Numbers 3:1-24

New King James Version

The Sons of Aaron^(A)

3 Now these are the ^(B)records^[a] of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the ^(C)firstborn, and ^(D)Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^(E)the anointed priests, ^[b]whom he consecrated to minister as priests. ^4 (F)Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^6 (G)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷ And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do ^(H)the work of the tabernacle. ⁸ Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹ And ^(I)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to ^[c]him from among the children of Israel. ¹⁰ So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, ^(J)and they shall attend to their priesthood; ^(K)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² “Now behold, ^(L)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be ^(M)Mine, ¹³ because ^(N)all the firstborn are Mine. ^(O)On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”

Census of the Levites Commanded^(P)

¹⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: ¹⁵ “Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number ^(Q)every male from a month old and above.”

¹⁶ So Moses numbered them according to the ^[d]word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ^17 (R)These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of ^(S)Gershon by their families: ^(T)Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ And the sons of ^(U)Kohath by their families: ^(V)Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^20 (W)And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

²¹ From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²² Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. ^23 (X)The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴ And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.