Numbers 3
3
1And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spoke with Moses on mount Sinai. 2And these 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 anointed priests, who were consecrated to exercise the priesthood. 4And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah when they offered strange fire before Jehovah in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the presence of Aaron their father. 5And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 6Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him; 7and they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole assembly, before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8And they shall keep all the utensils of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9And thou shalt give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel. 10And Aaron and his sons shalt thou appoint that they may attend to their priest's office; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. 11And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 12And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn that breaketh open the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine; 13for every firstborn is mine. On the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and beast; mine shall they be: I am Jehovah.
14And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15Number the sons of Levi according to their fathers' houses, after their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. 16And Moses numbered them, according to the commandment of Jehovah, — as he had been commanded. 17And these are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their families: Libni and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath according to their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari according to their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. 21Of Gershon, the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites. 22Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonites encamped behind the tabernacle westward. 24And the prince of the father's house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was: the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting. 26And the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance to the court, which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof for all its service. 27And of Kohath, the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites. 28According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, who kept the charge of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath encamped on the side of the tabernacle southward. 30And the prince of the father's house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31And their charge was the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all that belongs to its service. 32And the prince of princes of the Levites was Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: he had the oversight of them that kept the charge of the sanctuary. 33Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari. 34And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred. 35And the prince of the father's house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They encamped on the side of the tabernacle northward. 36And the charge of the sons of Merari consisted in the oversight of the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its furniture, and all that belongs to its service, 37and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords. 38And those who encamped before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, were Moses, and Aaron and his sons, who kept the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. 39All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Jehovah, according to their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
40And Jehovah said to Moses, Number all the first-born males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites, instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. 42And Moses numbered, as Jehovah had commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names, from a month old and upward, according to their numbering, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. 44And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 45Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am Jehovah. 46And for those that are to be ransomed, the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are in excess over the Levites, 47thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll, according to the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them, — twenty gerahs the shekel; 48and thou shalt give the money unto Aaron and unto his sons for those in excess among them who are to be ransomed. 49And Moses took the ransom-money from them that were over and above those who were ransomed by the Levites; 50of the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, a thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51And Moses gave the money of them that were ransomed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the commandment of Jehovah, — as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
Currently Selected:
Numbers 3: DARBY
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012