5 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 6 Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them before Aaron, the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7 And they shall keep his commandment and the commandment of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the testimony, to minister in the service of the tabernacle. 8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the testimony and the charge of the sons of Israel, to minister in the service of the tabernacle. 9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are completely given unto him out of the sons of Israel. 10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons that they shall guard their priesthood; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
11 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 12 Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the sons of Israel; therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13 because all the firstborn are mine; from the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both of men and of animals; they shall be mine: I am the LORD.
14 The LORD also spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers, by their families; thou shalt number every male from a month old and upward. 16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the houses of their fathers.
21 Of Gershon was the family of Libni and the family of Shimei; these are the families of Gershon. 22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. 23 The families of Gershon shall pitch behind the tabernacle to the west; 24 and the prince of the house of the father of the Gershonites, Eliasaph, son of Lael. 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the testimony shall be the tabernacle and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, 26 and the hangings of the court and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.
27 And of Kohath was the family of Amram and the family of Izehar and the family of Hebron and the family of Uzziel; these are the families of the Kohathites. 28 In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle towards the Negev; 30 and the prince of the house of the father of the families of Kohath, Elizaphan, son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge shall be the ark and the table and the lampstand and the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the veil, with all its service. 32 And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be principal over the princes of the Levites and have the oversight of those that keep the charge of the sanctuary.
33 Of Merari was the family of Mahli and the family of Mushi; these are the families of Merari. 34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred; 35 and the prince of the house of the father of the families of Merari, Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle to the Aquilon. 36 And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle and the bars thereof and the pillars thereof and the sockets thereof and all the instruments thereof, with all its service, 37 and the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their stakes and their cords.
38 And those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the tabernacle of the testimony towards the sunrise, shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death. 39 All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron, according to the word of the LORD, numbered by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.