²Aaron had four sons: Nadab, the oldest, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These were the names of Aaron’s sons, who were appointed to serve as priests. ⁴But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered the wrong kind of fire before the Lord in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵The Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to help him. ⁷They will help him and all the Israelites at the Meeting Tent, doing the work in the Holy Tent. ⁸The Levites must take care of everything in the Meeting Tent and serve the people of Israel by doing the work in the Holy Tent. ⁹Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; of all the Israelites, the Levites are given completely to him. ¹⁰Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests, but anyone else who comes near the holy things must be put to death.”

¹¹The Lord also said to Moses, ¹²“I am choosing the Levites from all the Israelites to take the place of all the firstborn children of Israel. The Levites will be mine, ¹³because the firstborn are mine. When you were in Egypt, I killed all the firstborn children of the Egyptians and took all the firstborn of Israel to be mine, both animals and children. They are mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴The Lord again said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, ¹⁵“Count the Levites by families and family groups. Count every male one month old or older.” ¹⁶So Moses obeyed the Lord and counted them all.

¹⁷Levi had three sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸The Gershonite family groups were Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The Kohathite family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰The Merarite family groups were Mahli and Mushi.

These were the family groups of the Levites.

²¹The family groups of Libni and Shimei belonged to Gershon; they were the Gershonite family groups. ²²The number that was counted was 7,500 males one month old or older. ²³The Gershonite family groups camped on the west side, behind the Holy Tent. ²⁴The leader of the families of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵In the Meeting Tent the Gershonites were in charge of the Holy Tent, its covering, the curtain at the entrance to the Meeting Tent, ²⁶the curtains in the courtyard, the curtain at the entry to the courtyard around the Holy Tent and the altar, the ropes, and all the work connected with these items.

²⁷The family groups of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel belonged to Kohath; they were the Kohathite family groups. ²⁸They had 8,600 males one month old or older, and they were responsible for taking care of the Holy Place. ²⁹The Kohathite family groups camped south of the Holy Tent. ³⁰The leader of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹They were responsible for the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the tools of the Holy Place which they were to use, the curtain, and all the work connected with these items. ³²The main leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, who was in charge of all those responsible for the Holy Place.

³³The family groups of Mahli and Mushi belonged to Merari; they were the Merarite family groups. ³⁴The number that was counted was 6,200 males one month old or older. ³⁵The leader of the Merari families was Zuriel son of Abihail, and they were to camp north of the Holy Tent. ³⁶The Merarites were responsible for the frames of the Holy Tent, the braces, the posts, the bases, and all the work connected with these items. ³⁷They were also responsible for the posts in the courtyard around the Holy Tent and their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.

³⁸Moses, Aaron, and his sons camped east of the Holy Tent, toward the sunrise, in front of the Meeting Tent. They were responsible for the Holy Place for the Israelites. Anyone else who came near the Holy Place was to be put to death.

³⁹Moses and Aaron counted the Levite men by their families, as the Lord commanded, and there were 22,000 males one month old or older.

Levites Take the Place of the Firstborn Sons

⁴⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn sons in Israel one month old or older, and list their names. ⁴¹Take the Levites for me instead of the firstborn sons of Israel; take the animals of the Levites instead of the firstborn animals from the rest of Israel. I am the Lord.”

⁴²So Moses did what the Lord commanded and counted all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. ⁴³When he listed all the firstborn sons one month old or older, there were 22,273 names.

⁴⁴The Lord also said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, and take the animals of the Levites instead of the animals of the other people. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord. ⁴⁶Since there are 273 more firstborn sons than Levites, ⁴⁷collect two ounces of silver for each of the 273 sons. Use the measure as set by the Holy Place, which is two-fifths of an ounce. ⁴⁸Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the payment for the 273 Israelites.”

⁴⁹So Moses collected the money for the people the Levites could not replace. ⁵⁰From the firstborn of the Israelites, he collected thirty-five pounds of silver, using the measure set by the Holy Place. ⁵¹Moses obeyed the command of the Lord and gave the silver to Aaron and his sons.

The Jobs of the Kohath Family

4The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Count the Kohathites among the Levites by family groups and families. ³Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who come to serve in the Meeting Tent.

⁴“The Kohathites are responsible for the most holy things in the Meeting Tent. ⁵When the Israelites are ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the Holy Tent, take down the curtain, and cover the Ark of the Agreement with it. ⁶Over this they must put a covering made from fine leather, then spread the solid blue cloth over that, and put the poles in place.

⁷“Then they must spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread that shows a person is in God’s presence. They must put the plates, pans, bowls, and the jars for drink offerings on the table; they must leave the bread that is always there on the table. ⁸Then they must put a red cloth over all of these things, cover everything with fine leather, and put the poles in place.

⁹“With a blue cloth they must cover the lampstand, its lamps, its wick trimmers, its trays, and all the jars for the oil used in the lamps. ¹⁰Then they must wrap everything in fine leather and put all these things on a frame for carrying them.

¹¹“They must spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and put the poles in place.

¹²“They must gather all the things used for serving in the Holy Place and wrap them in a blue cloth. Then they must cover that with fine leather and put these things on a frame for carrying them.

¹³“They must clean the ashes off the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴They must gather all the things used for serving at the altar—the pans for carrying the fire, the meat forks, the shovels, and the bowls—and put them on the bronze altar. Then they must spread a covering of fine leather over it and put the poles in place.

¹⁵“When the Israelites are ready to move, and when Aaron and his sons have covered the holy furniture and all the holy things, the Kohathites may go in and carry them away. In this way they won’t touch the holy things and die. It is the Kohathites’ job to carry the things that are in the Meeting Tent.

¹⁶“Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, will be responsible for the Holy Tent and for everything in it, for all the holy things it has: the oil for the lamp, the sweet-smelling incense, the continual grain offering, and the oil used to appoint priests and things to the Lord’s service.”

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸“Don’t let the Kohathites be cut off from the Levites. ¹⁹Do this for the Kohathites so that they may go near the Most Holy Place and not die: Aaron and his sons must go in and show each Kohathite what to do and what to carry. ²⁰The Kohathites must not enter and look at the holy things, even for a second, or they will die.”

The Jobs of the Gershon Family

²¹The Lord said to Moses, ²²“Count the Gershonites by families and family groups. ²³Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who have a job to do in the Meeting Tent.

²⁴“This is what the Gershonite family groups must do and what they must carry. ²⁵They must carry the curtains of the Holy Tent, the Meeting Tent, its covering, and its outer covering made from fine leather. They must also carry the curtains for the entrance to the Meeting Tent, ²⁶the curtains of the courtyard that go around the Holy Tent and the altar, the curtain for the entry to the courtyard, the ropes, and all the things used with the curtains. They must do everything connected with these things. ²⁷Aaron and his sons are in charge of what the Gershonites do or carry; you tell them what they are responsible for carrying. ²⁸This is the work of the Gershonite family group at the Meeting Tent. Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest, will direct their work.

The Jobs of the Merari Family

²⁹“Count the Merarite families and family groups. ³⁰Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who work at the Meeting Tent. ³¹It is their job to carry the following as they serve in the Meeting Tent: the frames of the Holy Tent, the crossbars, the posts, and bases, ³²in addition to the posts that go around the courtyard, their bases, tent pegs, ropes, and everything that is used with the poles around the courtyard. Tell each man exactly what to carry. ³³This is the work the Merarite family group will do for the Meeting Tent. Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest, will direct their work.”

The Levite Families

³⁴Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted the Kohathites by families and family groups, ³⁵the…

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