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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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Numbers 3
3
The Sons of Aaron
1When the Lord talked with Moses on Mount Sinai, 2#Nu 26.60. Aaron's four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, 3were the ones to be ordained as priests. 4#Lv 10.1,2; Nu 26.61. But 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.
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.
11-13 #
Ex 13.2. Moses, I have chosen these Levites from all Israel, and they will belong to me in a special way. When I killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians, I decided that the first-born sons in every Israelite family and the first-born 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 first-born sons of the Israelites.
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 7,500 men and boys at least one month old. 23-24The Gershonites, under the leadership of Eliasaph son of Lael, were to camp on the west side of the sacred tent. 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 8,600#3.28 8,600: Hebrew; some manuscripts of one ancient translation “8,300.” men and boys at least one month old. 29-30The Kohathites, under the leadership of Elizaphan son of Uzziel, were to camp on the south side of the sacred tent. 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 6,200 men and boys at least one month old. 35The Merarites, under the leadership of Zuriel son of Abihail, were to camp on the north side of the sacred tent. 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 worshiped 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 22,000.
The Levites Are Accepted as Substitutes for the First-Born Sons
40The Lord said to Moses, “Make a list and count the first-born 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' first-born livestock.”
42Moses obeyed the Lord and counted the first-born 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 first-born sons; their livestock will take the place of the Israelites' first-born livestock. 46But since there are more first-born sons than Levites, the extra 273 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 273 first-born men and boys, 50and it amounted to 1,365 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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