36. And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these;
37. also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords.
38. Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.
39. All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
40. And the Lord said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names.
41. And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.”
42. So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him.
43. And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.
44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
45. “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.
46. And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,