{And Yahweh was angry with} Moses and said, "[Is there] not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he certainly can speak, and also there he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.

And the sons of Merari [are] Mahli and Mushi. These [are] clans of the Levites according to their genealogies.

And Eleazar the son of Aaron took for himself [one] from the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore for him Phinehas. These [are] the heads of the {families} of the Levites according to their clans.

These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which [were] recorded at the {command of} Moses, the work of the Levites, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

" 'As for the cities of the Levites, [that is], the houses in their property's cities, it shall be {a lasting redemption} for the Levites.

And whatever [anyone] redeems from the Levites then must go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, [including] a house's selling {in his city's property}, because the houses in the cities of the Levites [are] their property in the midst of the {Israelites}.

The Levites from their ancestors' tribe were not mustered in their midst.

And when the tabernacle is set out, the Levites will {take it down}, and when encamping the tabernacle the Levites will set it up; the stranger that approaches [it] will be put to death.

But the Levites will encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony, and there will not be wrath on the community of the {Israelites}; and the Levites will keep the requirements of the tabernacle of the testimony."

"The tent of assembly the camp of the Levites will set out in the midst of the camps; they will set out just as they encamped, {each according to their standards}.

The Levites were not counted in the midst of the {Israelites}, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they [are] surely assigned to him from among the {Israelites}.

"I [myself] receive the Levites from the midst of the {Israelites} in the place of all [the] firstborn of [the] offspring of the womb from the {Israelites}. The Levites will be mine

The sons of Merari according to their tribes: Mahli and Mushi. These [are] the clans of the Levites according to {their families}.

The {chief of the leaders} of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest [who had] oversight of those keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

All those counted from the Levites whom Moses and Aaron mustered according to {the word of Yahweh}, according to their clans, every male from {one month} and above [were] twenty-two thousand.

And you will receive the Levites for me--I [am] Yahweh--in the place of all [the] firstborn among the {Israelites}, and the animals of the Levites in the place of all [the] firstborn among the animals among the {Israelites}."

"Receive the Levites in the place of all [the] firstborn among the {Israelites}, and the animals of the Levites in the place of their animals; the Levites will be mine. I [am] Yahweh.

And the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the {Israelites} who are excessive over the Levites,

And Moses received the money of the redemption from the ones who were excessive from those redeemed of the Levites.

"You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathites from the midst of the Levites.

All those counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel mustered according to their clans, according to {their families},

"{Take them}, and they will be [used] to do the work of the tent of the assembly; and you will give them to the Levites, each {according to his required service}."

So Moses took the utility carts and the cattle, and he gave them to the Levites.

"Take the Levites from the midst of the {Israelites} and purify them.

You will bring the Levites {before} the tent of assembly, and you will summon the entire community of the {Israelites}.

And you will bring the Levites {before Yahweh}, and the {Israelites} will lay their hands on the Levites,

and {Aaron will offer} the Levites [as] a wave offering {before Yahweh} from the {Israelites}, and they will do the work of Yahweh.

And the Levites will lay their hands on the head of the one bull and offer [it] as a sin offering and the other one as a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites.

And you will present the Levites {before} Aaron and {before} his sons, and he {will offer} them [as] a wave offering to Yahweh.

"And you will separate the Levites from the midst of the {Israelites}, and the Levites will be for me.

And after this the Levites will come to serve [at] the tent of assembly, and you will purify them, and you {will offer} them [as] a wave offering.

and I have taken the Levites in the place of every firstborn among the {Israelites}.

And I have given the Levites; they are given to Aaron and his sons from the midst of the {Israelites} to do the work of the {Israelites} in the tent of the assembly and to make atonement for the {Israelites}, so a plague will not be among the {Israelites} when the {Israelites} come near the sanctuary."

And Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the {Israelites} did to the Levites; everything that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the {Israelites} did to them.

And the Levites purified themselves, and they washed their garments, and {Aaron offered them} [as] a wave offering {before Yahweh}; and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.

After this the Levites came to do their work in the tent of assembly before Aaron and his sons. Just as Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levities, so they did to them.

"This [is] what is for the Levites: {those twenty-five years old} and above will come to help [with the] service in the work of the tent of assembly;

Look, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from the midst of the children. They are a gift to you given from Yahweh to perform the work of the tent of assembly.

The Levites will perform the service of the tent of assembly, and they will bear their guilt, an eternal decree for all your generations. But they will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the {Israelites}

because the tithes of the {Israelites} that are {offered} to Yahweh as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I said to them, 'They will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the {Israelites}.'"

"You will speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive the tithe from the {Israelites} that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, {you will present} a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tithe from a tithe.

You will say to them, 'When {you are presenting} its fat, the rest will be credited to the Levites like a yield of the threshing floor and like a yield from the press.

These [are] the ones counted of the Levites according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites.

From the half that belonged to the {Israelites}, Moses took one share drawn by lot out of every fifty humans and domestic animals, and he gave them to the Levites, who keep the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

"Command the {Israelites} that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their property cities to live in; and you will give to the Levites pastureland all around the cities.

"The pasturelands of the cities that you will give to the Levites [will extend] from the wall of the city to [a distance of] a thousand cubits all around.

"All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities.

All the cities that you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, them with their pasturelands.

And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

But only {before} Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, and you must rejoice {before} your God {in all your undertakings}.

{Take care} so that you do not neglect the Levite all [of] your days on your land.

And [as to] the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, you shall not neglect him, because there is not a plot of ground for him and an inheritance [along] with you.

And [so] the Levite may come, because there is no plot of ground for him or an inheritance with you, and the alien [also may come] and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}, and {they may eat their fill}, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all [of] the work of your hand that you undertake."

And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.

and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.

then you shall go to the priests and the Levites and to the judge who will be [in office] in those days, and you shall enquire, and they shall announce to you {the verdict}.

And if a Levite comes from one of your {towns} from {anywhere in Israel} where he is residing, {he may come whenever he desires}, to the place that Yahweh will choose,

and he may minister in the name of Yahweh his God, [just] like all his brothers, {the Levites who stand there} {before} Yahweh.

Be watchful {with respect to} [an] outbreak of [any] infectious skin disease, by being very careful and by acting according to all that the priests and the Levites have instructed you, [just] as I have commanded them, {so you shall diligently observe}.

And you shall celebrate with all of the bounty that Yahweh your God gave to you and to your family, you and the Levite and the alien who [is] in your midst.

"When you are finished {giving a tithe}, all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied.

And you shall say {before} Yahweh your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from the house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten [any of them].

Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and hear, Israel, [for] this day you have become {a people} for Yahweh your God.

And {the Levites shall declare}, and they shall say to each man of Israel [with] a loud voice,

then Moses commanded the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, {saying},

Then all Israel, {foreigner as well as native}, with the elders, officials, and judges stood {on either side} of the ark before the priests and the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. Half of them [stood] in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahweh's servant had commanded before to bless the people of Israel.

Only the tribe of Levites Moses did not give an inheritance; the offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel [are] their inheritance, just as he promised to them.

For Moses had given [an] inheritance of [the] two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.

For the descendants of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a plot of ground to the Levites in the land, only cities to live [in], with their pastureland for their flocks and for their goods.

The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance [is] the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh's servant gave to them."

Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the {Israelites}.

So, {by command of Yahweh}, the {Israelites} gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

The allotment {fell} for the families of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, {received} by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

The {Israelites} gave to the Levites these cities and their pastureland by lot, just as Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses.

For the families of the descendants of Kohath, the remaining Levites of the descendants of Kohath, they [received] the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.

To the descendants of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, and Eshtarah and its pasturelands; two cities.

To the families of the descendants of Merarite, the remaining Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands,

All [these were] the cities of the descendants of Merarite according to their families, the remaining families of the Levites; their allotment was twelve cities.

All the cities of the Levites among the property of the {Israelites} [were] forty-eight cities and their pasturelands.

There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah; he [was] a Levite and [was] dwelling as a foreigner there.

And Micah said to him, "From where do you come?" And he said to him, "I [am] a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah; I [am] going to dwell as a foreigner wherever I can find [a place]."

And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went [with him].

The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became as one of his sons.

So Micah {appointed the Levite}, and the young man became a priest for him; and he was in the house of Micah.

And Micah said, "Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest."

While they [were] with the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here? What [are] you doing in this place, and {what is your business here}?"

So they turned to that direction, and they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and {they greeted him}.

In those days there was no king in Israel; there was a man, a Levite, who dwelled as a foreigner in the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container that was beside it, in which [were] the gold objects, and [they] set them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they {made} sacrifices to Yahweh on that day.

Suddenly Zadok [was] there, and all of the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people passed out of the city.

So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly and all of the holy vessels that [were] in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. Now these [are] the families of the Levites according to their ancestors.

And their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

So the {Israelites} gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands.

Now the first inhabitants who [were settled] on their property in their cities [in] Israel [were] the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants.

And from the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari;

until then they [were] gatekeepers at the gate of the king on the east [side] toward the camps of the Levites.

For the four mighty gatekeepers, they who [were] Levites, {were entrusted} and [were] over the chambers and over the storerooms of the house of God.