Duties of the Levites

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^6 (A)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷ They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ^(B)as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁸ They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹ And ^(C)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are ^(D)wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.

²⁵ And the ^(A)guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved ^(B)the tabernacle, ^(C)the tent with ^(D)its covering, ^(E)the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ^26 (F)the hangings of the court, ^(G)the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^(H)its cords—all the service connected with these.

²⁹ The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰ with ^(A)Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹ And their guard duty involved ^(B)the ark, ^(C)the table, ^(D)the lampstand, ^(E)the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and ^(F)the screen; all the service connected with these.

³⁵ And the chief of the fathers' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ^36 (A)And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the ^(B)frames of the tabernacle, ^(C)the bars, ^(D)the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; ³⁷ also ^(E)the pillars around the court, with their bases and ^(F)pegs and ^(G)cords.