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. ¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^(E)they shall guard their priesthood. But if ^(F)any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Behold, ^(G)I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³ for ^(H)all the firstborn are mine. ^(I)On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

The Inheritance for Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, ^(A)and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. ^2 (B)And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, ⁸ together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. ^9 (C)The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

Descendants of Simeon

^24 (A)The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; ²⁵ Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. ²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, ^(B)nor did all their clan multiply ^(C)like the men of Judah. ^28 (D)They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, ^29 (E)Bilhah, Ezem, ^(F)Tolad, ^30 (G)Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, ^(H)Hazar-susim, ^(I)Beth-biri, and ^(J)Shaaraim. These were their cities until David reigned. ³² And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, ³³ along with all their villages that were around these cities as far as ^(K)Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel, ³⁶ Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ Ziza the son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these mentioned by name were princes in their clans, ^(L)and their fathers' houses increased greatly. ³⁹ They journeyed to the entrance of ^(M)Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks,