17. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
18. You must not let the tribe of the Kohathite clans be eliminated from the Levites.
19. This is what you must do for them so that they stay alive and don’t die when they approach the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will enter and assign each of them his work and his load.
20. But they may not enter to look at the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
21. The Lord spoke to Moses:
22. Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their households and their clans.
23. You will enroll those from 30 to 50 years old, all who are eligible for service to do work in the dwelling.
24. This is the duty of the Gershonite clans for work and for carrying the load:
25. They will carry the fabric of the dwelling, the meeting tent with its covering, the outer covering of fine leather, the screen for the entrance of the meeting tent,
26. the curtains of the courtyard, the screen of the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the meeting tent and the altar, their cords, and all their equipment for their work. They will do everything that needs to be done with these objects.
27. All the duties of the Gershonites for carrying their load and for their work will be at the command of Aaron and his sons. You will assign to them the responsibility to carry their load.
28. This is the work of the Gershonite clans in the dwelling. Their responsibility will be under Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
29. You will enroll the Merarites by their clans and their households.
30. You will enroll those from 30 to 50 years old, all who are eligible for service to do work in the meeting tent.
31. This is what they are responsible to carry as their work in the meeting tent: the frames of the meeting tent, its bars, pillars, and bases;
32. the pillars of the courtyard all around, with their bases, pegs, cords, and all the equipment used with them. You will list by name the objects they are required to carry.
33. This is the duty of the Merarite clans for all their work in the meeting tent under the supervision of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
34. So Moses, Aaron, and the chiefs of the community enrolled the Kohathites by their clans and their households,
35. those from 30 to 50 years old who were eligible for work in the meeting tent.
36. Their enrollment by their clans was 2,750.