Numbers 3

The Role of the Levites Numbers 3:5–10

⁵Verse 5. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶Verse 6. “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷Verse 7. They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸Verse 8. They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹Verse 9. You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ¹⁰Verse 10. You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

Firstborn and Levites Numbers 3:11–13

¹¹Verse 11. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²Verse 12. “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine: ¹³Verse 13. for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”

Counting the Levites Numbers 3:14–22

¹⁴Verse 14. Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵Verse 15. “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.” ¹⁶Verse 16. Moses counted them according to Yahweh’s word, as he was commanded. ¹⁷Verse 17. These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸Verse 18. These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹Verse 19. The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰Verse 20. The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. ²¹Verse 21. Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites. ²²Verse 22. Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.

Duties of the Gershonites and Kohathites Numbers 3:23–30

²³Verse 23. The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward. ²⁴Verse 24. The prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. ²⁵Verse 25. The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶Verse 26. and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service. ²⁷Verse 27. Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸Verse 28. According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary. ²⁹Verse 29. The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰Verse 30. The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

Duties of the Kohathites and Merarites Numbers 3:31–37

³¹Verse 31. Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service. ³²Verse 32. Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary. ³³Verse 33. Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴Verse 34. Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

³⁵Verse 35. The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶Verse 36. The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, ³⁷Verse 37. the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

Firstborn Redemption and Conclusion Numbers 3:38–51

³⁸Verse 38. Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. ³⁹Verse 39. All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand. ⁴⁰Verse 40. Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹Verse 41. You shall take the Levites for me (I am Yahweh) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” ⁴²Verse 42. Moses counted, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ⁴³Verse 43. All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three. ⁴⁴Verse 44. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵Verse 45. “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.

⁴⁶Verse 46. For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷Verse 47. you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs): ⁴⁸Verse 48. and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.” ⁴⁹Verse 49. Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; ⁵⁰Verse 50. from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

⁵¹Verse 51. and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.