But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were assigned the care of the sanctuary and the holy things which had to be carried on their shoulders.
But [the Kohathites] shall not go in to see the sanctuary [the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] or its holy things, even for an instant, lest they die.
Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp so shall they set forward, every man in his place, standard after standard.
When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And the excluded [any not of the tribe of Levi] who approach the tabernacle shall be put to death.
These were the Levites by their fathers' houses, the heads of the fathers' houses of those registered, according to the number of names of the individuals who were the servants of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward.