Gen 29:34, 49:5-7, Exo 6:16, Num 3:17-22, Num 4, Num 8, 26:57-58 | ESV | STEP | Again she conceived and bore a son , and said , Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons . Therefore his name was called Levi .

34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be ^aattached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ^{▼▼ Levi sounds like the Hebrew for attached}

Genesis 49:5-7

5 ^c“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons ^dof violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
^eO my glory, ^fbe not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they ^ghamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will ^hdivide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.

Exodus 6:16

16 These are the names of the ⁱsons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.

Numbers 3:17-22

17 ^jAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: ^kLibni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: ^lAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: ^mMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was ^{▼▼Hebrew their listing was} 7,500.

Numbers 4

Duties of the Kohathites

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 3 ^ofrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: ^pthe most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down ^qthe veil of the screen and cover ^rthe ark of the testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5} and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its ^tpoles. 7 And over the ^utable of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; ^vthe regular showbread also shall be on it. 8 Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall ^wput in its poles. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover ^xthe lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over ^ythe golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12 And they shall take all ^zthe vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that ^aathe sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, ^abbut they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of ^acthe oil for the light, the ^adfragrant incense, ^aethe regular grain offering, and ^afthe anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”

17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to ^agthe most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 ^ahbut they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”

21 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans. 23 ^aiFrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can ^ajcome to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 ^akthey shall carry ^althe curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with ^amits covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26 and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be ^anunder the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses. 30 ^aoFrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And ^apthis is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall ^aqlist by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, ^arunder the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35 ^asfrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 ^atThis was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 39 ^aufrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41 ^avThis was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 43 ^awfrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 ^axThis was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 47 ^ayfrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, ^azeach one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, ^baas the Lord commanded Moses.

Numbers 8

The Seven Lamps

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” 3 And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 And ^bbthis was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing of the Levites

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the ^bcwater of purification upon them, and ^bdlet them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8 Then let them take a bull from the herd and ^beits grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, ^bfand you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. 9 ^bgAnd you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting ^bhand assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. 10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel ^bishall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. 12 Then the Levites ^bjshall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer ^bkthe one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as ^bla wave offering to the Lord.

14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and ^bmthe Levites shall be mine. 15 And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a ^bnwave offering. 16 For they are ^bowholly given to me from among the people of Israel. ^bpInstead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17 ^bqFor all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18 and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. 19 ^brAnd I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and ^bsto make atonement for the people of Israel, ^btthat there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. 21 And ^buthe Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and ^bvAaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This applies to the Levites: ^bwfrom twenty-five years old and upward they ^{▼▼Hebrew he; also verses 25, 26} shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister ^{▼▼Hebrew He ministers} to their brothers in the tent of meeting ^bzby keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

Numbers 26:57-58

57 ^caThis was the list of the Levites according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58 These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.