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)

Materials of the Tabernacle

²¹ These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant, which were drawn up at the commandment of Moses, the work of the Levites being under the direction of Ithamar son of the priest Aaron.^(A)

¹⁵ When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the Kohathites shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, or they will die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the Kohathites are to carry.^(A)

The Two Tablets of the Covenant

¹⁸ When God^[a] finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.^(A)

²² And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.^(A)

¹⁰ I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who had conducted the service had gone back to their fields.^{(A) 11} So I contended with the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.^{(B) 12} Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.^{(C) 13} And I appointed as treasurers over the treasuries Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful, and their duty was to distribute to their associates.^(D)

Families of the Levites and Their Functions

23 When David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.^(A)

² David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ The Levites, thirty years old and up, were counted, and the total head count of men was thirty-eight thousand.^{(B) 4} “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges,^{(C) 5} four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”^{(D) 6} And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.^(E)

⁷ The sons of Gershon^[a] were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of families of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were enrolled as a single family.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.^{(F) 13} The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, so that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever,^{(G) 14} but as for Moses the man of God, his sons were to be reckoned among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.^{(H) 17} The son of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief; Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.^{(I) 22} Eleazar died having no sons but only daughters; their kindred, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses, the heads of families as they were enrolled according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and up who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord.^{(J) 25} For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he resides in Jerusalem forever.^{(K) 26} And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service”^(L)— ²⁷ for according to the last words of David these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and up— ²⁸ “but their duty shall be to assist the descendants of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God; ²⁹ to assist also with the rows of bread, the choice flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size.^{(M) 30} And they shall stand every morning thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons, and appointed festivals, according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord.^{(N) 32} Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary and shall attend the descendants of Aaron, their kindred, for the service of the house of the Lord.”^(O)

¹¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.^(A)

²⁵ They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting with its covering, and the outer covering of fine leather^[a] that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,^{(A) 26} and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service, and they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. ²⁷ All the service of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do, and you shall assign to them as duties all that they are to carry.^{(B) 28} This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites relating to the tent of meeting, and their duties are to be under the oversight of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ “As for the Merarites, you shall enroll them by their clans and their ancestral houses; ³⁰ from thirty years old up to fifty years old you shall enroll them, everyone who qualifies to do the work of the tent of meeting.^{(C) 31} This is their duty to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases,^{(D) 32} and the pillars of the court all around with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their related service, and you shall assign by name the objects that they are required to carry. ³³ This is the service of the clans of the Merarites, the whole of their service relating to the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”^(E)