Numbers 3:1-37 ▼

1 And these are the records of Aaron and Moses when YHWH spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai:

2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; the firstborn Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he filled with strength to minister as priests.

4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the face of YHWH, when they offered strange fire before the face of YHWH in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests before the face of Aaron their father.

5 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

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

7 And they shall attend to his needs, and the needs of the whole congregation before the face of the Tent of Meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle.

8 And they shall attend to all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and to the needs of the sons of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle.

9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel.

10 And Aaron and his sons you shall appoint, and they shall attend to their priesthood, and the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the sons of Israel. And the Levite shall be unto Me,

13 because all the firstborn are unto Me. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. Unto Me they shall be; I am YHWH.”

14 And YHWH spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,

15 “Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers, by their clans; every male from a son of a month and above you shall number.”

16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of YHWH, as he was commanded.

17 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: 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 Levi, by the houses of their fathers.

21 From Gershon is the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these were the clans of the Gershonite.

22 Those numbered by the number of all the males, from a son of a month and above, there were numbered seven thousand and five hundred.

23 The clans of the Gershonite behind the tabernacle were to camp westward.

24 And the leader of the house of the father of the Gershonite was Eliasaph son of Lael.

25 And the duties of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting was the tabernacle, and the tent with its covering, and the screen of the door of the Tent of Meeting,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen of the door of the court, which are around the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, according to all its service.

27 And from Kohath is the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these were the clans of the Kohathite.

28 By the number of all the males, from a son of a month and above, there were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping charge of the sanctuary.

29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle.

30 And the leader of the house of the father of the clans of the Kohathite was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

31 And their duty was the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary in which they ministered, and the screen, and all its service.

32 And chief of the leaders of the Levite was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.

33 From Merari is the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these were the clans of Merari.

34 And those numbered by the number of all the males, from a son of a month and above, were six thousand and two hundred.

35 And the leader of the house of the father of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

36 And the appointed duty of the sons of Merari was the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and its vessels, and all its service;

37 and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords.