Numbers 3

¹These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abiʹhu, Eleaʹzar, and Ithʹamar; ³these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴But Nadab and Abiʹhu died before the Lord when they offered unholy fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleaʹzar and Ithʹamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

⁵And the Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle; ⁸they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, ¹²“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, ¹⁵“Number the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.” ¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merarʹi. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimʹe-i. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzʹziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merarʹi by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

²¹Of Gershon were the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimʹeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²²Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand five hundred. ²³The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliʹasaph, the son of Laʹel as head of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with 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 around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.

²⁷Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharʹites, and the family of the Heʹbronites, and the family of the Uzziʹelites; these are the families of the Koʹhathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary. ²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with Eli-zaʹphan the son of Uzʹziel as head of the fathers’ house of the families of the Koʹhathites. ³¹And their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service pertaining to these. ³²And Eleaʹzar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merarʹi were the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merarʹi. ³⁴Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was six thousand two hundred. ³⁵And the head of the fathers’ house of the families of Merarʹi was Zuʹriel the son of Abʹihail; they were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶And the appointed charge of the sons of Merarʹi was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service pertaining to these; ³⁷also the pillars of the court round about, with their bases and pegs and cords.

³⁸And those to encamp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel; and any one else who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰And the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names. ⁴¹And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take five shekels apiece; reckoning by the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, you shall take them, ⁴⁸and give the money by which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons.” ⁴⁹So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites; ⁵⁰from the first-born of the people of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, reckoned by the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁵¹and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.