Chapter 3

¹ And these [are] the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day in which the Lord spoke to Moses in 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 whom they consecrated to the priesthood. ⁴ And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priests’ office with Aaron their father.

Num 3:1-4

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ Take the tribe of Levi, and thou shalt set them before Aaron the priest, and they shall minister to him, ⁷ and shall keep his charges, and the charges of the children of Israel, before the tabernacle of witness, to do the works of the tabernacle. ⁸ And they shall keep all the furniture of the tabernacle of witness, and the charges of the children of Israel as to all the works of the tabernacle. ⁹ And thou shalt give the Levites to Aaron, and to his sons the priests; they are given for a gift to me of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the tabernacle of witness; and they shall keep their charge of priesthood, and all things belonging to the altar, and within the veil; and the stranger that touches them shall die. ¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every male that opens the womb from among the children of Israel: they shall be their ransom, and the Levites shall be mine. ¹³ For every firstborn [is] mine; in the day in which I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself every firstborn in Israel: both of man and beast, they shall be mine: I [am] the Lord.

Num 3:5-13

¹⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵ Take the number of the sons of Levi, according to the houses of their families, according to their divisions; number ye them every male from a month old and upward. ¹⁶ And Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded them.

Num 3:14-16

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 according to their families; Libni and Shimei: ¹⁹ and the sons of Kohath according to their families; Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel: ²⁰ and the sons of Merari according to their families, Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites according to the houses of their families. ²¹ To Gershon belongs the family of Libni, and the family of Shimei: these are the families of Gershon. ²² The numbering of them according to the number of every male from a month old and upward, their numbering [was] seven thousand and five hundred. ²³ And the sons of Gershon shall encamp westward behind the tabernacle. ²⁴ And the ruler of the household of the family of Gershon [was] Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵ And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of witness [was] the tent and the veil, and the covering of the door of the tabernacle of witness, ²⁶ and the curtains of the court, and the veil of the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and the remainder of all its works.

Num 3:17-26

²⁷ To Kohath [belonged] one division, that of Amram, and another division, that of Izhar, and another division, that of Hebron, and another division, that of Uzziel: these are the divisions of Kohath, according to number. ²⁸ Every male from a month old and upward, eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charges of the holy things. ²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath, shall encamp beside the tabernacle toward the south. ³⁰ And the chief of the house of the families of the divisions of Kohath, [was] Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

Num 3:27-30

³¹ And their charge [was] the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and all the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they do holy service, and the veil, and all their works. ³² And the chief over the chief of the Levites, [was] Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, appointed to keep the charges of the holy things. ³³ To Merari [belonged] the family of Mahli, and the family of Mushi: these are the families of Merari. ³⁴ The mustering of them according to number, every male from a month old and upward, [was] six thousand and fifty. ³⁵ And the head of the house of the families of the division of Merari, was Zuriel the son of Abihail: they shall encamp by the side of the tabernacle northward. ³⁶ The oversight of the charge of the sons of Merari [included] the chapiters of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all their furniture, and their works, ³⁷ and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pins, and their cords.

Num 3:31-37

³⁸ They that encamp before the tabernacle of witness on the east [shall be] Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charges of the sanctuary according to the charges of the children of Israel; and the stranger that touches them, shall die. ³⁹ All the numbering of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, according to their families, every male from a month old and upward, [were] two and twenty thousand.

Num 3:38-39

⁴⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number by name. ⁴¹ And thou shalt take the Levites for me—I [am] the Lord—instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the children of Israel. ⁴² And Moses counted, as the Lord commanded him, every firstborn among the children of Israel. ⁴³ And all the male firstborn in number by name, from a month old and upward, were according to their numbering twenty-two thousand and two hundred and seventy-three. ⁴⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle, and the Levites shall be mine; I [am] the Lord. ⁴⁶ And for the ransoms of the two hundred and seventy-three which exceed the Levites in number of the firstborn of the sons of Israel; ⁴⁷ thou shalt even take five shekels a head; thou shalt take them according to the holy didrachma, twenty oboli to the shekel. ⁴⁸ And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and to his sons, the ransom of those who exceed in number among them. ⁴⁹ And Moses took the silver, the ransom of those that exceeded in number the redemption of the Levites. ⁵⁰ He took the silver from the firstborn of the sons of Israel, a thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the holy shekel. ⁵¹ And Moses gave the ransom of them that were over to Aaron and his sons, by the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Num 3:40-51