Numbers 3

¹Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

²And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

⁴And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah, when they offered strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

⁶Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

⁷And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁸And they shall keep all the furniture of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁹And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him on the behalf of the children of Israel.

¹⁰And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

¹¹And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

¹²And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the first-born that openeth the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine:

¹³for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast; mine they shall be: I am Jehovah.

¹⁴And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

¹⁶And Moses numbered them according to the word of Jehovah, as he was commanded.

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

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

¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰And the 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 that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.

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

²⁴And the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

²⁵And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering thereof, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,

²⁶and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

²⁷And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and 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 charge of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle southward.

³⁰And the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the screen, and all the service thereof.

³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵And the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: they shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle northward.

³⁶And the appointed 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 instruments thereof, and all the service thereof,

³⁷and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

³⁸And those that encamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, 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.

³⁹All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

⁴⁰And Jehovah said unto Moses, Number all the first-born males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

⁴²And Moses numbered, as Jehovah commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel.

⁴³And all the first-born males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

⁴⁴And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am Jehovah.

⁴⁶And for the redemption of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the first-born of the children of Israel, that are over and above the number of the Levites,

⁴⁷thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll; after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs):

⁴⁸and thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

⁴⁹And Moses took the redemption-money from them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites;

⁵⁰from the first-born of the children of Israel took he the money, a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

⁵¹and Moses gave the redemption-money unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Jehovah, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

Numbers 3

¹This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, then Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³These were Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests.

⁴Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵Then the LORD said to Moses,

⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.

⁷They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle.

⁸They shall take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and fulfill obligations for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle.

⁹Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been given exclusively to him from among the Israelites.

¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

¹¹Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to Me,

¹³for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.”

¹⁴Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵“Number the Levites by their families and clans. You are to count every male a month old or more.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he had been commanded.

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

¹⁸These were the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei.

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

²⁰And the sons of Merari by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, according to their families.

²¹From Gershon came the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan; these were the Gershonite clans.

²²The number of all the males a month old or more was 7,500.

²³The Gershonite clans were to camp on the west, behind the tabernacle,

²⁴and the leader of the families of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.

²⁵The duties of the Gershonites at the Tent of Meeting were the tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

²⁶the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, and the cords—all the service for these items.

²⁷From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.

²⁸The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They were responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.

²⁹The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,

³⁰and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

³¹Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items.

³²The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he oversaw those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari came the clans of the Mahlites and Mushites; these were the Merarite clans.

³⁴The number of all the males a month old or more was 6,200.

³⁵The leader of the families of the Merarites was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

³⁶The duties assigned to the sons of Merari were the tabernacle’s frames, crossbars, posts, bases, and all its equipment—all the service for these items,

³⁷as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.

³⁸Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.

³⁹The total number of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted by their clans at the LORD’s command, including all the males a month old or more, was 22,000.

⁴⁰Then the LORD said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the Israelites a month old or more, and list their names.

⁴¹You are to take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the LORD had commanded him.

⁴³The total number of the firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273.

⁴⁴Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites belong to Me; I am the LORD.

⁴⁶To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites,

⁴⁷you are to collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs.

⁴⁸Give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the excess among the Israelites.”

⁴⁹So Moses collected the redemption money from those in excess of the number redeemed by the Levites.

⁵⁰He collected the money from the firstborn of the Israelites: 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

⁵¹And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the word of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.