Numbers 3

¹Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD 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 the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD 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.

⁵The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ¹⁰You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, I have taken the Levites from amongst the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb amongst the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, ¹³for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am the LORD.”

¹⁴The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”

¹⁶Moses counted them according to the LORD’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: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

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

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

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.

²²Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand and five hundred.

²³The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall 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.

²⁷Of Kohath was 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 upward, there were eight thousand and six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. ³²Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

³⁵The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, ³⁷the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

³⁸Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting towards the sunrise, shall be Moses, with Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. ³⁹All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰The LORD said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. ⁴¹You shall take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn amongst the livestock of the children of Israel.”

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

⁴⁴The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am the LORD. ⁴⁶For the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs); ⁴⁸and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”

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