and Johanan fathered Azariah — he is the one who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem.
11 Azariah fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub,
12 Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Shallum,
13 Shallum fathered Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah,
14 Azariah fathered Seraiah, and Seraiah fathered Jehozadak.
15 Jehozadak went into exile when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
16 The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
17 These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites listed according to their fathers.
20 Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son.
22 The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
23 Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son,
24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.
25 The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth.
26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son, Nahath his son,
27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
28 The sons of Samuel: the firstborn Joel, and the second Abijah.
29 The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son,
30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
31 These are the men whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there.
32 They ministered with song before the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their service according to their prescribed order.
33 These are the ones who served, along with their sons. From the Kohathites: Heman the singer, son of Joel, son of Samuel,
34 son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah,
35 son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai,
36 son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah,
37 son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah,
38 son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel.
39 His brother Asaph stood at his right hand — Asaph son of Berechiah, son of Shimea,
40 son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malchijah,
41 son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah,
42 son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei,
43 son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi.
44 On the left stood their brothers the sons of Merari: Ethan son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch,
45 son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah,
46 son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer,
47 son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi.
48 Their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
49 But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to everything that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
50 These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,
51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.
54 These are their dwelling places according to their settlements within their borders. To the sons of Aaron of the Kohathite clan — for the lot fell to them first —
55 they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands,
56 but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
57 To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,
58 Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,
59 Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-Shemesh with its pasturelands.
60 From the tribe of Benjamin: Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities throughout their clans were thirteen.
61 To the rest of the Kohathites were given by lot, from the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
62 To the Gershomites according to their clans, from the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan: thirteen cities.
63 To the Merarites according to their clans, from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun: twelve cities by lot.
64 So the people of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands.
65 They gave by lot from the tribe of the people of Judah, from the tribe of the people of Simeon, and from the tribe of the people of Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name.
66 Some of the clans of the Kohathites had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.
67 They gave them the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,
68 Jokmeam with its pasturelands, Beth-Horon with its pasturelands,
69 Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-Rimmon with its pasturelands.
70 From the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasturelands and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the clan of the Kohathites.
71 To the Gershomites, from the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands.
72 From the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,
73 Ramoth with its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands.
74 From the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,
75 Hukok with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands.
76 From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands.
77 To the rest of the Merarites, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasturelands and Tabor with its pasturelands.
78 Across the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,
79 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands.
80 From the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands,
81 Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands.
Translation notes (19)
- 1 Chronicles 6:1a The Masoretic Text reads Gershon (גֵּרְשׁוֹן) here, but the same son of Levi appears as Gershom (גֵּרְשׁוֹם) later in this chapter (verse 16) and elsewhere in Chronicles. Both spellings designate one person; the translation preserves each form as written rather than harmonizing them.
- 1 Chronicles 6:3a The Hebrew bene, literally 'sons', here embraces Miriam, one of the few women named in these priestly genealogies; the rendering 'children' reflects her inclusion. Numbers 26:59 likewise lists Miriam alongside Aaron and Moses among the offspring of Amram.
- 1 Chronicles 6:10a This Azariah is probably the high priest who confronted King Uzziah for burning incense in the temple, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 26:17-20.
- 1 Chronicles 6:15a The verb heglah, 'sent into exile', names the LORD, not Nebuchadnezzar, as the true agent of the deportation to Babylon in 586 BC; the Babylonian king acts only as his instrument. Seraiah was the last high priest of the monarchy; his son Jehozadak was father of Jeshua, who returned to serve at the rebuilt temple (Haggai 1:1).
- 1 Chronicles 6:22a The Hebrew genealogy of the Kohathites here differs from the account found in Exodus 6, which does not list Amminadab as a son of Kohath.
- 1 Chronicles 6:28a The Masoretic Text lacks the name Joel, reading "the firstborn Vashni, and Abijah." Most likely Joel dropped out by scribal error and vashni is a misreading of veshsheni, 'and the second'. The name is restored here from the Septuagint and from 1 Samuel 8:2, which names Samuel's sons as Joel and Abijah.
- 1 Chronicles 6:31a The phrase renders Hebrew mimmenoach ha'aron, literally 'from the resting of the ark', alluding to David's transfer of the ark to the tent he pitched in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:17). The song service thus began once the ark had a settled place, though the temple itself was not yet built. In the Hebrew text this verse is numbered 6:16.
- 1 Chronicles 6:32a The Hebrew distinguishes between the mishkan, 'tabernacle', and the 'ohel mo'ed, 'tent of meeting'.
- 1 Chronicles 6:34a The name Eliel (אֱלִיאֵל) means 'God is my God'. This figure is called Elihu in 1 Samuel 1:1.
- 1 Chronicles 6:39a This Asaph, appointed alongside Heman as a Levitical singer, is the figure named in the superscriptions of Psalm 50 and Psalms 73–83. The genealogy places him in the line of Gershom, distinguishing his family from the Kohathite line of Heman traced in the preceding verses; the phrase 'at his right hand' marks his position of honor in the temple choir.
- 1 Chronicles 6:49a The verb kipper (כִּפֶּר), 'to make atonement', is the technical term for the priestly work of purging sin and impurity, possibly related to a root meaning 'to cover' or 'to wipe away'. The Chronicler here distinguishes the sacrificial ministry reserved to Aaron's line from the broader tabernacle service assigned to the other Levites in the preceding verse. In the Hebrew text this verse is numbered 6:34.
- 1 Chronicles 6:54a The allotment by lot refers to the distribution of Levitical cities recorded in Joshua 21, where the descendants of Aaron among the Kohathites received the first portion (Joshua 21:10). In the Masoretic Text this verse is numbered 6:39, since the Hebrew chapter division of 1 Chronicles 6 differs from that of most English versions.
- 1 Chronicles 6:57a Hebrew reads arei ha-miqlat, 'the cities of refuge', in the plural, although of the towns listed only Hebron held that status (Joshua 20:7). The parallel list in Joshua 21:13 uses the singular, 'the city of refuge for the manslayer'; the Chronicler's plural likely functions as a heading for the whole Aaronic allotment rather than a claim about each town.
- 1 Chronicles 6:58a The Masoretic Text reads Hilen here, but some Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint have Holon. Both readings are attested.
- 1 Chronicles 6:59a The Masoretic Text reads Ashan here, but a textual tradition reflected in some Septuagint manuscripts and Joshua 21:16 has Ain.
- 1 Chronicles 6:69a Many Hebrew manuscripts read Eltekeh instead of Gath-Rimmon. Both forms appear in various lists of Levitical cities.
- 1 Chronicles 6:70a The Masoretic Text reads Bileam here, but several Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions, including the Septuagint, read Ibleam.
- 1 Chronicles 6:77a Some Hebrew manuscripts read Nahalal instead of Tabor, which appears in the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint supports the Masoretic Text reading of Tabor.
- 1 Chronicles 6:78a Hebrew me'ever leYarden Yerecho, literally 'across the Jordan of Jericho', uses Jericho as a fixed landmark on the west bank to orient the reader; the added phrase 'on the east side' confirms the writer's vantage point west of the river. Bezer, the first city named, also served as a city of refuge for the Transjordan tribes (Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8).
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