12-13. “I destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt. At that time I chose all the firstborn from every family in Israel to be mine in a special way. That included all the firstborn men and animals. But now I am choosing the Levites to take their place. Now they will be my special servants. I, the Lord, give this command!”
14. The Lord again said to Moses in the desert of Sinai,
15. “Count all the families and family groups in the tribe of Levi. Count every man or boy who is one month old or older.”
16. So Moses obeyed the Lord. He counted them all.
17. Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18. Each son was the leader of several family groups. The Gershon family groups were Libni and Shimei.
19. The Kohath family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20. The Merari family groups were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families that belonged to Levi’s family group.
21. The families of Libni and Shimei belonged to the family of Gershon. They were the Gershonite family groups.
22. There were 7500 men and boys over one month old in these two family groups.
23. The Gershonite family groups were told to camp in the west. They made their camp behind the Holy Tent.
24. The leader of the family groups of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.