Ezekiel 44:11

⁹Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the LORD.

¹⁴Yet I will make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service and for all that will be done therein.

⁴⁵He said to me, “This room, which faces toward the south, is for the priests who perform the duty of the house.

¹For the divisions of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. ²Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, and Eliehoenai the seventh. ⁴Obed-Edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him. ⁶Sons were also born to Shemaiah his son, who ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valor. ⁷The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose relatives were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah. ⁸All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom with their sons and their brothers, able men in strength for the service: sixty-two of Obed-Edom. ⁹Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, eighteen valiant men. ¹⁰Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief), ¹¹Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, and Zechariah the fourth. All the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

¹²Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in the LORD’s house. ¹³They cast lots, the small as well as the great, according to their fathers’ houses, for every gate. ¹⁴The lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counselor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward. ¹⁵To Obed-Edom southward; and to his sons the storehouse. ¹⁶To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of Shallecheth, at the causeway that goes up, watchman opposite watchman. ¹⁷Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the storehouse two and two. ¹⁸For Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar. ¹⁹These were the divisions of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.

⁶Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

⁵The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ¹⁰You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, ^[+] I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, ¹³for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am the LORD.”

¹⁴The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”

¹⁶Moses counted them according to the LORD’s word, as he was commanded.

¹⁷These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.

²²Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.

²³The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.

²⁷Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. ³²Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

^35[+] The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, ³⁷the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

¹⁰So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the king’s commandment. ¹¹They killed the Passover lambs, and the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from their hands, and the Levites skinned them.