Numbers 3
World English Bible
3 Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4 Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they offered strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9 You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. 10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold,[a] I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”
14 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”
16 Moses counted them according to Yahweh’s word, as he was commanded.
17 These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18 These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19 The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20 The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.
21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
22 Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.
23 The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
24 Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. 25 The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.
27 Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. 32 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.
33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. 34 Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.[b]
35 The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, 37 the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.
38 Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, with Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 39 All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
40 Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41 You shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”
42 Moses counted, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43 All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
44 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. 46 For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel[c] of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs[d]); 48 and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”
49 Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; 50 from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels,[e] according to the shekel of the sanctuary; 51 and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- 3:12 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
- 3:34 + 22,000 is the sum rounded to 2 significant digits. The sum of the Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites given above is 22,300, but the traditional Hebrew text has the number rounded to 2 significant digits, not 3 significant digits.
- 3:47 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
- 3:47 A gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains.
- 3:50 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1365 shekels is about 13.65 kilograms or about 30 pounds.
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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