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The Census
The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said:
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as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai:
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The Lord had said to Moses:
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The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.
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The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
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The Levites, however, were not counted along with the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.
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So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.
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The Levites
This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.
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Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
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The Lord said to Moses,
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The Lord also said to Moses,
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for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”
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The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai,
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So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.
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The total number of Levites counted at the Lord’s command by Moses and Aaron according to their clans, including every male a month old or more, was 22,000.
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The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names.
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Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am the Lord.”
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So Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him.
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The Lord also said to Moses,
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“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. I am the Lord.
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Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.
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The Kohathites
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
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The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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The Gershonites
The Lord said to Moses,
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This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.
