36. And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all that serveth to it.
37. And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
38. But those that encamp before the tabernacle towards the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward shall be Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary, for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
39. All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
40. And the LORD said to Moses, number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel, from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
41. And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites, instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.
42. And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel.
43. And all the first-born males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and seventy and three.
44. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
45. Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.