Numbers 3
English Standard Version Anglicised
The Sons of Aaron
3 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: (A)Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, (B)the anointed priests, (C)whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 (D)But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.
Duties of the Levites
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 (E)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, (F)as they minister at the tabernacle. 8 They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9 And (G)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are (H)wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and (I)they shall guard their priesthood. But if (J)any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, (K)I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13 for (L)all the firstborn are mine. (M)On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”
14 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; (N)every male from a month old and upwards you shall list.” 16 So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17 (O)And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: (P)Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: (Q)Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: (R)Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.
21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upwards was[a] 7,500. 23 (S)The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. 25 And the (T)guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved (U)the tabernacle, (V)the tent with (W)its covering, (X)the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 (Y)the hangings of the court, (Z)the screen for the door of the court that is round the tabernacle and the altar, and (AA)its cords—all the service connected with these.
27 To Kohath belonged the clan of the (AB)Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upwards, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 with (AC)Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31 And their guard duty involved (AD)the ark, (AE)the table, (AF)the lampstand, (AG)the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and (AH)the screen; all the service connected with these. 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.
33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. 34 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upwards was 6,200. 35 And the chief of the fathers' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 (AI)And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the (AJ)frames of the tabernacle, (AK)the bars, (AL)the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; 37 also (AM)the pillars round the court, with their bases and (AN)pegs and (AO)cords.
38 Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting towards the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, (AP)guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect[b] the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upwards, were (AQ)22,000.
Redemption of the Firstborn
40 And the Lord said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upwards, taking the number of their names. 41 (AR)And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” 42 So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upwards as listed were 22,273.
44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 (AS)“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. 46 And (AT)as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, 47 you shall take (AU)five shekels[c] per head; you shall take them according to (AV)the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs[d]), 48 and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, (AW)1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses (AX)gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 3:22 Hebrew their listing was
- Numbers 3:38 Hebrew guard
- Numbers 3:47 A shekel was about 2/5 of an ounce or 11 grams
- Numbers 3:47 A gerah was about 1/50 of an ounce or 0.6 gram
Numbers 3
Expanded Bible
Aaron’s Family, the Priests
3 ·This is the family history [L These are the generations; Gen. 2:4] of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord talked to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 ·Aaron had four sons [L These are the names of the sons of Aaron]: Nadab, the ·oldest [firstborn], Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These were the names of Aaron’s sons, who were appointed to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered ·the wrong kind of [L strange; C an inappropriate performance of a ritual] fire before the Lord in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai [Lev. 10]. They had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and ·present them to [L make them stand before] Aaron the priest to ·help [minister to; assist] him. 7 They will ·help [take care of] him and all the ·Israelites [community; assembly; congregation] at the Meeting Tent, doing the work in the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle]. 8 The Levites must take care of everything in the Meeting Tent and serve the people of Israel by doing the work in the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle]. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; of all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], the Levites are given completely to him. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests, but anyone else who comes near the holy things must be put to death.”
11 The Lord also said to Moses, 12 “I am ·choosing [taking] the Levites from all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to take the place of all the firstborn ·children [L who open the womb] of ·Israel [L the sons/T children of Israel]. The Levites will be mine, 13 because the firstborn are mine. When you were in Egypt, I ·killed [L struck] all the firstborn ·children of the [L in the land of the] Egyptians [Ex. 12:12–13] and took all the firstborn of Israel to be mine [Ex. 13:2, 11–16; 22:29–30; 34:19–20], both animals and children. They are mine. I am the Lord.”
14 The Lord again said to Moses in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai, 15 “Count the ·Levites [L sons/descendants of Levi] by ·families [clans] and family groups. Count every male one month old or older.” 16 So Moses obeyed the Lord and counted them all.
17 Levi had three sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18 The Gershonite ·family groups [clans] were Libni and Shimei [4:21–28].
19 The ·Kohathite family groups [L the sons/descendants of Kohath by their clans] were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel [4:1–20].
20 The ·Merarite family groups [L the sons/descendants of Merari by their clans] were Mahli and Mushi [4:29–33].
These were the ·family groups [clans according to the family groups] of the Levites.
21 The ·family groups [clans] of Libni and Shimei belonged to Gershon; they were the Gershonite ·family groups [clans]. 22 The number that was counted was 7,500 males one month old or older. 23 The Gershonite ·family groups [clan] camped on the west side, behind the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle]. 24 The leader of the ·families [family groups] of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 In the Meeting Tent the Gershonites were in charge of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], its covering [Ex. 26:1–6], the curtain at the entrance to the Meeting Tent, 26 the curtains in the courtyard, the curtain at the entry to the courtyard around the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and the altar, the ropes, and all the work connected with these items.
27 The ·family groups [clans] of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel belonged to Kohath; they were the Kohathite ·family groups [clans]. 28 They had 8,600 males one month old or older, and they were responsible for taking care of the Holy Place. 29 The Kohathite ·family groups [clans] camped south of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle]. 30 The leader of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 They were responsible for the Ark [Ex. 25:10], the table [Ex. 25:23–30], the lampstand [L Menorah; Ex. 25:31–40], the altars [Ex. 27:1–8], the tools of the Holy Place which they were to use, the curtain, and all the work connected with these items. 32 The main leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, who was in charge of all those responsible for the Holy Place.
33 The ·family groups [clans] of Mahli and Mushi belonged to Merari; they were the Merarite ·family groups [clans]. 34 The number that was counted was 6,200 males one month old or older. 35 The leader of the Merari families was Zuriel son of Abihail, and they were to camp north of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle]. 36 The Merarites were responsible for the frames of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], the ·braces [bars], the ·posts [pillars], the bases, and all the work connected with these items. 37 They were also responsible for the ·posts [pillars] in the courtyard around the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.
38 Moses, Aaron, and his sons camped east of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], toward the sunrise, in front of the Meeting Tent. They were responsible for the Holy Place for the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. Anyone else who came near the Holy Place was to be put to death.
39 Moses and Aaron counted the Levite men by their ·families [clans], as the Lord commanded, and there were 22,000 males one month old or older.
Levites Take the Place of the Firstborn Sons
40 The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn sons in Israel one month old or older, and list their names. 41 Take the Levites for me instead of the firstborn sons of Israel; take the animals of the Levites instead of the firstborn animals from the ·rest [L sons] of Israel. I am the Lord.”
42 So Moses did what the Lord commanded and counted all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. 43 When he listed all the firstborn sons one month old or older, there were 22,273 names.
44 The Lord also said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, and take the animals of the Levites instead of the animals of the other people. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord. 46 Since there are 273 more firstborn sons than Levites, 47 collect ·two ounces [L five shekels] of silver for each of the 273 sons. Use the ·measure as set by [L shekel of] the Holy Place, which is ·two-fifths of an ounce [L a shekel of twenty gerahs]. 48 Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the payment for the 273 Israelites.”
49 So Moses collected the money for the people the Levites could not ·replace [redeem]. 50 From the firstborn of the Israelites, he collected ·thirty-five pounds [L 1,365 shekels] of silver, using the ·measure set by [L shekel of] the Holy Place. 51 Moses obeyed the command of the Lord and gave the silver to Aaron and his sons.
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