For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand ¹  and serve in his name ²  permanently.

“My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me.

“Also take a census of the Gershonites, by their clans and by their families.

the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent ¹  but by the power of an indestructible life.

The sons of Merari by their families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their clans.

Now the head of all the Levitical leaders ¹  was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was appointed over those who were responsible ²  for the sanctuary.

The descendants of Levi carried the ark of God on their shoulders with poles, just as Moses had ordered according to the divine command.

The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the Levites, listed by their families.

“‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for ¹  their sin.

So Joseph, a Levite who was a native of Cyprus, called by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated “son of encouragement”), ¹ 

They assigned to the Gershonite clans of the Levites the following cities: ¹  from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) and Beeshtarah, along with the grazing areas of each – a total of two cities;

Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households ¹  of Levi according to their clans.

Whenever the tabernacle is to move, ¹  the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, ²  the Levites must set it up. ³  Any unauthorized person ⁴  who approaches it must be killed.

Bless, O Lord, his goods, and be pleased with his efforts; undercut the legs ¹  of any who attack him, and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

The tribal leaders of the Levites went before Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the Israelite tribal leaders

The first lot belonged to ¹  the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ¹  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ²  from Bethlehem ³  in Judah.

He taught what was true; ¹  sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin.

¹ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ²  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ³  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.