Numbers 3
3
Aaron’s Sons and the Levites
1These are the family records of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. # 3:1 Ex 19:3 2These 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 # 3:4 Lv 10:1–2 before 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. # 3:4 Lv 10:6; Nm 4:16,28,33
5The Lord spoke to Moses: 6“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to the priest Aaron to assist him. 7They are to perform duties for # 3:7 Or to guard, also in v. 8 him and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 8They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting # 3:8 Nm 1:50,53 and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 9Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him # 3:9 Some Hb mss, LXX, Sam read me; Nm 8:16 from the Israelites. # 3:9 Nm 8:16,19,22; 18:6 10You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.” # 3:10 Nm 1:51; 3:38; 8:19; 18:7
11The Lord spoke to Moses: 12“See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. # 3:12 Ex 13:1–2; 32:26–29; Nm 3:6,12–13,40–43; 8:16–18; 18:1 The Levites belong to me, 13because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, # 3:13 Ex 13:15–16 I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.” # 3:13 Ex 3:14–16; 6:6–7; Nm 3:41,45
The Levitical Census
14The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: 15“Register the Levites by their ancestral families # 3:15 Lit the house of their fathers, also in v. 20 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 families. # 3:17–20 Ex 6:17–19; 1Ch 6:1,16,20–29
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, # 3:23 Nm 2:18–24 24and the leader of the Gershonite families # 3:24 Lit a father’s house, also in vv. 30,35 was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25The Gershonites’ duties # 3:25–26 Nm 4:24–26 at the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, # 3:25 Ex 26:7,14,36–37; 35:11,15 26the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance # 3:26 Ex 27:9–19; 35:17–18; 38:9–31 to 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 # 3:28 LXX reads 8,300 responsible for the duties of # 3:28 Or for guarding, also in v. 32 the sanctuary. 29The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle, # 3:29 Nm 2:10–16 30and the leader of the families 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 # 3:31 The screen between the most holy place and the holy place; Ex 35:12,# 3:31 Ex 35:12 — and all the work relating to them. # 3:31 Ex 25:10–27:21 32The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar # 3:32 Ex 6:23–25; 28:1; Lv 10:6,12,16; Nm 3:2,4 son of Aaron the priest; he had oversight of those responsible for the duties of the 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 families of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle. # 3:35 Nm 2:25–31 36The assigned duties of Merari’s descendants involved the tabernacle’s supports, crossbars, pillars, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these, # 3:36–37 Ex 35:1–13; Nm 4:31–32 37in 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 # 3:38 Or who guarded the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites, camped in front of the tabernacle on the east, # 3:38 Nm 2:3–9 in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise. Any unauthorized person who came near it was to be put to death. # 3:38 Nm 1:51; 3:10; 8:19; 18:7
39The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron # 3:39 Some Hb mss, Sam, Syr omit and Aaron registered 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 # 3:40 Ex 13:1–2; Nm 8:16–18 one month old or more, and list their names. 41You are to take the Levites for me — I am the Lord — 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 the Lord. # 3:45 Nm 3:13,41; 10:10; 15:40–41 46As the redemption price for the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, 47collect five shekels for each person, according to the standard sanctuary shekel — twenty gerahs to the shekel. # 3:47 A shekel is about two-fifths of an ounce of silver,# 3:47 Nm 18:16 48Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess among the Israelites.”
49So Moses collected the redemption amount from those in excess of the ones redeemed by the Levites. 50He collected the silver from the firstborn Israelites: 1,365 shekels # 3:50 Over 34 pounds of silver measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. 51He gave the redemption silver to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Numbers 3
3
The sons of Aaron
1When the LORD talked with Moses on Mount Sinai, 2Aaron's four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar,#Nu 26.60. 3were the ones to be ordained as priests. 4But the LORD killed Nadab and Abihu in the Sinai Desert when they used fire that was unacceptable#3.4 fire that was unacceptable: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. in their offering to the LORD.#3.4 the Lord killed Nadab and Abihu…to the LORD: See Leviticus 10.1,2. And because Nadab and Abihu had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with their father Aaron.#Lv 10.1,2; Nu 26.61.
The duties of the Levites
5The LORD said to Moses:
6Assign the Levi tribe to Aaron the priest. They will be his assistants 7and will work at the sacred tent for him and for all the Israelites. 8The Levites will serve the community by being responsible for the furnishings of the tent. 9They are assigned to help Aaron and his sons, 10who have been appointed to be priests. Anyone else who tries to perform the duties of a priest must be put to death.
11-13Moses, I have chosen these Levites from all Israel, and they will belong to me in a special way. When I killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, I decided that the firstborn sons in every Israelite family and the firstborn males of their flocks and herds would be mine.#3.11-13 When I killed…mine: See Exodus 13.1,2,11-16. But now I accept these Levites in place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites.#Ex 13.2.
The Levites are counted
14In the Sinai Desert the LORD said to Moses, 15“Now I want you to count the men and boys in the Levi tribe by families and by clans. Include every one at least a month old.” 16So Moses obeyed and counted them.
17Levi's three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, had become the heads of their own clans. 18Gershon's sons were Libni and Shimei. 19Kohath's sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. These were the sons and grandsons of Levi, and they had become the leaders of the Levite clans.
21The two Gershon clans were the Libnites and Shimeites, 22and they had seven thousand five hundred men and boys at least one month old. 23The Gershonites were to camp on the west side of the sacred tent, 24under the leadership of Eliasaph son of Lael. 25Their duties at the tent included taking care of the tent itself, along with its outer covering, the curtain for the entrance, 26the curtains hanging inside the courtyard around the tent, as well as the curtain and ropes for the entrance to the courtyard and its altar. The Gershonites were responsible for setting these things up and taking them down.
27The four Kohath clans were the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and the Uzzielites, 28and they had eight thousand six hundred#3.28 eight thousand six hundred: Hebrew; some manuscripts of one ancient translation “eight thousand three hundred”. men and boys at least one month old. 29The Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the sacred tent, 30under the leadership of Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31Their duties at the tent included taking care of the sacred chest, the table for the sacred bread, the lampstand, the altars, the objects used for worship, and the curtain in front of the most holy place. The Kohathites were responsible for setting these things up and taking them down.
32Eleazar son of Aaron was the head of the Levite leaders, and he made sure that the work at the sacred tent was done.
33The two Merari clans were the Mahlites and the Mushites, 34and they had six thousand two hundred men and boys at least one month old. 35The Merarites were to camp on the north side of the sacred tent, under the leadership of Zuriel son of Abihail. 36-37Their duties included taking care of the tent frames and the pieces that held the tent up: the bars, the posts, the stands, and its other equipment. They were also in charge of the posts that supported the courtyard, as well as their stands, tent pegs, and ropes. The Merari clans were responsible for setting these things up and taking them down.
38Moses, Aaron, and his sons were to camp in front of the sacred tent, on the east side, and to make sure that the Israelites worshipped in the proper way. Anyone else who tried to do the work of Moses and Aaron was to be put to death.
39So Moses and Aaron obeyed the LORD and counted the Levites by their clans. The total number of Levites at least one month old was twenty-two thousand.
The Levites are accepted as substitutes for the firstborn sons
40The LORD said to Moses, “Make a list and count the firstborn sons at least one month old in each of the Israelite families. 41They belong to me, but I will accept the Levites as substitutes for them, and I will accept the Levites' livestock as substitutes for the Israelites' firstborn livestock.”
42Moses obeyed the LORD and counted the firstborn sons; 43there were 22,273 of them.
44Then the LORD said, 45“The Levites will belong to me and will take the place of the firstborn sons; their livestock will take the place of the Israelites' firstborn livestock. 46But since there are more firstborn sons than Levites, the extra two hundred and seventy-three men and boys must be bought back from me. 47For each one, you are to collect five pieces of silver, weighed according to the official standards. 48This money must then be given to Aaron and his sons.”
49Moses collected the silver from the extra two hundred and seventy-three firstborn men and boys, 50and it amounted to one thousand three hundred and sixty-five pieces of silver, weighed according to the official standards. 51Then he gave it to Aaron and his sons, just as the LORD had commanded.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012