11. The Lord also said to Moses,
12. “I am choosing the Levites from all the Israelites. They will take the place of all the firstborn children of Israel. The Levites will be mine.
13. All the firstborn are mine. When you were in Egypt, I killed all the firstborn children of the Egyptians. I took all the firstborn of Israel to be mine. Firstborn animals and children are mine. I am the Lord.”
14. The Lord again talked to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. The Lord said,
15. “Count the Levites by families and family groups. Count every male one month old or older.”
16. So Moses obeyed the Lord and counted them all.
17. Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
18. The Gershonite family groups were Libni and Shimei.
19. The Kohathite family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
20. The Merarite family groups were Mahli and Mushi.These were the family groups that belonged to the Levites.
21. The family groups of Libni and Shimei belonged to Gershon. They were all the Gershonite family groups.
22. They had 7,500 males one month or older.
23. The Gershonite family groups camped on the west side, behind the Holy Tent.
24. The leader of the families of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael.
25. In the Meeting Tent the Gershonites were responsible for taking care of these things: the Holy Tent, its covering, the curtain at the entrance to the Meeting Tent,