And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

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

And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,

And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation 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 cometh nigh shall be put to death.