Numbers 3:5-37

Duties of the Levites

5And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 ^a“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ^bas they minister at the tabernacle. 8They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9And ^cyou shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are ^dwholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^ethey shall guard their priesthood. But if ^fany outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Behold, ^gI have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13for ^hall the firstborn are mine. ⁱOn the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

14And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15“List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; ^jevery male from a month old and upward you shall list.” 16So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17 ^kAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: ^lLibni and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath by their clans: ^mAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari by their clans: ⁿMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

21To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was ▼

▼Hebrew their listing was

7,500. 23 ^pThe clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. 25And the ^qguard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved ^rthe tabernacle, ^sthe tent with ^tits covering, ^uthe screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 ^vthe hangings of the court, ^wthe screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^xits cords—all the service connected with these.

27To Kohath belonged the clan of the ^yAmramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. 28According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. 29The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30with ^zElizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31And their guard duty involved ^aathe ark, ^abthe table, ^acthe lampstand, ^adthe altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and ^aethe screen; all the service connected with these. 32And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

33To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. 34Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. 35And the chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 ^afAnd the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the ^agframes of the tabernacle, ^ahthe bars, ^aithe pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; 37also ^ajthe pillars around the court, with their bases and ^akpegs and ^alcords.