5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring near the tribe of Levi, and ⌊set the tribe⌋f ⌊before Aaron⌋g the priest, and they will minister to him. 7 They shall observe his duties and the duties of the entire community before the tent of assembly, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 And they will keep all the vessels of the tent of assembly and the responsibilities of the ⌊Israelites⌋,h to do the worki of the tabernacle. 9 You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they are surely assigned to him from among the ⌊Israelites⌋.j 10 But you will count Aaron and his descendants; they will keep their priesthood, and the strangerk who approaches will be put to death.”

11 Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 12 “I myself receive the Levites from the midst of the ⌊Israelites⌋l in the place of all the firstborn of the offspring of the womb from the ⌊Israelites⌋.m The Levites will be mine 13 because all the firstborn are mine; on the day of my killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, ⌊both humankind and animal⌋;n they will be mine. I am Yahweh.”

14 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying, 15 “Mustero the descendants of Levi according to ⌊their families⌋,p according to their clans. You will count every male from ⌊one month⌋q and above.” 16 So Moses musteredr them according to the ⌊command of Yahweh⌋,s just as he commanded. 17 These were the sons of Levi according to their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath according to their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 The sons of Merari according to their tribes: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to ⌊their families⌋.t

21 ⌊To Gershon belonged⌋u the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these are the clans of the Gershonites. 22 The ⌊ones counted⌋v according to the number of every male from ⌊one month⌋w and above were seven thousand five hundred. 23 The clans of the Gershonites will camp behind the tabernacle to the west, 24 and the leader of ⌊the family⌋x of the Gershonites is Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 And the responsibility of the descendants of Gershon in the tent of assembly is the tabernacle, and the tent covering it and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of the assembly, 26 and the hangings of the courtyard and the curtain of the doorway of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its tent cords, all of its use.

27 ⌊To Kohath belonged⌋y the clan of Amramites,z the clan of the Izharites,a the clan of the Hebronites,b and the clan of the Uzzielites;c these were the clans of the Kohathites.d 28 According to the number of every male from ⌊one month⌋e and above there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary. 29 The clan of the descendants of Kohath will encamp on the side of the tabernacle to the south. 30 The leader of ⌊his family⌋f according to the clans of the Kohathitesg is Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all of its use. 32 The ⌊chief of the leaders⌋h of the Levitesi was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest who had oversight of those keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

33 ⌊To Merari belonged⌋j the clan of Mahlitesk and the clan of the Mushites:l these are the clans of Merari. 34 The ⌊ones counted⌋m according to the number of every male from ⌊one month⌋n and above were six thousand two hundred. 35 The leader of ⌊the family⌋o according to the clans of Merari is Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north. 36 The responsibility of the sons of Merari was the supervision of the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, and all its vessels and all its service, 37 and the pillars around the courtyard, and their bases, pegs, and cords.

38 Those encamped before the tabernacle to the east—before the tent of assembly to the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons; they will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary ⌊for the Israelites⌋;p and the strangerq who approaches will be put to death. 39 All those counted from the Levites whom Moses and Aaron musteredr according to ⌊the word of Yahweh⌋,s according to their clans, every male from ⌊one month⌋t and above were twenty-two thousand.

40 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Muster every firstborn male from the ⌊Israelites⌋u from ⌊one month⌋v and above and ⌊count⌋w their names. 41 And you will receive the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—in the place of all the firstborn among the ⌊Israelites⌋,x and the animalsy of the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the animalsz among the ⌊Israelites⌋.”a 42 So Moses musteredb all the firstborn among the ⌊Israelites⌋c just as Yahweh commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn malesd among the number of names from ⌊one month⌋e and above, the ⌊ones counted⌋,f were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

44 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Receive the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the ⌊Israelites⌋,g and the animals of the Levites in the place of their animals; the Levites will be mine. I am Yahweh. 46 And the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the ⌊Israelites⌋h who are excessive over the Levites, 47 you will receive five shekels a person, in the sanctuary shekel; you will collect twenty gerahsi per shekel. 48 You will give the money to Aaron, and to his sons the ransom of the ones who are excessive among them.” 49 And Moses received the money of the redemption from the ones who were excessive from those redeemed of the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the ⌊Israelites⌋j he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, in the sanctuary shekel. 51 And Moses gave the money of the ransom to Aaron and to his sons according to the ⌊word⌋k of Yahweh just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

The Census of the Kohathites

4 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “⌊Take a census⌋a of the descendantsb of Kohath from the midst of the descendantsc of Levi, according to their clans and ⌊their families⌋,d 3 from ⌊thirty years old⌋e and above, up to ⌊fifty years old⌋,f everyone who comes to the service to do the work in the tent of assembly. 4 This is the work of the descendantsg of Kohath in the tent of assembly, concerning the holiness of the sanctuary: 5 When setting out the camp, Aaron and his sons will go and lower the curtain of the covering and cover with it the ark of the testimony.h 6 They will put on it a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋,i and they will spread a cloth of perfect blue over it, and they will place its poles. 7 And over the table of the presence they will spread out a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes, and libation bowls, and the pitchers of the libation; and the bread of continuity will be on it. 8 They will spread over it a scarlet cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋,j and they will place its poles. 9 They will take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light source, its lamps, a pair of its tongs, its small pans, and all the vessels of its oil with which they attend to it. 10 They will put it and all its vessels inside a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋k and put it on the carrying frame. 11 Over the altar of gold they will spread a blue cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋l and place its poles. 12 They will take all the vessels of the cultic service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them on a blue cloth, and they will cover them with a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋;m and they will put them on the carrying frame. 13 They will remove the fat-soaked ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it; 14 they will put on it all the vessels with which they serve, the fire pans, forks, shovels, and bowls—all the vessels of the altar. They will spread on it a covering of ⌊fine leather⌋;n and they will place its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary when the camp sets out, the descendantso of Kohath will come after to carry these, but they must not touch the sanctuary, or they will die. These are the load of the descendantsp of Kohath in the tent of assembly.

16 “Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is to supervise the oil of the light source, the incense, ⌊the regular grain offering⌋,q the oil of anointment, the supervision of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels.”

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathitesr from the midst of the Levites. 19 Do this to them and they will live and not die when they come near the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will go and appoint them, each one to his task and burden. 20 But they must not go and look ⌊for a moment⌋s at the holy objects.”

21 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 22 “⌊Take a census⌋t of the descendantsu of Gershon also, according to ⌊their families⌋v and clans, 23 from ⌊those thirty years old⌋w and above until ⌊fifty years old⌋;x you will mustery them, all who come to help to do the work of the tent of assembly. 24 This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites:z to serve and to carry. 25 They will carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of assembly and its covering and the covering of ⌊fine leather⌋,a which ⌊is on top of it⌋,b and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of assembly, 26 and the curtains of the courtyard, and the covering for the doorway of the gate of the courtyard, which is all around on the tabernacle and altar, and their cords and all the vessels of their work; and all that is done to them they will do. 27 And all the work of the descendantsc of the Gershonitesd will be at ⌊the command⌋e of Aaron …