“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel [since they are unavailable to go to war].

When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to [be set up for] camp, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman (non-Levite) who approaches the tabernacle shall be put to death.

“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them before Aaron the priest, so that they may serve him.

“Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families (clans). You shall number every male from a month old and upward.”

These are the [three] sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households,

But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march].

The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you [with divine approval],
And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life].’

and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications,

but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you;

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action,

then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.”

Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi,

and that He has brought you near [to Him], Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also?

and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households.

Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.

But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father (ancestor), so that they may join with you and serve you [as assistants], while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony [the Holy Place where only priests may go, and the Most Holy Place which only the high priest may enter].

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it.”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?

These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.

The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.

And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?

The congregation shall rescue the offender from the hand of the blood avenger and return him to his city of refuge, [the place] to which he had escaped; and he shall live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil.

Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom [in exchange] for the life of a murderer guilty and sentenced to death; but he shall certainly be put to death.

So you shall not pollute and defile the land in which you live; for [the shedding of innocent] blood pollutes and defiles the land. No atonement (expiation) can be made for the land for the [innocent] blood shed in it, except by the blood (execution) of him who shed it.

You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I live, for I, the Lord, live among the people of Israel.’”