The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites. ¹ 

King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

He then handed out to each Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

In a battle in Gath ¹  there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot – twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.

Look, you will have a son, who will be a peaceful man. ¹  I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. ²  Indeed, Solomon ³  will be his name; I will give Israel peace and quiet during his reign. ⁴ 

David said, “My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations. ²  Therefore I will make preparations for its construction.” So David made extensive preparations before he died.

He let no one oppress them, he disciplined kings for their sake,

Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, one of the thirty warriors and their leader,(12:5) ¹ Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,

Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise adviser and scribe; ¹  Jehiel son of Hacmoni cared for ²  the king’s sons.

along with Zadok, a young warrior, and twenty-two leaders from his family.

The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men. ¹ 

Benaiah was the leader of the thirty warriors and his division; his son was Ammizabad. ¹ 

But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, ¹  for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.’

Then all the people returned to their homes, and David went to pronounce a blessing on his family. ¹ 

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who established himself as a mighty warrior on earth. ¹ 

He even killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet ¹  tall. The Egyptian had a spear as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom; Benaiah attacked ²  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ¹ 

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab; ¹  he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day.

And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  You have revealed to me what men long to know, ²  O Lord God.

Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. All the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service. ¹  The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.” ²