Numbers 3

1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And 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 whose hands were filled to serve as priests. 4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they brought foreign fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests along with Aaron their father.

5 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 6 “Take the tribe of Levi and set them before Aaron the priest, and they are to do the work of the service for him, 7 and keep his charge and the charge of the children of Israel in front of the tent of witness, doing the work of the tent. 8 They are to keep all the equipment of the tent of witness, and the charge of the children of Israel, in all the work of the tent. 9 And you are to give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons the priests. They are given to me as a gift out of the children of Israel. 10 And you are to set Aaron and his sons over the tent of witness, and they are to keep their priesthood and everything that has to do with the altar and inside the veil; and the outsider who touches them is to die.” [a]

11 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 12 “Look, I myself have taken the Levites out of the middle of the children of Israel in place of every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel. They are to be their ransom, and the Levites are to be mine. 13 For every firstborn is mine. On the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I made every firstborn in Israel holy to myself, both of man and of animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”

14 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. He said, 15 “Take the number of the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their clans. Count every male from a month old and up.” 16 And Moses and Aaron counted them at the word of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded them. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites by their fathers' houses.

21 To Gershon belong the clan of Libni and the clan of Shimei. These are the clans of Gershon. 22 The count of them, by the number of every male from a month old and up — their count was 7,500. 23 The sons of Gershon are to camp behind the tent, on the west. 24 And the leader of the fathers' house of the clan of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael. [b] 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of witness was the tent and the veil, and the covering of the door of the tent of witness, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen of the door of the court that stands around the tent, and everything else needed for its work.

27 To Kohath belong the clan of Amram, the clan of Izhar, the clan of Hebron and the clan of Uzziel. These are the clans of Kohath. 28 By number, every male from a month old and up, 8,600, keeping the charge of the holy things. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath are to camp beside the tent, on the south. 30 And the leader of the fathers' house of the clans of Kohath was Elzaphan son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge was the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the holy place that they do the work of the service with, and the covering, and everything needed for their work. 32 And the leader over the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, appointed to keep the charge of the holy things.

33 To Merari belong the clan of Mahli and the clan of Mushi. These are the clans of Merari. 34 The count of them, by number, every male from a month old and up, was 6,050. [c] 35 And the leader of the fathers' house of the clan of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They are to camp at the side of the tent, on the north. 36 The charge given to the sons of Merari was the tops of the tent, and its bars, and its posts, and its bases, and all their fittings, and everything needed for their work, 37 and the posts of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords. 38 And those camping in front of the tent of witness, on the east, are to be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the holy place on behalf of the children of Israel; and the outsider who touches them is to die. 39 The whole count of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the word of the Lord by their clans, every male from a month old and up, was 22,000. [d]

40 And the Lord said to Moses, 40 “Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel from a month old and up, and take the number of their names. 41 And you are to take the Levites for me — I am the Lord — in place of all the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the cattle of the children of Israel.” 42 So Moses counted every firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord had commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of their names, from a month old and up, came to 22,273 in the count.

44 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 45 “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; and the Levites are to be mine. I am the Lord. 46 And as the ransom of the 273 firstborn of the children of Israel who are more than the Levites, 47 you are to take two ounces of silver a head; take it by the holy standard, twenty obols to the piece of silver. [e] 48 And you are to give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, as the ransom of those among them who are over the number.” 49 So Moses took the silver, the ransom of those who were over the number that the Levites bought back. 50 He took the silver from the firstborn of the children of Israel — about thirty-four pounds of it, by the holy standard. [f] 51 And Moses gave the ransom of those who were over to Aaron and to his sons at the word of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.