Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them has the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
These were the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their listings, that did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.
And when the tabernacle goes forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall move forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they move forward, every man in his place by their standards.