Numbers 1:51

³⁸Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, with Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.

¹⁰You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

²²Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.

¹⁹He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the LORD’s ark, he struck fifty thousand seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

⁷The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by God’s ark.

⁴⁰to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before the LORD, that he not be as Korah and as his company; as the LORD spoke to him by Moses.

¹⁰“‘No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. ¹¹But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread. ¹²If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things. ¹³But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it.

¹¹In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the covenant.

¹⁷The tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, went forward. ¹⁸The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur the son of Shedeur was over his army. ¹⁹Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon. ²⁰Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad.

²¹The Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary. The others set up the tabernacle before they arrived.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, ³from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things. ⁵When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it, ⁶put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

⁷“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. ⁸They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

⁹“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. ¹⁰They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

¹¹“On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

¹²“They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

¹³“They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. ¹⁴They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸“Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹but do this to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; ²⁰but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

²¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²²“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families; ²³you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: ²⁵they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there. ²⁷At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. ²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹“As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses; ³⁰you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. ³¹This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³²the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name. ³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”