Numbers 3:6-51 ▼

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.

38 And those who were to camp before the face of the tabernacle on the east, before the face of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary to meet the needs of the sons of Israel; and the outsider who came near was to be put to death.

39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of YHWH, by their clans, all the males from a son of a month and above, were two and twenty thousand.

40 And YHWH said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the sons of Israel, from a son of a month and above, and lift up the number of their names.

41 And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am YHWH—instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel.”

42 And Moses numbered, as YHWH commanded him, all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.

43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a son of a month and above, of their numbered, were two and twenty thousand three and seventy and two hundred.

44 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be Mine; I am YHWH.

46 And for the redemption of the three and seventy and two hundred being in excess over the Levites of the firstborn of the sons of Israel,

47 even you shall take five—five shekels per head; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them, the shekel being twenty gerahs.

48 And you shall give the silver to Aaron and his sons, with which is redeemed of them being in excess.”

49 And Moses took the redemption silver from those exceeding over those who were redeemed by the Levites.

50 From the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver, five and sixty and three hundred and a thousand shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary,

51 and Moses gave the silver of their redemption to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of YHWH, as YHWH had commanded Moses.