^{49 Ref} "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;

^{50 Ref} but appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle, and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it.

^{51 Ref} When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

^{52 Ref} The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions.

^{53 Ref} But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony."