34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 35 (A)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 (B)This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 39 (C)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers' houses were 2,630. 41 (D)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 43 (E)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 (F)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 47 (G)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, (H)each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, (I)as the Lord commanded Moses.

Unclean People

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the people of Israel that they (J)put out of the camp everyone who is leprous[a] or has (K)a discharge and everyone who is (L)unclean through contact with the dead. You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, (M)in the midst of which I dwell.” And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.

Confession and Restitution

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, (N)When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, (O)he shall confess his sin that he has committed.[b] (P)And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to (Q)the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. And (R)every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. Numbers 5:7 Hebrew they shall confess their sin that they have committed

The Numbering of the Levite Clans

34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites(A) by their clans and families. 35 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age(B) who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 36 counted by clans, were 2,750. 37 This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans(C) who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

38 The Gershonites(D) were counted by their clans and families. 39 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 40 counted by their clans and families, were 2,630. 41 This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command.

42 The Merarites were counted by their clans and families. 43 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age(E) who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 44 counted by their clans, were 3,200. 45 This was the total of those in the Merarite clans.(F) Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

46 So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted(G) all the Levites by their clans and families. 47 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age(H) who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting 48 numbered 8,580.(I) 49 At the Lord’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

Thus they were counted,(J) as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Purity of the Camp

The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease[a](K) or a discharge(L) of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean(M) because of a dead body.(N) Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.(O) The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.

Restitution for Wrongs

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way[b] and so is unfaithful(P) to the Lord is guilty(Q) and must confess(R) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution(S) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram(T) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.(U) All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.(V) 10 Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.(W)’”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:2 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  2. Numbers 5:6 Or woman who commits any wrong common to mankind