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Redemption of the Firstborn

40 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “(A)Number every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and [a]make a list of their names. 41 And you (B)shall take the Levites for Me, I am Yahweh, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.” 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded him; 43 and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward, for their numbered men were (C)22,273.

44 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 (D)Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am Yahweh. 46 (E)For the redemption price of the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites, 47 you shall take (F)five [b]shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in (G)terms of the shekel of the sanctuary ((H)the shekel is twenty [c]gerahs), 48 and give the money, the redemption price of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons.” 49 So Moses took the money of the redemption price from those who were in excess, beyond those redeemed by the Levites; 50 from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1,365. 51 Then Moses gave the money of the redemption price to Aaron and to his sons, at the [d]command of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:40 Lit take the number
  2. Numbers 3:47 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  3. Numbers 3:47 A gerah was approx. 0.025 oz. or 0.7 gm
  4. Numbers 3:51 Lit mouth

Redeeming the Firstborn Sons

40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now count all the firstborn sons in Israel who are one month old or older, and make a list of their names. 41 The Levites must be reserved for me as substitutes for the firstborn sons of Israel; I am the Lord. And the Levites’ livestock must be reserved for me as substitutes for the firstborn livestock of the whole nation of Israel.”

42 So Moses counted the firstborn sons of the people of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded. 43 The number of firstborn sons who were one month old or older was 22,273.

44 Then the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn sons of the people of Israel. And take the livestock of the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn livestock of the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me; I am the Lord. 46 There are 273 more firstborn sons of Israel than there are Levites. To redeem these extra firstborn sons, 47 collect five pieces of silver[a] for each of them (each piece weighing the same as the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs). 48 Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the extra firstborn sons.”

49 So Moses collected the silver for redeeming the firstborn sons of Israel who exceeded the number of Levites. 50 He collected 1,365 pieces of silver[b] on behalf of these firstborn sons of Israel (each piece weighing the same as the sanctuary shekel). 51 And Moses gave the silver for the redemption to Aaron and his sons, just as the Lord had commanded.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:47 Hebrew 5 shekels [2 ounces or 57 grams].
  2. 3:50 Hebrew 1,365 [shekels] of silver [34 pounds or 15.5 kilograms].