Numbers 3:8-25
English Standard Version
Chapter 3
8They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death."
11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
12"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,
13for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord."
14And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
15"List the sons of Levi, by fathers ' houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list."
16So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.
17And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.
18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei.
19And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers ' houses.
21To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites.
22Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 7,500.
23The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west,
24with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers ' house of the Gershonites.
25And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,
