2. Aaron's four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar,
3. were the ones to be ordained as priests.
4. But the Lord killed Nadab and Abihu in the Sinai Desert when they used fire that was unacceptable in their offering to the Lord. And because Nadab and Abihu had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with their father Aaron.
5. The Lord said to Moses:
6. Assign the Levi tribe to Aaron the priest. They will be his assistants
7. and will work at the sacred tent for him and for all the Israelites.
8. The Levites will serve the community by being responsible for the furnishings of the tent.
9. They are assigned to help Aaron and his sons,
11-13. Moses, I have chosen these Levites from all Israel, and they will belong to me in a special way. When I killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, I decided that the firstborn sons in every Israelite family and the firstborn males of their flocks and herds would be mine. But now I accept these Levites in place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites.
14. In the Sinai Desert the Lord said to Moses,
15. “Now I want you to count the men and boys in the Levi tribe by families and by clans. Include every one at least a month old.”
16. So Moses obeyed and counted them.
17. Levi's three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, had become the heads of their own clans.
18. Gershon's sons were Libni and Shimei.
19. Kohath's sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20. And Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. These were the sons and grandsons of Levi, and they had become the leaders of the Levite clans.
21. The two Gershon clans were the Libnites and Shimeites,
22. and they had seven thousand five hundred men and boys at least one month old.
23. The Gershonites were to camp on the west side of the sacred tent,