Numbers 4:21-49

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families. From thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter for service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying [when on the march]: they shall carry the tent curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering and the covering of porpoise skin (fine leather) that is on top of it, and the curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and the hangings of the courtyard, and the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their tent ropes, and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform. Aaron and his sons shall direct all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all they have to carry and all they have to do. You shall assign to them as a duty all that they are to carry [on the march]. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the [high] priest. “As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households; from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). This is what they are assigned to carry [on the march], according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards [for the framework] of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets or bases, and the pillars around the courtyard with their sockets or bases and their pegs and their cords (tent ropes), with all their equipment and with all their [accessories for] service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry [on the march]. This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their tasks in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest.” So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families (clans) and by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); the men who were numbered by their families were 2,750. These were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who did service in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses. The men who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families (clans), and by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); the men who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. These were numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who served in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), whom Moses and Aaron numbered just as the LORD had commanded. The men who were numbered of the sons of Merari, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); the men who were numbered by their families were 3,200. These are the men who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered in accordance with the commandment of the LORD through Moses. All the men who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted by their families (clans) and by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); the men that were numbered were 8,580. According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses, they were numbered, each assigned to his work of serving and carrying. Thus they were numbered by him, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.