Numbers 1:44-54 ▼

44 These individuals were the ones whom Moses and Aaron registered from the twelve leaders of Israel, each person from his ancestral house.

45 Everyone was numbered from the descendants of Israel, from their ancestral houses, from all the men who were 20 years and above and who could serve in the army.

46 The total of all those who were numbered was 603,550.

47 The descendants of Levi were not counted according to their ancestral houses

48 because the LORD had ordered Moses:

49 |Be sure not to number or count the tribe of Levi with the rest of the Israelis.

50 Instead, appoint the descendants of Levi over the Tent of Meeting, all the vessels, and everything in it. They are to carry the tent and all the vessels in it. They are to attend to it and camp around it.

51 Whenever the tent is ready for travel, the descendants of Levi are to take it down. When it's time to encamp, the descendants of Levi are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it is to be executed.

52 Then the Israelis are to encamp around the tent, arranged according to their company and the standard of their army.

53 But the descendants of Levi are to encamp on all sides of the Tent of Meeting so that divine wrath won't fall on the congregation of Israel. The descendants of Levi are to take care of the Tent of Meeting.|

54 The Israelis observed everything that the LORD had commanded Moses, doing exactly what they were told.