“Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off ¹  from among the Levites;

But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger ¹  will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care ²  of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

And take ¹  the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

When ¹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ²  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ³  to make atonement for the Levites.

But the Levites were not numbered among the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So Moses took the redemption money ¹  from those who were in excess of those redeemed by the Levites.

he ¹  commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant,

From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah a descendant of Merari;

The priests and Levites consecrated themselves so they could bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.”

Their fellow Levites were in charge of the storehouses ¹  in God’s temple and the storehouses containing consecrated items.

The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided. ¹ 

He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side.

From the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also known as Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.”

From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;

And the rest of the Israelites, with the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own property.

When the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, ¹  and the Levites.

“Look, ¹  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ²  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,