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39-45 The total number of Levites whom Moses and Aaron organized, according to the Eternal’s command, were 22,273. These males, one month or older, Moses listed by name.

The Eternal One told Moses,

Eternal One (to Moses): As a substitute for all the Israelite firstborn children and animals (as all of them are Mine), take all the Levites and all the Levites’ animals, which shall belong to Me.[a] 46 But because there are 273 more Israelite firstborn children than there are Levites, you shall pay a substitute price: 47 five shekels for each (calculated by the sanctuary weight, which is 35 pounds to the shekel),

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Footnotes

  1. 3:39-45 These verses have been rearranged for clarity because of repetition in the Hebrew.

45 “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine.(A) I am the Lord.(B) 46 To redeem(C) the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, 47 collect five shekels[a](D) for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel,(E) which weighs twenty gerahs.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:47 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams