Numbers 3–4

Chapter 3

Levites to Be Priesthood

^1aNow these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

^2aThese then 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 ^aanointed priests, whom he ¹ordained to serve as priests.

^4aBut Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests ¹in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶“^aBring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

⁷“They shall perform the duties for ¹him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the ^aservice of the tabernacle.

⁸“They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁹“You shall thus ^agive the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel.

¹⁰“So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that ^athey may keep their priesthood, but ^bthe ¹layman who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“Now, behold, I ^ahave taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every ^bfirstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine.

¹³“For ^aall the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord.”

¹⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses ^ain the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵“^1aNumber the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the ¹word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded.

^17aThese then are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

¹⁸These are the names of the ^asons 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’ households.

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

²²Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500.

²³The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the ¹tabernacle westward,

²⁴and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Duties of the Priests

²⁵Now ^athe duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and ^bthe tent, its covering, and ^cthe screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting,

²⁶and ^athe hangings of the court, and ^bthe screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service ¹concerning them.

²⁷Of 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 were the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle,

³⁰and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families was ¹Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹Now ^atheir duties involved ^bthe ark, ^cthe table, ^dthe lampstand, ^ethe altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service ¹concerning them;

³²and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi, and had the oversight of those who perform the duties of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari.

³⁴Their numbered men in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.

³⁵The leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to ^acamp on the northward side of the tabernacle.

³⁶Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment, and the service concerning them,

³⁷and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords.

³⁸Now those who were to ^acamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but ^bthe ¹layman coming near was to be put to death.

³⁹All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the ¹command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were ^a22,000.

Firstborn Redeemed

⁴⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, “^aNumber every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and ¹make a list of their names.

⁴¹“You ^ashall take the Levites for Me, I am the Lord, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.”

⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded him;

⁴³and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward, for their numbered men were ^a22,273.

⁴⁴Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“^aTake the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am the Lord.

⁴⁶“^aFor the ransom of the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites,

⁴⁷you shall take ^afive shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in ^bterms of the shekel of the sanctuary (^cthe shekel is twenty ¹gerahs),

⁴⁸and give the money, the ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons.”

⁴⁹So Moses took the ransom money from those who were in excess, beyond those ransomed by the Levites;

⁵⁰from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1,365.

⁵¹Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and to his sons, at the ¹command of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Chapter 4

Duties of the Kohathites

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²“Take ¹a census of the ²descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households,

³from ^athirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

⁴“This is the work of the ¹descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

⁵“When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down ^athe veil of the screen and cover the ^bark of the testimony with it;

⁶and they shall lay a ^acovering of porpoise skin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth of pure ¹blue, and shall insert its poles.

⁷“Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of ¹blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the sacrificial bowls and the jars for the drink offering, and ^athe continual bread shall be on it.

⁸“They shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its poles.

⁹“Then they shall take a ¹blue cloth and cover the ^alampstand for the light, ^balong with its lamps and its snuffers, and its ²trays and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it;

¹⁰and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin, and shall put it on the carrying bars.

¹¹“Over the golden altar they shall spread a ¹blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and shall insert its poles;

¹²and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a ¹blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin, and put them on the carrying bars.

¹³“Then they shall take away the ¹ashes from the ^aaltar, and spread a purple cloth over it.

¹⁴“They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks and shovels and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert its poles.

¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects ^aand die. These are the ¹things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶“The responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is ^athe oil for the light and the ^bfragrant incense and ^cthe continual grain offering and ^dthe anointing oil—the responsibility of all the ¹tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

¹⁸“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites.

¹⁹“But do this to them that they may live and ^anot die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load;

²⁰but ^athey shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²²“Take ¹a census of the sons of Gershon ²also, by their fathers’ households, by their families;

²³from ^athirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall ¹number them; all who enter to perform the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

²⁴“This is the…