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
Aaron’s Family, the Priests
1This is the family history of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord talked to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2Aaron had four sons. Nadab was the firstborn son. Then there were Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3These sons were the chosen#3:3 chosen Or “anointed.” See “anoint” in the Word List. priests. They were given the special work of serving the Lord as priests. 4But Nadab and Abihu died while serving the Lord. They used fire that the Lord did not allow when they made an offering to him. So Nadab and Abihu died there, in the desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar took their place and served the Lord as priests. This happened while their father Aaron was still alive.
Levites—the Priests’ Helpers
5The Lord said to Moses, 6“Bring all the men from the tribe of Levi. Bring them to Aaron the priest. These men will be his helpers. 7The Levites will help him when he serves at the Meeting Tent. And they will help all the Israelites when they come to worship at the Holy Tent. 8The Israelites should protect everything in the Meeting Tent; it is their duty. But the Levites will serve the Israelites by caring for these things. This will be their way of serving at the Holy Tent.
9“Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. The Levites were chosen from all the Israelites to help Aaron and his sons.
10“Appoint Aaron and his sons to be priests. They must do their duty and serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to come near the holy things#3:10 tries … holy things Or “tries to serve as a priest.” must be killed.”
11The Lord also said to Moses, 12-13“I destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt. At that time I chose all the firstborn from every family in Israel to be mine in a special way. That included all the firstborn men and animals. But now I am choosing the Levites to take their place. Now they will be my special servants. I, the Lord, give this command!”
14The Lord again said to Moses in the desert of Sinai, 15“Count all the families and family groups in the tribe of Levi. Count every man or boy who is one month old or older.” 16So Moses obeyed the Lord. He counted them all.
17Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18Each son was the leader of several family groups.
The Gershon family groups were Libni and Shimei.
19The Kohath family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20The Merari family groups were Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families that belonged to Levi’s family group.
21The families of Libni and Shimei belonged to the family of Gershon. They were the Gershonite family groups. 22There were 7500 men and boys over one month old in these two family groups. 23The Gershonite family groups were told to camp in the west. They made their camp behind the Holy Tent. 24The leader of the family groups of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25In the Meeting Tent, the Gershonites had the job of taking care of the Holy Tent, the outer tent, and the covering. They also took care of the curtain at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 26They cared for the curtain in the courtyard. And they cared for the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. This courtyard was around the Holy Tent and the altar. And they cared for the ropes and for everything that was used with the curtains.
27The families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel belonged to the family of Kohath. They were the Kohathite family groups. 28In this family group there were 8300#3:28 8300 Some copies of the ancient Greek version have “8300.” The Hebrew copies have “8600.” See Num. 3:22, 28, 34, 39. men and boys a month old or over. The Kohathites were given the job of taking care of the things in the Holy Place. 29The Kohathite family groups were given the area to the south of the Holy Tent. This was the area where they camped. 30The leader of the Kohathite family groups was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31Their job was to take care of the Holy Box, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the dishes of the Holy Place. They also cared for the curtain and all the things that were used with the curtain.
32The leader over the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. Eleazar was in charge of everyone who took care of the holy things.
33-34The family groups of Mahli and Mushi belonged to the Merari family. There were 6200 men and boys who were one month old or older in the Mahli family group. 35The leader of the Merari family group was Zuriel son of Abihail. This family group was given the area to the north of the Holy Tent. This is the area where they camped. 36The people from the Merari family were given the job of caring for the frames of the Holy Tent. They cared for all the braces, posts, bases, and everything that was used with the frames of the Holy Tent. 37They also cared for all the posts in the courtyard around the Holy Tent. This included all the bases, tent pegs, and ropes.
38Moses, Aaron, and his sons camped east of the Holy Tent, in front of the Meeting Tent. They were given the work of caring for the Holy Place. They did this for all the Israelites. Anyone else who came near the Holy Place was to be killed.
39The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to count all the men and boys one month old or older in Levi’s family group. The total number was 22,000.
Levites Take the Place of the Firstborn
40The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn men and boys in Israel who are at least one month old. Write their names on a list. 41I am the Lord. I will take the Levites instead of all the firstborn men and boys of Israel. I will also take the animals from the Levites instead of taking all the firstborn animals from the other people in Israel.”
42So Moses did what the Lord commanded. He counted all the firstborn children of the Israelites. 43He listed all the firstborn men and boys who were one month old or older. There were 22,273 names on that list.
44The Lord also said to Moses, 45“I, the Lord, give this command: ‘Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn men from the other families of Israel. And I will take the animals of the Levites instead of the animals of the other people. The Levites are mine. 46There are 22,000 Levites, but there are 22,273 firstborn sons from the other families. This leaves 273 more firstborn sons than Levites. 47Using the official measure, collect five shekels#3:47 five shekels 2 ounces (57.5 g). of silver for each of the 273 people. (The shekel by the official measure weighs 20 gerahs.#3:47 gerahs 1/50 of an ounce (.6 g).) Collect that silver from the Israelites. 48Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as payment for the 273 Israelites.’”
49There were not enough Levites to take the place of all the men from the other family groups, so Moses gathered the money for them. 50Moses collected the silver from the firstborn men of the Israelites. He collected 1365 shekels#3:50 1365 shekels 35 pounds (15.7 kg). of silver, using the official measure. 51Moses obeyed the Lord’s command and gave the silver to Aaron and his sons. He did it just as the Lord had told him.
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