47 But (A)the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; 48 for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: 49 (B)“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; 50 (C)but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it (D)and camp around the tabernacle. 51 (E)And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it (F)up. (G)The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, (H)everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; 53 (I)but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no (J)wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall (K)keep[a] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:53 have in their care

47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites,(A) however, was not counted(B) along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle(C) of the covenant law(D)—over all its furnishings(E) and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle(F) is to move,(G) the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it.(H) Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.(I) 52 The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard.(J) 53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle(K) of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall(L) on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.(M)

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