5“These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:

17So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders,

18and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day.1:18 Hebrew on the first day of the second month; see 1:1. All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one,

19just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai.

20-21This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families1:20-21a In the Hebrew text, this sentence (This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, as their names were listed in the records of their clans and families) is repeated in 1:22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42.:

47But this total did not include the Levites.

48For the Lord had said to Moses,

49“Do not include the tribe of Levi in the registration; do not count them with the rest of the Israelites.

50Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant,1:50 Or Tabernacle of the Testimony; also in 1:53. along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it.

51Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death.

52Each tribe of Israel will camp in a designated area with its own family banner.

53But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to protect the community of Israel from the Lord’s anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle.”

54So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.