Then David said, The ark of God may not be moved by any but the Levites, for they have been marked out by God to take the ark of God, and to do his work for ever.
Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord,
And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
And they put the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their order, for the worship of God at Jerusalem; as it is recorded in the book of Moses.
And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting.
Then the Tent of meeting is to go forward, with the tents of the Levites, in the middle of the armies; in the same order as their tents are placed, they are to go forward, every man under his flag.
At that time the Lord had the tribe of Levi marked out to take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, to be before the Lord and to do his work and to give blessings in his name, to this day.