Numbers 3
3
The Number and Duties of the Levites
1These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Si´nai. 2#Num 26.60. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abi´hu, Ele-a´zar, and Ith´amar. 3These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. 4#Lev 10.1,2; Num 26.61. And Nadab and Abi´hu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Si´nai, and they had no children: and Ele-a´zar and Ith´amar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
5And the Lord spake unto 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 congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 10And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
11And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12#Exod 32.26-29. And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13#Exod 13.2. because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine they shall be: I am the Lord.
14And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Si´nai, saying, 15Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them. 16And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Mera´ri. 18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shim´e-i. 19And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Iz´ehar, Hebron, and Uz´zi-el. 20And the sons of Mera´ri by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.
21Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Ger´shonites. 22Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Ger´shonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. 24And the chief of the house of the father of the Ger´shonites shall be Eli´asaph the son of La´el. 25And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 26and the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it, for all the service thereof.
27And of Kohath was the family of the Am´ramites, and the family of the Iz´eharites, and the family of the He´bronites, and the family of the Uz´zi-elites: these are the families of the Ko´hathites. 28In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. 30And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Ko´hathites shall be Eliza´phan the son of Uz´zi-el. 31And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. 32And Ele-a´zar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.
33Of Mera´ri was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Mera´ri. 34And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred. 35And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Mera´ri was Zu´ri-el the son of Ab´ihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward. 36And under the custody and charge of the sons of Mera´ri shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, 37and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
38But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 39All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
The Redemption of the Firstborn
40And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the 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 the Lord) 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 the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.
44And the Lord spake unto 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 the Lord. 46And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; 47thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) 48and thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons. 49And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites: 50of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 51and Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
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Numbers 3: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
B'midbar (Num) 3
3
1(iv) These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when Adonai spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai. 2The names of the sons of Aharon are: Nadav the firstborn, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. 3These were the names of the sons of Aharon the cohen, whom he anointed and ordained as cohanim. 4But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of Adonai when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El‘azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.
5Adonai said to Moshe, 6“Summon the tribe of Levi, and assign them to Aharon the cohen, so that they can help him. 7They are to carry out his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of the tabernacle. 8They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out all the duties of the people of Isra’el connected with the service of the tabernacle. 9Assign the L’vi’im to Aharon and his sons; their one responsibility in regard to the people of Isra’el is to serve him. 10You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death.”
11Adonai said to Moshe, 12“I have taken the L’vi’im from among the people of Isra’el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb among the people of Isra’el; the L’vi’im are to be mine. 13All the firstborn males belong to me, because on the day that I killed all the firstborn males in the land of Egypt, I separated for myself all the firstborn males in Isra’el, both human and animal. They are mine; I am Adonai.”
(v) 14Adonai said to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, 15“Take a census of the tribe of Levi by clans and families. Count every male a month old or over.” 16Moshe counted them in the manner Adonai had said, as he had been ordered. 17The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, K’hat and M’rari. 18The names of the sons of Gershon were Livni and Shim‘i; they fathered their respective clans; 19likewise the sons of K’hat — ‘Amram,Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el — 20and the sons of M’rari — Machli and Mushi. These fathered the clans of the L’vi’im.
21Gershon fathered the clans of Livni and Shim‘i; these were the Gershon clans. 22Of them, 7,500 males a month old and over were counted. 23The Gershon clans were to camp behind the tabernacle, toward the west. 24The chief of the Gershon clan was Elyasaf, the son of La’el. 25In connection with the tent of meeting, the descendants of Gershon were to be in charge of the following: the tabernacle itself, its inner and outer coverings, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26the curtains surrounding the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and the altar, all the fixtures and ropes for these items, and their maintenance.
27K’hat fathered the clans of ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el; these were the K’hat clans. 28Of them, 8,600 males a month old and over were counted; they were in charge of the Holy Place. 29The K’hat clans were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the south. 30The chief of the K’hat clan was Elitzafan the son of ‘Uzi’el. 31They were responsible for the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils the cohanim use when they serve in the Holy Place, the curtain, and everything involved with the maintenance of these things. 32El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen was first among the chiefs of the L’vi’im and supervised those in charge of the Holy Place.
33M’rari fathered the clans of Machli and Mushi; these were the M’rari clans. 34Of them, 6,200 males a month old and over were counted. 35The chief of the M’rari clan was Tzuri’el the son of Avichayil. They were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the north. 36The M’rari clans were assigned responsibility for the frames of the tabernacle, along with its crossbars, posts, sockets and fittings, together with their maintenance; 37also the posts of the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, pegs and ropes.
38Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moshe, Aharon and his sons who were in charge of the Holy Place. They carried out their responsibility on behalf of the people of Isra’el, and anyone else who involved himself was to be put to death.
39The total number of L’vi’im whom Moshe and Aharon counted by their clans, all the males a month old and over, was 22,000.
(vi) 40Adonai said to Moshe, “Register all the firstborn males of the people of Isra’el a month old and over, and determine how many there are. 41Then you are to take the L’vi’im for me, Adonai, in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of the firstborn of the cattle belonging to the people of Isra’el.” 42Moshe counted, as Adonai had ordered him, all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el. 43The total number of firstborn males registered, a month old and over, of those who were counted, was 22,273.
44Adonai said to Moshe, 45“Take the L’vi’im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of their cattle; the L’vi’im are to belong to me, Adonai. 46Since there were 273 more firstborn males from Isra’el than male L’vi’im, in order to redeem them, 47you are to take five shekels [two ounces] for each of these (use the sanctuary shekel, which is equal to twenty gerahs). 48Give the redemption money for these extra people to Aharon and his sons.” 49Moshe took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the L’vi’im; 50the amount of money he took from the firstborn of the people of Isra’el was 1,365 shekels, using the sanctuary shekel. 51Moshe gave the redemption-money to Aharon and his sons, in keeping with what Adonai had said, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
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