Chapter 3

Aaron’s Offspring.^{[a] 1} These are the descendants of Aaron and Moses on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. ² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: the oldest was Nadab, and then there were Abihu and Eleazar and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and consecrated to minister in the priesthood. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unclean fire to the Lord in the Sinai Desert. They had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of their father Aaron.

The Tribe of Levi. ⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Gather the tribe of Levi and have them stand before Aaron the priest so that they can minister to him. ⁷ They will serve him and serve the whole assembly standing before the tent of meeting, ministering to the needs of the tabernacle. ⁸ They will take care of all of the furnishings of the tent of meeting and attend to the needs of the people of Israel as they minister in the tabernacle. ⁹ You will give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are dedicated to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰ You will appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will serve as priests. Anyone else who draws near is to be put to death.”

^11 [b]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel as a substitute for the firstborn of the people of Israel, those who opened the womb. The Levites will be my own, ¹³ for every firstborn has belonged to me from the day that I slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. I have set apart all the firstborn as my own in Israel, both human and animal. They will be mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴ Counting the Levites. The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, saying, ¹⁵ “Count the sons of Levi by clan, by family. Count every male one month old and older.”

¹⁶ So Moses counted them, as the word of the Lord had commanded^[c] him. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.^{[d] 18} These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their families were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ The sons of Merari by the families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their clan.

²¹ From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites. ²² They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered seven thousand, five hundred. ²³ The clan of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle to the west. ²⁴ Eliasaph, the son of Lael, was the leader of the clan of the Gershonites. ²⁵ In the tent of meeting the sons of Gershon had responsibility for the care of the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the curtains for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, its cords, and everything that had to be done with these.

²⁷ From Kohath came 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 They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered eight thousand, three hundred, ministering to the needs of the sanctuary. ²⁹ The clan of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰ Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, was the leader of the clan of the Kohathites. ³¹ Their responsibility was for the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary, the screen, and everything that had to be done with these.

³² Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was to be the supervisor of the leaders of the Levites. He was to oversee those who had the responsibility to care for the needs of the sanctuary.

³³ From Merari came the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴ They counted them, all males one month old and older, and they numbered six thousand, two hundred. ³⁵ Zuriel, the son of Abihail, was the leader of the clan of Merari. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ Their responsibility was for the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, its pillars, its sockets and all of their parts, ³⁷ the pillars around the courtyard, and their pins, and their cords.

³⁸ Finally, Moses, Aaron and his sons camped in front of the tabernacle on its east side, in front of the tent of meeting and eastward. They kept watch over the sanctuary, keeping the people of Israel and any other person from coming near, under penalty of death.

³⁹ The total number of the Levites who were counted by Moses and Aaron at the command of the Lord, everyone in their families who was one month old and older, was twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰ Redemption of the Firstborn. The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, those one month old and older, and make a list of their names. ⁴¹ The Levites will be a substitute for me in place of the firstborn of the people of Israel. I am the Lord. The cattle of the Levites will be a substitute for the firstborn of the cattle of the people of Israel.”

⁴² Moses counted all of the firstborn of the people of Israel as the Lord had commanded him ⁴³ and he listed all the firstborn males by name, those one month old and older. They numbered twenty-two thousand, two hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites as a substitute for all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites as a substitute for their cattle. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord.”

⁴⁶ Those who were to be redeemed among the firstborn of the people of Israel, not counting the Levites, numbered two hundred seventy-three. ⁴⁷ “You will take five shekels for each person according to the shekel of the sanctuary, that is, twenty gerahs for each shekel ⁴⁸ and give the money to Aaron and his sons to redeem those who are in excess among them.”

⁴⁹ Moses took the redemption money for those who were in excess, above the number of those redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰ He received the money for the firstborn of the people of Israel, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹ Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons as the Lord had commanded Moses by the word of the Lord.

Chapter 4

Delineation of Duties. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “Count the number of the Kohathites from among the sons of Levi by their clans and their families. ³ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years old who go in to minister in the tent of meeting.^[e]

⁴ “This is the ministry of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting: tending to the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp is being moved, Aaron and his sons will take down the veil and cover the Ark of Testimony with it. ⁶ They are then to put on the sheep skins, cover it with a blue cloth, and put the poles in place.^{[f] 7} They will spread a blue cloth over the table for the shewbread. On it they will place the dishes and spoons and bowls and jars for the drink offerings. The bread of offering will remain on it. ⁸ Over these they will spread a scarlet cloth and cover it with sheep skins. You will then put the poles in it. ⁹ They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for the light, its lamps, its tongs, its snuffers, and all of its oil dishes, all the things used in its ministry. ¹⁰ They will put it and all of its vessels within a hide of sheep skin and they will put it upon a litter. ¹¹ They will spread a blue cloth upon the golden altar and cover it with a covering of sheep skins and put its poles in it.^{[g] 12} Then they are to take all the implements with which they minister in the sanctuary, and they are to cover them with a blue cloth and with a covering of sheep skin and put them on a litter. ¹³ They are to empty all the ashes^[h] out from the altar and spread a purple cloth on it. ¹⁴ They are to put all the utensils with which they minister upon it, the censers, the forks, the shovels, and the basins. They are to take all of the utensils with which they minister and spread a sheep skin upon them. They will also put in its poles.

¹⁵ “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all of the vessels of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to set out, the Kohathites will come forward to carry it, but they will not touch anything that is holy, lest they die. These things in the tent of meeting are the responsibility of the Kohathites.

¹⁶ “Eleazar, the son of Aaron, has the responsibility for the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the daily meat offering, and the oil for anointing. He shall also oversee care for the tabernacle and everything in it, the sanctuary and its vessels.”

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ¹⁸ “Do not let the clan of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. ¹⁹ Do these things for them so that they may live. Otherwise they will die when they come near to the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will go and appoint each one of them to their ministry and their responsibilities, ²⁰ only they are not to go in and watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”

²¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²² “Count the number of the sons of Gershon by their clans and their families. ²³ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years old who go in to minister in the tent of meeting. ²⁴ This is the ministry of the clan of the Gershonites, their service and responsibility. ²⁵ They will carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of sheep skin that is over it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the curtains for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, their cords, and all of their accessories. They will do all that needs to be done with these things. ²⁷ All the service of the Gershonites, what they are to carry and what they are to do, will be under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign them responsibility for what they are to carry. ²⁸ These things in the tent of meeting are the responsibility of the families of the Gershonites. Their service will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ “Count the number of the Merarites by their clans and their families. ³⁰ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years old who go in to minister in the tent of meeting. ³¹ This is their responsibility and service for the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle with their bars, their pillars, their sockets, ³² the pillars surrounding the courtyard, their sockets, their pins, their cords, and all their accessories. You will assign the things that they are charged to carry by name. ³³ This is the service of the clan of the Merarites. All of their service in the tent of meeting will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest.”

³⁴ Counting the Adult Levites. Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the assembly counted the Kohathites by family and by clan, ³⁵ those who were from thirty to fifty years old and who went in to minister in the service of the tent of meeting. ³⁶ By families there were two thousand, seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷ This was the number of those in the families of the Kohathites who ministered in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted, fulfilling the commandment of the Lord given to Moses.

³⁸ The sons of Gershon were counted by families and clan ³⁹ counting those who were from thirty years old to fifty years old and who went in to minister in the service of the tent of meeting. ⁴⁰ Counted by family and clan, there were two thousand, six hundred and thirty of them. ⁴¹ This was the number of the families of the sons of Gershon, all of whom served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted, fulfilling the commandment of the Lord.

⁴² The Merarites were counted by families and clan, ⁴³ those who were from thirty years old to fifty years old and who went in to minister in the service of the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴ Counted by families, there were three thousand, two hundred of them. ⁴⁵ This was the number of the families of the Merarites whom Moses and Aaron counted, fulfilling the commandment of the Lord given to Moses.

⁴⁶ Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all of the Levites according to families and clans ⁴⁷ who were from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of ministry and who served carrying the tent of meeting. ⁴⁸ There were eight thousand, five hundred and eighty of them. ⁴⁹ They were counted as the Lord had commanded Moses, counting all of those dedicated for service and carrying, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.