8. The Israelites should protect everything in the Meeting Tent; it is their duty. But the Levites will serve the Israelites by caring for these things. This will be their way of serving at the Holy Tent.
9. “Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. The Levites were chosen from all the Israelites to help Aaron and his sons.
10. “Appoint Aaron and his sons to be priests. They must do their duty and serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to come near the holy things must be killed.”
11. The Lord also said to Moses,
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.
25. In the Meeting Tent, the Gershonites had the job of taking care of the Holy Tent, the outer tent, and the covering. They also took care of the curtain at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
26. They cared for the curtain in the courtyard. And they cared for the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. This courtyard was around the Holy Tent and the altar. And they cared for the ropes and for everything that was used with the curtains.
27. The families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel belonged to the family of Kohath. They were the Kohathite family groups.
28. In this family group there were 8300 men and boys a month old or over. The Kohathites were given the job of taking care of the things in the Holy Place.
29. The Kohathite family groups were given the area to the south of the Holy Tent. This was the area where they camped.