¹¹ and Aaron shall present the Levites before the Lord as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may do the service of the Lord.

³⁰ Your own hands shall bring the Lord’s offering by fire;^[a] you shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be raised as an elevation offering before the Lord.

²⁰ Then the priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is offered. After that the nazirites may drink wine.

The Duties of the Levites

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, so that they may assist him.^{(A) 7} They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, doing service at the tabernacle; ⁸ they shall be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and attend to the duties for the Israelites as they do service at the tabernacle. ⁹ You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his descendants; they are unreservedly given to him from among the Israelites.^{(B) 10} But you shall enroll Aaron and his descendants; it is they who shall attend to the priesthood, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”^(C)

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites as substitutes for all the firstborn that open the womb among the Israelites. The Levites shall be mine,^{(D) 13} for all the firstborn are mine; when I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the Lord.”^(E)

A Census of the Levites

¹⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵ “Enroll the Levites by ancestral houses and by clans. You shall enroll every male from a month old and up.”^{(F) 16} So Moses enrolled them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi, by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.^{(G) 18} These were the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ The sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, by their ancestral houses.^(H)

²¹ To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites.^{(I) 22} Their enrollment, counting all the males from a month old and up, was seven thousand five hundred. ²³ The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴ with Eliasaph son of Lael as head of the ancestral house of the Gershonites. ²⁵ The responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,^{(J) 26} the hangings of the court, the screen for the entrance of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords—all the service pertaining to these.

²⁷ To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.^{(K) 28} Counting all the males, from a month old and up, there were eight thousand six hundred performing the duties of the sanctuary. ²⁹ The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,^{(L) 30} with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as head of the ancestral house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹ Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen—all the service pertaining to these. ³² Eleazar son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites and to have oversight of those who performed the duties of the sanctuary.

³³ To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; these were the clans of Merari.^{(M) 34} Their enrollment, counting all the males from a month old and up, was six thousand two hundred. ³⁵ The head of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ The responsibility assigned to the sons of Merari was the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories—all the service pertaining to these,^{(N) 37} also the pillars of the court all around, with their bases and pegs and cords.

³⁸ Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east—in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise—were Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons, who were to perform the duties of the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the Israelites, and any outsider who came near was to be put to death.^{(O) 39} The total enrollment of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron enrolled at the commandment of the Lord, by their clans, all the males from a month old and up, was twenty-two thousand.^(P)

The Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Enroll all the firstborn males of the Israelites, from a month old and up, and count their names. ⁴¹ But you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—as substitutes for all the firstborn among the Israelites and the livestock of the Levites as substitutes for all the firstborn among the livestock of the Israelites.”^{(Q) 42} So Moses enrolled all the firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³ The total enrollment, all the firstborn males from a month old and up, counting the number of names, was twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.^(R)

⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not enroll, and you shall not take a census of them with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ Rather, you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the covenant and over all its equipment and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its equipment, and they shall tend it and shall camp around the tabernacle.^{(A) 51} When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.^{(B) 52} The other Israelites shall camp in their respective regimental camps, by companies,^{(C) 53} but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the covenant, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the Israelites, and the Levites shall perform the duties of the tabernacle of the covenant.”^(D)

²⁹ Moses took the breast and raised it as an elevation offering before the Lord; it was Moses’s portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(A)

²⁷ He placed all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons and raised them as an elevation offering before the Lord.

²⁴ and you shall place all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord.^(A)