Numbers 3–4

Aaron’s Sons and the Levites

3These are the family records of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ^l2These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. ⁴But Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence when they presented unauthorized fire ^mbefore the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests under the direction of Aaron their father. ⁿ

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. ⁷They are to perform duties for ^ohim and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁸They are to take care of ^pall the furnishings of the tent of meeting ^qand perform duties for ^rthe Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁹Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him ^sfrom the Israelites. ^t10You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” ^u

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹²“See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. ^vThe Levites belong to Me, ¹³because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^wI consecrated every firstborn in Israel to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yahweh.” ^x

The Levitical Census

¹⁴The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: ¹⁵“Register the Levites by their ancestral houses and their clans. You are to register every male one month old or more.” ¹⁶So Moses registered them in obedience to the Lord as he had been commanded:

¹⁷These were Levi’s sons by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸These were the names of Gershon’s sons by their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹Kohath’s sons by their clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰Merari’s sons by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the Levite clans by their ancestral houses. ^y

²¹The Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan came from Gershon; these were the Gershonite clans. ²²Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 7,500. ²³The Gershonite clans camped behind the tabernacle on the west side, ^z24and the leader of the Gershonite family was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵The Gershonites’ duties ^aat the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ^b26the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance ^cto the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the tent ropes—all the work relating to these.

²⁷The Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan, and the Uzzielite clan came from Kohath; these were the Kohathites. ²⁸Counting every male one month old or more, there were 8,600 ^dresponsible for the duties of ^ethe sanctuary. ²⁹The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle, ^f30and the leader of the family of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹Their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sanctuary utensils that were used with these, and the screen ^gh—and all the work relating to them. ⁱ³²The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar ^json of Aaron the priest; he had oversight of those responsible for the duties of ^kthe sanctuary.

³³The Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan came from Merari; these were the Merarite clans. ³⁴Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 6,200. ³⁵The leader of the family of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle. ^l36The assigned duties of Merari’s descendants involved the tabernacle’s supports, crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these, ^m37in addition to the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.

³⁸Moses, Aaron, and his sons, who performed the duties of ⁿthe sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites, camped in front of the tabernacle on the east, ^oin front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise. Any unauthorized person who came near it was to be put to death. ^p

³⁹The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron ^qregistered by their clans at the Lord’s command was 22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰The Lord told Moses: “Register every firstborn male of the Israelites ^rone month old or more, and list their names. ⁴¹You are to take the Levites for Me—I am Yahweh—in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of every firstborn among the Israelites’ cattle.” ⁴²So Moses registered every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³The total number of the firstborn males one month old or more listed by name was 22,273.

⁴⁴The Lord spoke to Moses again: ⁴⁵“Take the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of their cattle. The Levites belong to Me; I am Yahweh. ^s46As the redemption price for the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, ⁴⁷collect five shekels for each person, according to the standard sanctuary shekel—20 gerahs to the shekel. ^t48Give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess among the Israelites.”

⁴⁹So Moses collected the redemption money from those in excess of the ones redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰He collected the money from the firstborn Israelites: 1,365 shekels ^umeasured by the standard sanctuary shekel. ⁵¹He gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Duties of the Kohathites

4The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ²“Among the Levites, take a census of the Kohathites ^vby their clans and their ancestral houses, ³men from 30 years old to 50 years old—everyone who is qualified ^wto do work at the tent of meeting.

⁴“The service of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting concerns the most holy objects. ^x5Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening veil, and cover the ark of the testimony with it. ^y6They are to place over this a covering made of manatee skin, ^zaspread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles. ^b

⁷“They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and place the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to be on it. ^c8They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with a covering made of manatee skin, ^dand insert the poles in the table. ^e

⁹“They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand ^fused for light, with its lamps, snuffers, and firepans, ^gas well as its jars of oil by which they service it. ¹⁰Then they must place it with all its utensils inside a covering made of manatee skin ^hand put them on the carrying frame.

¹¹“They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, ⁱcover it with a covering made of manatee skin, ^jand insert its poles. ^k12They are to take all the serving utensils they use in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made of manatee skin, ^land put them on a carrying frame.

¹³“They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it, ¹⁴and place all the equipment on it that they use in serving: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and basins—all the equipment of the altar. ^mThey are to spread a covering made of manatee skin ⁿover it and insert its poles. ^op

¹⁵“Aaron and his sons are to finish covering the holy objects and all their equipment whenever the camp is to move on. The Kohathites will come and carry them, but they are not to touch the holy objects or they will die. ^qThese are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the tent of meeting.

¹⁶“Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has oversight of the lamp oil, ^rthe fragrant incense, ^sthe daily grain offering, ^tand the anointing oil. ^uHe has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, the holy objects and their utensils.” ^v

¹⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ¹⁸“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be wiped out from the Levites. ¹⁹Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects: ^wAaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty. ²⁰The Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, ^xor they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ²²“Take a census of the Gershonites ^yalso, by their ancestral houses and their clans. ²³Register men from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who is qualified to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting. ²⁴This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transportation duties: ²⁵They are to transport the tabernacle curtains, ^zthe tent of meeting with its covering and the covering made of manatee skin ^aon top of it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. They will carry out everything that needs to be done with these items.

²⁷“All the service of the Gershonites, all their transportation duties and all their other work, is to be done at the command of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry. ²⁸This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the tent of meeting, and their duties will be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ^b

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹“As for the…