Numbers 3

1. These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day the LORD spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai.

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

3. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he set apart to minister as priests.

4. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai. And they had no sons. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priest in the presence of Aaron their father.

5. And the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

6. “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, so that they may minister to him.

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

8. And they shall keep all the vessels of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9. And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel.

10. And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office. And the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

11. And the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

12. “And I, behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine

13. Because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine. I am the LORD.”

14. And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai saying,

15. “Number the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ houses by their families. You shall number them, every male from a month old and upward.”

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

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

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

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

20. And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These were the families of the Levites according to the houses of their fathers.

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

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

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

24. And the leader of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

25. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, and its covering, and the veil for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

26. And the hangings of the court, and the veil for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and by the altar all around, and the cords of it, for all the service of it.

27. And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These were the families of the Kohathites.

28. In number, all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and three hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

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

30. And the leader of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

31. And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the veil, and all the service of it.

32. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be chief over the leaders of the Levites, having the oversight of the ones who keep the charge of the sanctuary.

33. Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari.

34. And those numbered of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

35. And the leader of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They pitched on the side of the tabernacle northward.

36. And the office and charge of the sons of Merari were the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and its vessels, and all its service,

37. And the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords.

38. And those who camp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, 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 comes near shall be put to death.

39. All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

40. And the LORD said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

41. I am the LORD, you shall take the Levites for Me, in the place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the domestic livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the livestock of the children of Israel.”

42. And as the LORD commanded him, Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

43. And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

44. And the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

45. “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the domestic livestock of the Levites instead of their domestic livestock. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am the LORD.

46. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the Levites,

47. You shall even take five shekels each by the head, according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take. (The shekel is twenty gerahs.)

48. And you shall give to Aaron, and to his sons, the silver of the redeemed left over among them.”

49. And Moses took the redemption silver from those who were over and above the ones who were redeemed by the Levites.

50. He took the silver from the firstborn of the children of Israel: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

51. And Moses gave the silver from those who were redeemed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.