35. and the prince of the house of the father of the families of Merari, Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle to the Aquilon.
36. And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle and the bars thereof and the pillars thereof and the sockets thereof and all the instruments thereof, with all its service,
37. and the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their stakes and their cords.
38. And those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the tabernacle of the testimony towards the sunrise, shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
39. All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron, according to the word of the Lord, numbered by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
40. And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward and take the number of their names.
41. And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the animals of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the animals of the sons of Israel.
42. And Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.
43. And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
44. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
45. Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the animals of the Levites instead of their animals, and the Levites shall be mine; I am the Lord.
46. And for the ransoms of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the sons of Israel, who are more than the Levites,