Duties of the Levites

Numbers 3

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶ Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, so that they may assist him. ⁷ They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, doing service at the tabernacle; ⁸ they shall be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the Israelites as they do service at the tabernacle. ⁹ You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his descendants; they are unreservedly given to him from among the Israelites. ¹⁰ But you shall make a register of Aaron and his descendants; it is they who shall attend to the priesthood, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² I hereby accept the Levites from among the Israelites as substitutes for all the firstborn that open the womb among the Israelites. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³ for all the firstborn are mine; when I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the Lord.

¹⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: ¹⁵ Enroll the Levites by ancestral houses and by clans. You shall enroll every male from a month old and upward. ¹⁶ So Moses enrolled them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷ The following were the sons of Levi, by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸ These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ The sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their ancestral houses.

²¹ To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. ²² Their enrollment, counting all the males from a month old and upward, was seven thousand five hundred. ²³ The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴ with Eliasaph son of Lael as head of the ancestral house of the Gershonites. ²⁵ The responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the hangings of the court, the screen for the entrance of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords--all the service pertaining to these.

²⁷ To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. ²⁸ Counting all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary. ²⁹ The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰ with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as head of the ancestral house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹ Their responsibility was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen--all the service pertaining to these. ³² Eleazar son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.

³³ To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴ Their enrollment, counting all the males from a month old and upward, was six thousand two hundred. ³⁵ The head of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ The responsibility assigned to the sons of Merari was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories--all the service pertaining to these; ³⁷ also the pillars of the court all around, with their bases and pegs and cords.

³⁸ Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east--in front of the tent of meeting toward the east--were Moses and Aaron and Aaron's sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the Israelites; and any outsider who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹ The total enrollment of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron enrolled at the commandment of the Lord, by their clans, all the males from a month old and upward, was twenty-two thousand.