²⁸ The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to the priest Aaron to assist him. ⁷ They are to perform duties for^[a] him and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁸ They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting^(A) and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him^[b] from the Israelites.^{(B) 10} You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”^(C)

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹² “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb.^(D) The Levites belong to me, ¹³ because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt,^(E) I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.”^(F)

Simeon’s Inheritance

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the inheritance given to Judah’s descendants. ² Their inheritance included

Beer-sheba (or Sheba^(A)), Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities, with their settlements; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, with their settlements; ⁸ and all the settlements surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah in the south^[a]).

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans. ⁹ The inheritance of Simeon’s descendants was within the territory of Judah’s descendants, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large. So Simeon’s descendants received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

Simeon’s Descendants

²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole family did not become as numerous as the Judeans. ²⁸ They lived in Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, ²⁹ Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until David became king. ³² Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities, ³³ and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record for themselves.

³⁸ these mentioned by name were leaders in their families. Their ancestral houses increased greatly. ³⁹ They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley to seek pasture for their flocks.