⁴⁷ But ^(A)the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; ⁴⁸ for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: ^49 (B)“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; ^50 (C)but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it ^(D)and camp around the tabernacle. ^51 (E)And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it ^(F)up. ^(G)The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵² The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, ^(H)everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; ^53 (I)but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no ^(J)wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall ^(K)keep^[a] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴ Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.

^6 (A)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷ And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do ^(B)the work of the tabernacle. ⁸ Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹ And ^(C)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to ^[a]him from among the children of Israel. ¹⁰ So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, ^(D)and they shall attend to their priesthood; ^(E)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² “Now behold, ^(F)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be ^(G)Mine, ¹³ because ^(H)all the firstborn are Mine. ^(I)On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”

Census of the Levites Commanded^(J)

¹⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: ¹⁵ “Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number ^(K)every male from a month old and above.”

¹⁶ So Moses numbered them according to the ^[b]word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

⁹ Is it ^(A)a small thing to you that the God of Israel has ^(B)separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;

^57 (A)And these are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸ These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begot Amram. ⁵⁹ The name of Amram’s wife was ^(B)Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. ^60 (C)To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹ And ^(D)Nadab and Abihu died when they offered profane fire before the Lord.

^62 (E)Now those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and above; ^(F)for they were not numbered among the other children of Israel, because there was ^(G)no inheritance given to them among the children of Israel.

⁸ At that time ^(A)the Lord ^[a]separated the tribe of Levi ^(B)to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ^(C)to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and ^(D)to bless in His name, to this day.