Numbers 3–4

Aaron’s Sons

3These are the genealogies of Aaron and Moses at the time^a when Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the descendants of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, the anointed ones whom he consecrated as priests.^{b 4}Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh^c when they presented a strange fire before Yahweh^d in the desert of Sinai, and they had no children.^e Eleazar and Ithamar served as priest during the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Bring near the tribe of Levi, and set the tribe^f before Aaron^g the priest, and they will minister to him. ⁷They shall observe his duties and the duties of the entire community before the tent of assembly, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁸And they will keep all the vessels of the tent of assembly and the responsibilities of the Israelites,^h to do the workⁱ of the tabernacle. ⁹You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they are surely assigned to him from among the Israelites.^{j 10}But you will count Aaron and his descendants; they will keep their priesthood, and the stranger^k who approaches will be put to death.”

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, ¹²“I myself receive the Levites from the midst of the Israelites^l in the place of all the firstborn of the offspring of the womb from the Israelites.^m The Levites will be mine ¹³because all the firstborn are mine; on the day of my killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both humankind and animal;ⁿ they will be mine. I am Yahweh.”

¹⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“Muster^o the descendants of Levi according to their families,^p according to their clans. You will count every male from one month^q and above.” ¹⁶So Moses mustered^r them according to the command of Yahweh,^s just as he commanded. ¹⁷These were the sons of Levi according to their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath according to their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰The sons of Merari according to their tribes: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their families.^t

²¹To Gershon belonged^u the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these are the clans of the Gershonites. ²²The ones counted^v according to the number of every male from one month^w and above were seven thousand five hundred. ²³The clans of the Gershonites will camp behind the tabernacle to the west, ²⁴and the leader of the family^x of the Gershonites is Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵And the responsibility of the descendants of Gershon in the tent of assembly is the tabernacle, and the tent covering it and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of the assembly, ²⁶and the hangings of the courtyard and the curtain of the doorway of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its tent cords, all of its use.

²⁷To Kohath belonged^y the clan of Amramites,^z the clan of the Izharites,^a the clan of the Hebronites,^b and the clan of the Uzzielites;^c these were the clans of the Kohathites.^{d 28}According to the number of every male from one month^e and above there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary. ²⁹The clan of the descendants of Kohath will encamp on the side of the tabernacle to the south. ³⁰The leader of his family^f according to the clans of the Kohathites^g is Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all of its use. ³²The chief of the leaders^h of the Levitesⁱ was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest who had oversight of those keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

³³To Merari belonged^j the clan of Mahlites^k and the clan of the Mushites:^l these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴The ones counted^m according to the number of every male from one monthⁿ and above were six thousand two hundred. ³⁵The leader of the family^o according to the clans of Merari is Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north. ³⁶The responsibility of the sons of Merari was the supervision of the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, and all its vessels and all its service, ³⁷and the pillars around the courtyard, and their bases, pegs, and cords.

³⁸Those encamped before the tabernacle to the east—before the tent of assembly to the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons; they will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary for the Israelites;^p and the stranger^q who approaches will be put to death. ³⁹All those counted from the Levites whom Moses and Aaron mustered^r according to the word of Yahweh,^s according to their clans, every male from one month^t and above were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰And Yahweh said to Moses, “Muster every firstborn male from the Israelites^u from one month^v and above and count^w their names. ⁴¹And you will receive the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites,^x and the animals^y of the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the animals^z among the Israelites.”^{a 42}So Moses mustered^b all the firstborn among the Israelites^c just as Yahweh commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males^d among the number of names from one month^e and above, the ones counted,^f were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“Receive the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites,^g and the animals of the Levites in the place of their animals; the Levites will be mine. I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶And the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the Israelites^h who are excessive over the Levites, ⁴⁷you will receive five shekels a person, in the sanctuary shekel; you will collect twenty gerahsⁱ per shekel. ⁴⁸You will give the money to Aaron, and to his sons the ransom of the ones who are excessive among them.” ⁴⁹And Moses received the money of the redemption from the ones who were excessive from those redeemed of the Levites. ⁵⁰From the firstborn of the Israelites^j he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, in the sanctuary shekel. ⁵¹And Moses gave the money of the ransom to Aaron and to his sons according to the word^k of Yahweh just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

The Census of the Kohathites

4Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“Take a census^a of the descendants^b of Kohath from the midst of the descendants^c of Levi, according to their clans and their families,^{d 3}from thirty years old^e and above, up to fifty years old,^f everyone who comes to the service to do the work in the tent of assembly. ⁴This is the work of the descendants^g of Kohath in the tent of assembly, concerning the holiness of the sanctuary: ⁵When setting out the camp, Aaron and his sons will go and lower the curtain of the covering and cover with it the ark of the testimony.^{h 6}They will put on it a covering of fine leather,ⁱ and they will spread a cloth of perfect blue over it, and they will place its poles. ⁷And over the table of the presence they will spread out a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes, and libation bowls, and the pitchers of the libation; and the bread of continuity will be on it. ⁸They will spread over it a scarlet cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of fine leather,^j and they will place its poles. ⁹They will take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light source, its lamps, a pair of its tongs, its small pans, and all the vessels of its oil with which they attend to it. ¹⁰They will put it and all its vessels inside a covering of fine leather^k and put it on the carrying frame. ¹¹Over the altar of gold they will spread a blue cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of fine leather^l and place its poles. ¹²They will take all the vessels of the cultic service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them on a blue cloth, and they will cover them with a covering of fine leather;^m and they will put them on the carrying frame. ¹³They will remove the fat-soaked ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it; ¹⁴they will put on it all the vessels with which they serve, the fire pans, forks, shovels, and bowls—all the vessels of the altar. They will spread on it a covering of fine leather;ⁿ and they will place its poles. ¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary when the camp sets out, the descendants^o of Kohath will come after to carry these, but they must not touch the sanctuary, or they will die. These are the load of the descendants^p of Kohath in the tent of assembly.

¹⁶“Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is to supervise the oil of the light source, the incense, the regular grain offering,^q the oil of anointment, the supervision of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels.”

¹⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ¹⁸“You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathites^r from the midst of the Levites. ¹⁹Do this to them and they will live and not die when they come near the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will go and appoint them, each one to his task and burden. ²⁰But they must not go and look for a moment^s at the holy objects.”

²¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²²“Take a census^t of the descendants^u of Gershon also, according to their families^v and clans, ²³from those thirty years old^w and above until fifty years old;^x you will muster^y them, all who come to help to do the work of the tent of assembly. ²⁴This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites:^z to serve and to carry. ²⁵They will carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of assembly and its covering and the covering…