10. And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall observe and attend to their priest's office; but the excluded [anyone daring to assume priestly duties or privileges who is not of the house of Aaron and called of God] who comes near [the holy things] shall be put to death.
11. And the Lord said to Moses,
12. Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites; and the Levites shall be Mine,
13. For all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast; Mine they shall be. I am the Lord.
14. And the Lord said to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai,
15. Number the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses and by families. Every male from a month old and upward you shall number.
16. So Moses numbered them as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.
17. These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19. The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20. The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers' houses.
21. Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
22. The males who were numbered of them from a month old and upward totaled 7,500.
23. The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west,
24. The leader of the fathers' houses of the Gershonites being Eliasaph son of Lael.
25. And the responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
26. And the hangings of the court, the curtain for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its cords, and all the service pertaining to them.