Here is the link to the diagram showing where the tribes of the Children of Israel were to pitch their tents in relation to the tabernacle. It got kind of buried in the description yesterday for our friends listening on Spotify. If you are on The Master’s Table website it appears again at the bottom of this post because today we are talking about the sons of Levi and the positions of those families.

Numbers 3

These are also the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day that the LORD spoke with Moses in mount Sinai.

2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.

5 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

7 They shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9 You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel.

10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priest’s office: but the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.”

11 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal: they shall be mine: I am the LORD.”

14 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying:

15 “Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward you shall number them.”

16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

20 And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, those that were numbered of them were 7,500.

23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

24 And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

25 The charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering, and the hanging for the door of the tent of meeting,

26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and the cords of it for all their service.

27 Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.

28 The number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were 8,600 keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the south side of the tabernacle.

30 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

31 And their charge shall be the ark, the table, the candlestick, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the hanging, and all the work related to them.

32 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the Levite leaders, and have oversight of those who keep the charge of the sanctuary.

33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.

34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

35 The chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the north side of the tabernacle.

36 Under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars, the pillars, the sockets, all the vessels and all the work that pertains to them,

37 The pillars of the court all around, and their sockets, pins, and cords.

38 But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, in front of the tent of meeting eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

39 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.

40 The LORD said to Moses “Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

41 And you shall take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.”

42 Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, were 22,273. 

44 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.

46 For those that are to be redeemed of the 273 of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

47 you shall take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shall you take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

48 And you shall give the money for the odd number of them that are to be redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”

49 So Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:

50 Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; 1,365 shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

51 And gave the money of them that were redeemed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

See also: Numbers 3 in ESV, HCSB, NASB and NIV via Bible Gateway.