Numbers 3:14–39

¹⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses ^ain the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵“^1aNumber the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the ¹word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded.

^17aThese then are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

¹⁸These are the names of the ^asons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei;

¹⁹and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel;

²⁰and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

²²Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500.

²³The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the ¹tabernacle westward,

²⁴and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Duties of the Priests

²⁵Now ^athe duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and ^bthe tent, its covering, and ^cthe screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting,

²⁶and ^athe hangings of the court, and ^bthe screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service ¹concerning them.

²⁷Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle,

³⁰and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families was ¹Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹Now ^atheir duties involved ^bthe ark, ^cthe table, ^dthe lampstand, ^ethe altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service ¹concerning them;

³²and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi, and had the oversight of those who perform the duties of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari.

³⁴Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

³⁵The leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to ^acamp on the northward side of the tabernacle.

³⁶Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment, and the service concerning them,

³⁷and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords.

³⁸Now those who were to ^acamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but ^bthe ¹layman coming near was to be put to death.

³⁹All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the ¹command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were ^a22,000.