17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
18 You must not let the tribe of the Kohathite clans be eliminated from the Levites.
19 This is what you must do for them so that they stay alive and don’t die when they approach the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will enter and assign each of them his work and his load.
20 But they may not enter to look at the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
21 The Lord spoke to Moses:
22 Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their households and their clans.
23 You will enroll those from 30 to 50 years old, all who are eligible for service to do work in the dwelling.