“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When a man makes a special votive offering based on the conversion value of persons to the Lord,

“Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male.

From the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered according to their families.

“Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites.

But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony.”

“Every one of the Israelites must camp under his standard with the emblems of his family; they must camp at some distance around the tent of meeting.

These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.

And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve in the tabernacle.

“Look, I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

“Number the Levites by their clans and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.”

The appointed responsibilities of the Merarites included the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets, its utensils, plus all the service connected with these things,

From the firstborn males of the Israelites he collected the money, 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

This is the service of the families of the Gershonites concerning the tent of meeting. Their responsibilities will be under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

This is the service of the families of the Merarites, their entire service concerning the tent of meeting, under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

These were those numbered from the families of the Gershonites, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord.

These are those numbered from the families of the Merarites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the authority of Moses.

“Command the Israelites to expel from the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.

“Tell the Israelites, ‘When a man or a woman commits any sin that people commit, thereby breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is found guilty,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,