Numbers 3
Christian Standard Bible
Aaron’s Sons and the Levites
3 These are the family records of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.(A) 2 These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence when they presented unauthorized fire(B) before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests under the direction of Aaron their father.(C)
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to the priest Aaron to assist him. 7 They are to perform duties for[a] him and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting(D) and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 9 Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him[b] from the Israelites.(E) 10 You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”(F)
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb.(G) The Levites belong to me, 13 because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt,(H) I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.”(I)
The Levitical Census
14 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: 15 “Register the Levites by their ancestral families[c] and their clans. You are to register every male one month old or more.” 16 So Moses registered them in obedience to the Lord as he had been commanded:
17 These were Levi’s sons by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 These were the names of Gershon’s sons by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 Kohath’s sons by their clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 Merari’s sons by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the Levite clans by their ancestral families.(J)
21 The Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan came from Gershon; these were the Gershonite clans. 22 Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 7,500. 23 The Gershonite clans camped behind the tabernacle on the west side,(K) 24 and the leader of the Gershonite families[d] was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 The Gershonites’ duties(L) at the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting,(M) 26 the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance(N) to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the tent ropes—all the work relating to these.
27 The Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan, and the Uzzielite clan came from Kohath; these were the Kohathites. 28 Counting every male one month old or more, there were 8,600[e] responsible for the duties of[f] the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle,(O) 30 and the leader of the families of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 Their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sanctuary utensils that were used with these, and the screen[g](P)—and all the work relating to them.(Q) 32 The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar(R) son of Aaron the priest; he had oversight of those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.
33 The Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan came from Merari; these were the Merarite clans. 34 Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 6,200. 35 The leader of the families of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle.(S) 36 The assigned duties of Merari’s descendants involved the tabernacle’s supports, crossbars, pillars, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these,(T) 37 in addition to the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.
38 Moses, Aaron, and his sons, who performed the duties of[h] the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites, camped in front of the tabernacle on the east,(U) in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise. Any unauthorized person who came near it was to be put to death.(V)
39 The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron[i] registered by their clans at the Lord’s command was 22,000.
Redemption of the Firstborn
40 The Lord told Moses, “Register every firstborn male of the Israelites(W) one month old or more, and list their names. 41 You are to take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of every firstborn among the Israelites’ cattle.” 42 So Moses registered every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. 43 The total number of the firstborn males one month old or more listed by name was 22,273.
44 The Lord spoke to Moses again: 45 “Take the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of their cattle. The Levites belong to me; I am the Lord.(X) 46 As the redemption price for the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, 47 collect five shekels for each person, according to the standard sanctuary shekel—twenty gerahs to the shekel.[j](Y) 48 Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess among the Israelites.”
49 So Moses collected the redemption amount from those in excess of the ones redeemed by the Levites. 50 He collected the silver from the firstborn Israelites: 1,365 shekels[k] measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. 51 He gave the redemption silver to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- 3:7 Or to guard, also in v. 8
- 3:9 Some Hb mss, LXX, Sam read me; Nm 8:16
- 3:15 Lit the house of their fathers, also in v. 20
- 3:24 Lit a father’s house, also in vv. 30,35
- 3:28 LXX reads 8,300
- 3:28 Or for guarding, also in v. 32
- 3:31 The screen between the most holy place and the holy place; Ex 35:12
- 3:38 Or who guarded
- 3:39 Some Hb mss, Sam, Syr omit and Aaron
- 3:47 A shekel is about two-fifths of an ounce of silver
- 3:50 Over 34 pounds of silver
Numbers 3
EasyEnglish Bible
The Levites
3 This is the list of the family of Aaron and Moses. This was at the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Sinai mountain.
2 The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Nadab was the firstborn son. 3 Aaron anointed them, and he gave authority to them to work as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu fell down and died in front of the Lord. That happened when they offered strange fire to the Lord in the Sinai desert.[a] They had no children. So only Eleazar and Ithamar worked as priests while their father Aaron was alive.
The Levites help the priests
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, 6 ‘Bring the tribe of Levi to Aaron the priest. They must help him. 7 They must serve him and all the Israelites. They must work at the Tent of Meeting and take care of it. 8 They must work on behalf of the Israelites. They must take care of the things that are in the Tent of Meeting. That is how they will serve God. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants. They will be the Israelites who help him. They do not have to do anything else. 10 But you must make a list of Aaron and his descendants. They will be the priests. If any other person comes near to the special Tent, they must die.’
11 The Lord also said to Moses, 12 ‘I will not take the firstborn son of every woman in Israel to belong to me. I will take the Levites instead of them. 13 I killed all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. But I kept the firstborn sons of every person and animal among the Israelites for myself. They belong to me. I am the Lord!’
The Levite families
14 The Lord said to Moses in the Sinai desert, 15 ‘Put the Levites into clans and families and count them. Make a list of every male who is a month old or older.’ 16 Moses obeyed the Lord. So Moses recorded them as the Lord said.
17 The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
18 Gershon had two sons. Their names were Libni and Shimei.
19 Kohath's sons were called Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
20 Merari's sons were called Mahli and Mushi.
Those were the sons and grandsons of Levi. They became the leaders of the clans of Levi's tribe.
Gershon's clan
21 There were two families in Gershon's clan. They were the families of Libni and Shimei. 22 There were 7,500 males who were one month or older in their list. 23 Gershon's clan had to put up their tents on the west side of the special Tent. 24 The leader of the clan of Gershon was Eliasaph the son of Lael.
25 Gershon's clan had to take care of the Tent of Meeting, with the cloth that covered it, and the curtain at its door. 26 There was a yard round the outside of the tabernacle and the altar. Gershon's family took care of the curtains that hung round the yard, with their ropes. They also took care of the curtain at the entrance to the yard. They took care of all those kinds of things.
Kohath's clan
27 There were four families in Kohath's clan. They were the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 28 There were 8,600 males who were one month old or older in this clan. They had to take care of the things inside the special Tent. 29 Kohath's clan had to put up their tents on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 The leader of Kohath's descendants was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
31 Kohath's family had to take care of the Covenant Box, the table and the lampstands. They had to take care of the altars and the tools that the priests used in the special Tent. They also took care of the curtain in front of the Most Holy Place in the Tent. They did all the work with those things.
32 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was the most important leader of the Levites. He ruled over those people who took care of God's special Tent.
Merari's clan
33 There were two families in Merari's clan. They were the families of Mahli and Mushi. 34 There were 6,200 males in that list. They were one month old or older when Moses counted them. 35 The leader of Merari's clan was Zuriel, the son of Abihail. They had to put up their tents on the north side of the special tabernacle.
36 Merari's family had to take care of all the wood parts of the tabernacle. They took care of the heavy things that stood on the ground to hold the poles. 37 They also took care of the poles that held the cloth round the yard, their ropes and other things that held the Tent in its place.
38 Moses, Aaron and Aaron's sons had to put up their tents in front of the tabernacle, on the east side. They were the only people who could go into the Holy Place in the Tent. Any other person who went near it had to die.
39 So Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord. They counted the Levites by their clans. There were 22,000 males who were one month old or older.
The firstborn sons belong to the Lord
40 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Record all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. Record every male who is one month old or older. Make a list of their names. 41 The Israelites' firstborn sons belong to me. I am the Lord. But I will accept all the males among the Levites instead. The Israelites' firstborn animals also belong to me. But I will accept the animals of the Levites instead.’
42 So Moses counted all the firstborn males among the Israelites as the Lord had said. 43 He counted 22,273 firstborn males who were one month old or older. He made a list of their names.
44 Then the Lord said to Moses, 45 ‘Do not take the firstborn males among the people to belong to me. Accept the Levites instead. Do not use the firstborn animals of the people. Accept the animals of the Levites instead. The Levites will belong to me. I am the Lord. 46 There are 273 more firstborn males of the people than there are Levites. So the people must pay for the extra firstborn sons. 47 You must accept five shekels for each extra firstborn male. The shekel must have the same weight as the shekel that the Levites use in God's tabernacle. There are 20 gerahs in one shekel. 48 Give that money to Aaron and his sons.’
49 So Moses took the money to buy back the extra 273 firstborn sons. That was because the number of firstborn sons was more than the number of Levites. 50 He took 1,365 shekels from them. The shekels had the same weight as the shekel that the Levites used in God's tabernacle. 51 Moses did what the Lord had told him to do. He gave the money to Aaron and his sons.
Footnotes
- 3:4 We are not sure what ‘strange fire’ was. But we know that it was something wrong that did not please God.
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