Numbers 3
Revised Geneva Translation
3 Also, these were the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the days that the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 So 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 anointed Priests, whom he consecrated to minister in the Priest’s office.
4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai and had no children. But Eleazar and Ithamar served in the Priest’s office in the sight of Aaron, their father.
5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and set them before Aaron the Priest, so that they may serve him
7 “and tend to him, even tend to the whole Congregation, before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to do the service of the Tabernacle.
8 “They shall also maintain all the instruments of the Tabernacle of the Congregation and tend to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the service of the Tabernacle.
9 “And you shall give the Levites to Aaron, and to his sons. They are given to him freely from among the children of Israel.
10 “And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to execute their Priest’s office. And the stranger who comes near shall be killed.”
11 Also, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 “Behold, I have even taken the Levites from among the children of Israel, for all the firstborn that open the womb among the children of Israel. And the Levites shall be Mine,
13 “because all the firstborn are Mine. For the same day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. Mine they shall be. I am the LORD.”
14 Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
15 “Number the children of Levi, after the Houses of their fathers, in their families. Every male from a month old and above shall you number.”
16 Then Moses numbered them according to the Word of the LORD, as he was Commanded.
17 And these were the sons of Levi, by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
18 Also these were the names of the sons of Gershon, by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19 Also the sons of Kohath, by their families: Amram and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20 And the sons of Merari, by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These were the families of Levi, according to the Houses of their fathers.
21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites. These were the families of the Gershonites,
22 the sum of which (after the number of all the males from a month old and above) was counted seven thousand five hundred.
23 The families of the Gershonites were to pitch behind the Tabernacle, westward.
24 The captain and ancient of the House of the Gershonites was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.
25 And the sons of Gershon in the Tabernacle of the Congregation were to be in charge of the Tabernacle and the Pavilion, its covering, and the Veil of the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation,
26 and the hanging of the court and the Veil of the door of the court which is near the Tabernacle, and near the Altar, all around, and the cords of it, for all its services.
27 And from Kohath came the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites. These were the families of the Kohathites.
28 The number of all the males from a month old and above was eight thousand six hundred, keeping charge of the Sanctuary.
29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to pitch on the south side of the Tabernacle.
30 The captain and ancient of the House and families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.
31 And their charge was to be the Ark, the Table, the Candlestick, the Altars, the instruments of the Sanctuary with which they minister, the Veil, and all that serves them.
32 And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, was to be chief captain of the Levites, having oversight of those in charge of the Sanctuary.
33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These were the families of Merari.
34 And the sum of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, was six thousand two hundred.
35 The captain and the ancient of the House of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail. They were to pitch on the Northside of the Tabernacle.
36 And the sons of Merari were in charge and custody of the boards of the Tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, and all its instruments, and all that serves them,
37 with the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, and their pins and their cords.
38 Also, on the forefront of the Tabernacle, toward the east, before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, eastward, Moses and Aaron and his sons were to pitch, having charge of the Sanctuary and charge of the children of Israel. But the stranger who came near would be killed.
39 The whole sum of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the Commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and above, was twenty-two thousand.
40 And the LORD said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn who are males among the children of Israel from a month old and above and take the number of their names.
41 “And you shall take the Levites for Me instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel—I am the LORD—and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the cattle of the children of Israel.”
42 And Moses numbered all the firstborn of the children of Israel, as the LORD Commanded him.
43 All the firstborn males by name (from a month old and above), according to their number, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy three.
44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am the LORD.
46 “And for the redeeming of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel (which is more than the Levites),
47 “you shall also take five shekels for every person. You shall take it after the weight of the Sanctuary. The shekel contains twenty gerahs.
48 “And you shall give the money with which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and to his sons.”
49 Thus Moses took the redemption of those who were redeemed in addition to the Levites.
50 He took the money from the firstborn of the children of Israel: one thousand three hundred sixty-five, after the shekel of the Sanctuary.
51 And Moses gave the money from those who were redeemed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the Word of the LORD, as the LORD had Commanded Moses.
Numbers 3
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. 25 (Y)The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included (Z)the tabernacle, (AA)the tent with (AB)its covering, (AC)the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26 (AD)the screen for the door of the court, (AE)the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and (AF)their cords, according to all the work relating to them.
27 (AG)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 were the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand [e]six hundred [f]keeping charge of the sanctuary. 29 (AH)The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of (AI)Uzziel. 31 (AJ)Their duty included (AK)the ark, (AL)the table, (AM)the lampstand, (AN)the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, (AO)the screen, and all the work relating to them.
32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.
33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34 And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. 35 The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. (AP)These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 And (AQ)the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, 37 and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.
38 (AR)Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, (AS)keeping charge of the sanctuary, (AT)to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but (AU)the outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 (AV)All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.
Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: (AW)“Number[g] all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41 (AX)And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—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 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45 (AY)“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46 And for (AZ)the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, (BA)who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take (BB)five shekels for each one (BC)individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, (BD)the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48 And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”
49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, (BE)one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses (BF)gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 3:1 Lit. generations
- Numbers 3:3 Lit. whose hands he filled
- Numbers 3:9 Sam., LXX Me
- Numbers 3:16 Lit. mouth
- Numbers 3:28 Some LXX mss. three
- Numbers 3:28 taking care of
- Numbers 3:40 Take a census of
Numbers 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
The Sons of Aaron. 1 These are the offspring of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.(A) 3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died(B) in the presence of the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they left no sons. So only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
Levites in Place of the Firstborn. 5 Now the Lord said to Moses: 6 Summon the tribe of Levi and station them before Aaron the priest to serve him.(C) 7 They shall discharge his obligations and those of the whole community before the tent of meeting(D) by maintaining the tabernacle. 8 They shall have responsibility for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and discharge the obligations of the Israelites by maintaining the tabernacle. 9 You shall assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons;(E) they have been assigned unconditionally to him from among the Israelites. 10 But you will appoint only Aaron and his descendants to exercise the priesthood.(F) Any unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.
11 The Lord said to Moses: 12 I hereby take the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn that opens the womb among the Israelites.(G) The Levites, therefore, are mine, 13 because every firstborn is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to me every firstborn in Israel, human being and beast alike. They belong to me; I am the Lord.
Census of the Levites. 14 The Lord said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai: 15 Enroll the Levites by their ancestral houses and clans, enrolling every male of a month or more.(H) 16 Moses, therefore, enrolled them at the direction of the Lord, just as the Lord had charged.
17 (I)These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 18 These were the names of the sons of Gershon, by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 The sons of Kohath, by their clans, were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 The sons of Merari, by their clans, were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites by their ancestral houses.
Duties of the Levitical Clans. 21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their enrollment, registering every male of a month or more, was seven thousand five hundred. 23 The clans of the Gershonites camped behind the tabernacle, to the west. 24 The leader of the ancestral house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph, son of Lael. 25 (J)At the tent of meeting their responsibility was the tabernacle:[a] the tent and its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the curtain at the entrance of the court enclosing both the tabernacle and the altar, and the ropes—whatever pertained to their maintenance.
27 To Kohath belonged the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites. 28 Their enrollment, registering every male of a month or more, was eight thousand three hundred. They were the ones who performed the duties of the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 And the leader of their ancestral house of the clan of the Kohathites was Elizaphan, son of Uzziel. 31 Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, the veil, and everything pertaining to their maintenance.[b] 32 The chief of the leaders of the Levites, however, was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest; he was in charge of those who performed the duties of the sanctuary.
33 To Merari belonged the clans of the Mahlites and the Mushites; these were the clans of Merari. 34 Their enrollment, registering every male of a month or more, was six thousand two hundred. 35 The leader of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They camped at the north side of the tabernacle. 36 [c]The Merarites were assigned responsibility for the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, columns, pedestals, and all its fittings—and everything pertaining to their maintenance, 37 as well as the columns of the surrounding court with their pedestals, pegs and ropes.
38 East of the tabernacle, that is, in front of the tent of meeting, toward the sunrise, were camped Moses and Aaron and the latter’s sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary incumbent upon the Israelites. Any unauthorized person who came near was to be put to death.
39 The total enrollment of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron enrolled at the direction of the Lord, by clans, every male a month old or more, was twenty-two thousand.
Census and Ransom of Firstborn. 40 The Lord then said to Moses: Enroll every firstborn male of the Israelites a month old or more, and count the number of their names. 41 Then take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, as well as the Levites’ cattle, in place of all the firstborn among the cattle of the Israelites. 42 So Moses enrolled all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him. 43 All the firstborn males, registered by name, of a month or more, numbered twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 The Lord said to Moses: 45 Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of their cattle, that the Levites may belong to me. I am the Lord. 46 As a redemption-price for the two hundred and seventy-three firstborn of the Israelites over and above the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels for each individual, according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.(K) 48 Give this money to Aaron and his sons as a redemption-price for the extra number. 49 So Moses took the redemption money for those over and above the ones redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels according to the sanctuary shekel. 51 He then gave this redemption money to Aaron and his sons, at the direction of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- 3:25–26 The Gershonites had two wagons for transporting these things; cf. 7:7. For a description of the tabernacle, see Ex 26:1–6; the tent, Ex 26:7–13; its covering, Ex 26:14; the curtain at the entrance, Ex 26:36; the hangings of the court, Ex 27:9–15; the curtain at the entrance of the court, Ex 27:16; the ropes of the tabernacle, Ex 35:18.
- 3:31 The Kohathites had to carry these sacred objects on their shoulders; cf. 7:9. For a description of the ark, see Ex 25:10–22; the table, Ex 25:23–30; the menorah, Ex 25:31–40; the altars, Ex 27:1–8; 30:1–10.
- 3:36–37 The Merarites had four wagons for transporting this heavy material; cf. 7:8. For a description of the boards, bars, etc., of the tabernacle, see Ex 26:15–30; the columns, pedestals, etc., of the court, Ex 27:9–19.
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