³⁰ The apostles [sent out as missionaries] came back and gathered together to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught.

³¹ And He said to them, [^[a]As for you] come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while—for many were [continually] coming and going, and they had not even leisure enough to eat.

³² And they went away in a boat to a solitary place by themselves.

³³ Now many [people] saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the surrounding towns, and they got there ahead [of those in the boat].

³⁴ As Jesus landed, He saw a great crowd waiting, and He was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

³⁵ And when ^[b]the day was already far gone, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a desolate and isolated place, and the hour is now late.

³⁶ Send the crowds away to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.

³⁷ But He replied to them, Give them something to eat yourselves. And they said to Him, Shall we go and buy 200 ^[c]denarii [about forty dollars] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?^(A)

³⁸ And He said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they [had looked and] knew, they said, Five [loaves] and two fish.

³⁹ Then He commanded the people all to recline on the green grass by companies.

⁴⁰ So they threw themselves down in ranks of hundreds and fifties [with the ^[d]regularity of an arrangement of beds of herbs, looking ^[e]like so many garden plots].

⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and, praising God, gave thanks and broke the loaves and kept on giving them to the disciples to set before the people; and He [also] divided the two fish among [them] all.

⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied.

⁴³ And they took up twelve [^[f]small hand] baskets full of broken pieces [from the loaves] and of the fish.

⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.

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3 Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom Aaron consecrated and ordained to minister in the priest’s office.

⁴ But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence and under the supervision of Aaron their father.^(A)

⁵ And the Lord said to Moses,

⁶ Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

⁷ And they shall carry out his instructions and the duties connected with the whole assembly before the Tent of Meeting, doing the service of the tabernacle.

⁸ And they shall keep all the instruments and furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and take charge of [attending] the Israelites, to serve in the tabernacle.

⁹ And you shall give the Levites [as servants and helpers] to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the Israelites.

¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall observe and attend to their priest’s office; but the excluded [anyone daring to assume priestly duties or privileges who is not of the house of Aaron and called of God] who comes near [the holy things] shall be put to death.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses,

¹² Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites; and the Levites shall be Mine,

¹³ For all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast; Mine they shall be. I am the Lord.

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai,

¹⁵ Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses and by families. Every male from a month old and upward you shall number.

¹⁶ So Moses numbered them as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ And 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 by their fathers’ houses.

²¹ Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.

²² The males who were numbered of them from a month old and upward totaled 7,500.

²³ The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west,

²⁴ The leader of the fathers’ houses of the Gershonites being Eliasaph son of Lael.

²⁵ And the responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

²⁶ And the hangings of the court, the curtain for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its cords, and all the service pertaining to them.

²⁷ Of Kohath were the families of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸ The number of all the males from a month old and upward totaled 8,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.

²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle,

³⁰ The chief of the fathers’ houses of the families of the Kohathites being Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

³¹ Their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen, and all the service having to do with these.

³² Eleazar son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and have the oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.

³³ Of Merari were the families of the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.

³⁴ Their number of all the males from a month old and upward totaled 6,200.

³⁵ And the head of the fathers’ houses of the families of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail; the Merarites were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.

³⁶ And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari was the boards or frames of the tabernacle, and its bars, pillars, sockets or bases, and all the accessories or instruments of it, and all the work connected with them,

³⁷ And the pillars of the surrounding court and their sockets or bases, with their pegs and their cords.

³⁸ But those to encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were to be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the full charge of the rites of the sanctuary in whatever was required for the Israelites; and the ^[a]excluded [one not a descendant of Aaron and called of God] who came near [the sanctuary] was to be put to death.

³⁹ All the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.

⁴⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹ You shall take the Levites for Me instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites. I am the Lord; and you shall take the cattle of the Levites for Me instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the Israelites.

⁴² So Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn Israelites.

⁴³ But all the firstborn males from a month old and upward as numbered were 22,273 [273 more than the Levites].

⁴⁴ And the Lord said to Moses,

⁴⁵ Take the Levites [for Me] instead of all the firstborn Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine. I am the Lord.

⁴⁶ And for those 273 who are to be redeemed of the firstborn of the Israelites who outnumber the Levites,

⁴⁷ You shall take five shekels apiece, reckoning by the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs; you shall collect them,

⁴⁸ And you shall give the ransom silver from the excess number [over the Levites] to be redeemed to Aaron and his sons.

⁴⁹ So Moses took the redemption money from those who were left over from the number who were redeemed by the Levites.

⁵⁰ From the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money, 1,365 shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁵¹ And Moses gave the money from those who were ransomed to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord commanded Moses.