47
But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe;
48
for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying:
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"Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel;
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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 and camp around the tabernacle.
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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 up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
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The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies;
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but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony."
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Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.