Numbers 3:1-28 ▼

1 Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

2 These then 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 ordained to serve as priests.

4 But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the LORD when they offered strange 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 their father Aaron.

5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

6 “Bring the tribe of Levi forward and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

7 They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

8 They shall also take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9 So you shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are exclusively assigned to him from the sons of Israel.

10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the firstborn of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine.

13 For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from the human firstborn to animals. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.”

14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

15 “Count the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall count.”

16 So Moses counted them according to the word of the LORD, just as he had been commanded.

17 These, then, are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei;

19 and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel;

20 and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

22 Their numbered men, in the counting of every male from a month old and upward, their numbered men were 7,500.

23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward,

24 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites: Eliasaph the son of Lael.

25 Now the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting included the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting,

26 and the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its ropes, according to all the service concerning them.

27 Of Kohath was 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 In the counting of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary.