Numbers 3:5–37

⁵The Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to help him. ⁷They will help him and all the Israelites at the Meeting Tent, doing the work in the Holy Tent. ⁸The Levites must take care of everything in the Meeting Tent and serve the people of Israel by doing the work in the Holy Tent. ⁹Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; of all the Israelites, the Levites are given completely to him. ¹⁰Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests, but anyone else who comes near the holy things must be put to death.”

¹¹The Lord also said to Moses, ¹²“I am choosing the Levites from all the Israelites to take the place of all the firstborn children of Israel. The Levites will be mine, ¹³because the firstborn are mine. When you were in Egypt, I killed all the firstborn children of the Egyptians and took all the firstborn of Israel to be mine, both animals and children. They are mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴The Lord again said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, ¹⁵“Count the Levites by families and family groups. Count every male one month old or older.” ¹⁶So Moses obeyed the Lord and counted them all.

¹⁷Levi had three sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸The Gershonite family groups were Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The Kohathite family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰The Merarite family groups were Mahli and Mushi.

These were the family groups of the Levites.

²¹The family groups of Libni and Shimei belonged to Gershon; they were the Gershonite family groups. ²²The number that was counted was 7,500 males one month old or older. ²³The Gershonite family groups camped on the west side, behind the Holy Tent. ²⁴The leader of the families of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵In the Meeting Tent the Gershonites were in charge of the Holy Tent, its covering, the curtain at the entrance to the Meeting Tent, ²⁶the curtains in the courtyard, the curtain at the entry to the courtyard around the Holy Tent and the altar, the ropes, and all the work connected with these items.

²⁷The family groups of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel belonged to Kohath; they were the Kohathite family groups. ²⁸They had 8,600 males one month old or older, and they were responsible for taking care of the Holy Place. ²⁹The Kohathite family groups camped south of the Holy Tent. ³⁰The leader of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹They were responsible for the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the tools of the Holy Place which they were to use, the curtain, and all the work connected with these items. ³²The main leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, who was in charge of all those responsible for the Holy Place.

³³The family groups of Mahli and Mushi belonged to Merari; they were the Merarite family groups. ³⁴The number that was counted was 6,200 males one month old or older. ³⁵The leader of the Merari families was Zuriel son of Abihail, and they were to camp north of the Holy Tent. ³⁶The Merarites were responsible for the frames of the Holy Tent, the braces, the posts, the bases, and all the work connected with these items. ³⁷They were also responsible for the posts in the courtyard around the Holy Tent and their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.