Numbers 3:29-41
English Standard Version
Chapter 3
29The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers ' house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service connected with these. 32And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.
33To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari.
34Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200.
35And the chief of the fathers ' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
36And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these;
37also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords.
38Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.
39All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
40And the Lord said to Moses, "List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names.
41And you shall take the Levites for me — I am the Lord — instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel."
