Duties of the Levites

⁴⁷ But the Levites^(A) were not registered with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For the Lord had told Moses, ⁴⁹ “Do not register or take a census of the tribe of Levi with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. ⁵¹ Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized^(B) person who comes near it is to be put to death.^(C)

⁵² “The Israelites are to camp by their military divisions, each man with his encampment and under his banner. ⁵³ The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the Israelite community.”^{(D) 54} The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(E)