Numbers 3:5–37

⁵And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ^6dBring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. ⁷And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, ^eto do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, ^eto do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹And ^fthou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. ¹⁰And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, ^gand they shall wait on their priest’s office: ^hand the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. ¹¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ¹²And I, behold, ⁱI have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; ¹³Because ^kall the firstborn are mine; ^lfor on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

¹⁴And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: ^mevery male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. ¹⁶And Moses numbered them according to the ^†word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷ⁿAnd 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 families; ^oLibni, and ^oShimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their families; ^pAmram, and ^pIzehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their families; ^qMahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. ²²Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. ^23rThe families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵And ^sthe charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be ^tthe tabernacle, and ^uthe tent, ^xthe covering thereof, and ^ythe hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, ²⁶And ^zthe hangings of the court, and ^athe curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and ^bthe cords of it for all the service thereof.

^27cAnd of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the ^cIzeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. ²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch ^don the side of the tabernacle southward. ³⁰And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be ^eElizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹And their charge shall be ^fthe ark, and ^gthe table, and ^hthe candlestick, and ⁱthe altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and ^kthe hanging, and all the service thereof. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. ³⁴And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred. ³⁵And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward. ³⁶And ^†under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be ^lthe boards of the tabernacle, and ^mthe bars thereof, and ⁿthe pillars thereof, and ^othe sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, ³⁷And ^pthe pillars of the court round about, and ^ptheir sockets, and ^qtheir pins, and ^rtheir cords.