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Rh the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given unto him from the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, that they may keep their priesthood; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.'

And the spoke unto Moses, saying: 'And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every first-born that openeth the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be Mine; for all the first-born are Mine: on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast, Mine they shall be: I am the .' And the  spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: 'Number the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.' And Moses numbered them according to the word of the, as he was commanded. And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses.

Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites. Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. The families of the Gershonites were to pitch behind the tabernacle westward; the prince of the fathers' house of the Gershonites being Eliasaph the son of Lael, and the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering thereof, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court—which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar, round about—and the cords of it, even whatsoever pertaineth to the service thereof.

And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites: according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, eight thousand and six hundred, keepers of the charge of the sanctuary. The families of the sons of Kohath were to pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward; the prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites being Elizaphan the son of Uzziel, and their charge the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith the priests minister, and the screen, and all that pertaineth to the service thereof; Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest being prince of the princes of the Levites, and having the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari. And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and