The Bible

Numbers Chapter 3

¹Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. ⁴Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they offered strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and have them stand in front of Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They are to keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation in front of the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸They are to keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ¹⁰Appoint Aaron and his sons and have them guard their priesthood. Any stranger who comes near must be put to death."

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²"See, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel. The Levites [will be mine], ¹³because all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal holy to myself. They are mine. I am Yahweh."

¹⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵"Count the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families. Count every male from a month old and older."

¹⁶Moses counted them according to Yahweh's word, as he was commanded.

¹⁷These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The sons of Kohath by their families were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰The sons of Merari by their families were Mahli and Mushi.

These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses.

²¹The family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites [came from] Gershon. These are the families of the Gershonites.

²²Listed as the number of all the males from a month old and older, seven thousand five hundred were counted.

²³The families of the Gershonites are to camp behind the tabernacle on the west.

²⁴Eliasaph the son of Lael will be the prince of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. ²⁵The responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting will be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.

²⁷From Kohath [came] the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males from a month old and older, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath are to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰The prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites will be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Their responsibility will be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. ³²Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is to be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari [came] the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴Listed as the number of all the males from a month old and older, were six thousand two hundred.

³⁵The prince of the fathers' house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They are to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶The appointed responsibility of the sons of Merari will be the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all [items of] service, ³⁷the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

³⁸Those who camp near the tabernacle on the east, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, are to be Moses, with Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. Any outsider who comes near must be put to death. ³⁹All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's commandment, by their families, all the males from a month old and older, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰Yahweh said to Moses, "Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and older, and take the number of their names. ⁴¹Take the Levites for me- I am Yahweh- instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the Levites' livestock instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel."

⁴²Moses counted all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded him. ⁴³All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and older, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the Levites' livestock instead of their livestock. The Levites are to be be mine. I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷take five shekels apiece for each one; take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); ⁴⁸and give the money to Aaron and his sons as [payment for] redemption of the surplus."

⁴⁹Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; ⁵⁰He took the money from the firstborn of the children of Israel, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁵¹and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to Yahweh's word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.