28. all those of the male gender, from one month and above: eight thousand six hundred. They shall keep watch over the Sanctuary,
29. and they shall encamp toward the south side.
30. And their leader shall be Elisaphan the son of Uzziel.
31. And they shall take care of the ark, and the table and the lampstand, the altars and the vessels of the Sanctuary, by which they minister, and the veil, and all the articles of this kind.
32. But the leader of the leaders of the Levites, Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, shall be over those who watch over the care of the Sanctuary.
33. And truly, from Merari are the peoples of the Mahlites and Mushites, having been counted by their names,
34. all those of the male gender, from one month and above: six thousand two hundred.
35. Their leader is Suriel the son of Abihaiel. They shall make camp on the north side.
36. Under their care shall be the panels of the tabernacle, and the bars, and the columns with their bases, and all the things which pertain to service of this kind,
37. and the columns of the surrounding atrium with their bases, and the tent pegs with their cords.
38. Moses and Aaron, with their sons, shall make camp before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is, on the east side, holding the custody of the Sanctuary in the midst of the sons of Israel. Whatever foreigner approaches it shall die.
39. All the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by their families according to the precept of the Lord, of the male gender, from one month and above, were twenty-two thousand.
40. And the Lord said to Moses: "Number the firstborn of the male sex from the sons of Israel, from one month and above, and you shall take their total.
41. And you shall bring the Levites to me, in place of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and you shall bring their cattle to me, in place of all the firstborn of the cattle of the sons of Israel. I am the Lord."
42. Moses took a census, just as the Lord had instructed, of the firstborn of the sons of Israel.
43. And the males by their names, from one month and above, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: