¹² Then these Levites arose: ^(A)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ^(B)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ^(A)ruler of the house of God.

⁷ Of the ^(A)Gershonites: ^[a]Laadan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, ^[b]Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.

^12 (B)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. ¹³ The sons of ^(C)Amram: Aaron and Moses; and ^(D)Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should ^[c]sanctify the most holy things, ^(E)to burn incense before the Lord, ^(F)to minister to Him, and ^(G)to give the blessing in His name forever. ¹⁴ Now ^(H)the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. ^15 (I)The sons of Moses were ^[d]Gershon and Eliezer. ¹⁶ Of the sons of Gershon, ^(J)Shebuel^[e] was the first. ¹⁷ Of the descendants of Eliezer, ^(K)Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸ Of the sons of Izhar, ^(L)Shelomith was the first. ^19 (M)Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.

^21 (N)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and ^(O)Kish. ²² And Eleazar died, and ^(P)had no sons, but only daughters; and their ^[f]brethren, the sons of Kish, ^(Q)took them as wives. ^23 (R)The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his ^[a]brethren; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren;

⁴⁴ Their brethren, the sons of Merari, on the left hand, were ^[a]Ethan the son of ^[b]Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,

¹⁶ The sons of Levi were ^(A)Gershon,^[a] Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. Now these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers: ²⁰ Of Gershon were Libni his son, Jahath his son, ^(B)Zimmah his son, ^21 [b]Joah his son, ^[c]Iddo his son, Zerah his son, and ^[d]Jeatherai his son.

² “Take a census of the sons of ^(A)Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, ^3 (B)from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.

^4 (C)“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to ^(D)the most holy things: ⁵ When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down ^(E)the covering veil and cover the ^(F)ark of the Testimony with it. ⁶ Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of ^(G)blue; and they shall insert ^(H)its poles.

⁷ “On the ^(I)table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the ^[a]pitchers for pouring; and the ^(J)showbread^[b] shall be on it. ⁸ They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ⁹ And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the ^(K)lampstand of the light, ^(L)with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it. ¹⁰ Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam.

¹¹ “Over ^(M)the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ¹² Then they shall take all the ^(N)utensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam. ¹³ Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the ^[c]basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles. ¹⁵ And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then ^(O)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; ^(P)but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.

“^(Q)These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶ “The appointed duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is ^(R)the oil for the light, the ^(S)sweet incense, ^(T)the daily grain offering, the ^(U)anointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ¹⁸ “Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹ but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach ^(V)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and ^[d]appoint each of them to his service and his task. ^20 (W)But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”

¹⁹ And the sons of ^(A)Kohath by their families: ^(B)Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^20 (C)And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

^17 (A)These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.