Numbers 3:5–37

⁵The Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi, and have them stand in front of the priest Aaron to assist him. ⁷They will work for him and the whole community in front of the tent of meeting, doing what needs to be done for the inner tent. ⁸They will take care of all the furnishings in the tent of meeting and work for the Israelites, doing what needs to be done for the inner tent. ⁹Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. The Levites will be the only Israelites given to them. ¹⁰Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to do the priests’ duties must be put to death.” 

¹¹The Lord said to Moses, ¹²“Out of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites to be substitutes for every firstborn male offspring among them. The Levites are mine, ¹³because every firstborn is mine. The day I killed every firstborn male in Egypt, I set apart as holy every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They will be mine. I am the Lord.” 

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, ¹⁵“Count the Levites by households and families. Count every male who is at least one month old.” ¹⁶So Moses did what the Lord said and registered them as he had been commanded. 

¹⁷Gershon, Kohath, and Merari were the sons of Levi. 

¹⁸Libni and Shimei were the sons of Gershon. Their families were named after them. 

¹⁹Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel were the sons of Kohath. Their families were named after them. 

²⁰Mahli and Mushi were the sons of Merari. Their families were named after them. 

These were the households of Levite families. 

²¹To Gershon belonged the families descended from Libni and Shimei. These were the families descended from Gershon. ²²The total number of all the males at least one month old was 7,500. ²³The families descended from Gershon put up their tents on the west side behind the tent of meeting. ²⁴The leader of the Gershonite households was Eliasaph, son of Lael. ²⁵At the tent of meeting the Gershonites were in charge of the inner tent, the outer tent and cover, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶the curtains for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the inner tent and the altar, and the ropes. They took care of all these things. 

²⁷To Kohath belonged the families descended from Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. These were the families descended from Kohath. ²⁸The number of all the males at least one month old was 8,600. They were in charge of the holy place. ²⁹The families descended from Kohath put up their tents on the south side of the tent of meeting. ³⁰The leader of the Kohathite families and households was Elizaphan, son of Uzziel. ³¹They were in charge of the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the utensils used in the holy place, and the screen. They took care of all these things. 

³²The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron. It was Eleazar’s duty to supervise those who were in charge of the holy place. 

³³To Merari belonged the families descended from Mahli and Mushi. These were the families descended from Merari. ³⁴The total number of all the males at least one month old was 6,200. ³⁵The leader of the Merarite families and households was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They put up their tents on the north side of the tent of meeting. ³⁶It was the duty of the Merarites to be in charge of the framework of the inner tent, the crossbars, posts, sockets, and all the equipment. They took care of all these things. ³⁷They also took care of the posts for the surrounding courtyard, the bases, pegs, and ropes.