Duties Of The Levites

[1] So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel. [2] And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. [3] Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. [4] Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges: [5] Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. [6] And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

[47] But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. [48] For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, [49] Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: [50] But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. [51] And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. [52] And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. [53] But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. [54] And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.

[5] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [6] Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. [7] And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. [8] And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. [9] And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. [10] And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. [11] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [12] And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; [13] Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. [14] And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, [15] Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. [16] And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. [17] And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. [18] And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei. [19] And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. [20] And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. [21] Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. [22] Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. [23] The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. [24] And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. [25] And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, [26] And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof. [27] And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. [28] In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. [29] The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. [30] And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. [31] And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. [32] And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. [33] Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. [34] And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred. [35] And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward. [36] And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, [37] And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. [38] But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. [39] All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.

For these Levites, the four chief porters, were in their set office, and were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.

• Priest

And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;