Numbers 3

1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai.

Now, these, were the pedigrees of Aaron and Moses, —in the day when Yahweh spake with Moses in Mount Sinai.

2 And these the names of the sons of Aaron: his firstborn Nadab, then Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

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

3 These the names of the sons of Aaron the priests that were anointed, and whose hands were filled and consecrated, to do the functions of priesthood.

These, are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that were anointed, —who were installed to minister as priests.

4 Now Nadab and Abiu died, without children, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the desert of Sinai: and Eleazar and Ithamar performed the priestly office in the presence of Aaron their father.

But Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they brought near strange fire before Yahweh in the desert of Sinai, and sons, had they none, —so then Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests, in the presence of Aaron their father.

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying—

6 Bring the tribe of Levi, and make them stand in the sight of Aaron the priest to minister to him, and let them watch,

Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou shalt cause it to stand before Aaron the priest, —so shall they wait upon him;

7 And observe whatsoever appertaineth to the service of the multitude before the tabernacle of the testimony,

so shall they keep his charge, and the charge of all the assembly, before the tent of meeting, —to do the laborious work of the habitation;

8 And let them keep the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in the ministry thereof.

so shall they have charge of all the furniture of the tent of meeting, even the charge of the sons of Israel, —to do the laborious work of the habitation.

9 And thou shalt give the Levites for a gift,

Thus shalt thou give the Levites unto Aaron and unto his sons, —given, given, they are unto him, from among the sons of Israel;

10 To Aaron and to his sons, to whom they are delivered by the children of Israel. But thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the service of priesthood. The stranger that approacheth to minister, shall be put to death.

but unto Aaron, and unto his sons, shalt thou give oversight, so shall they keep charge of their priesthood, —and, the stranger who cometh near, shall be put to death.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying—

12 I have taken the Levites from the children of Israel, for every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

I, therefore, lo! I have taken the Levites out of the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of every firstborn that a mother beareth, from among the sons of Israel, —so shall the Levites be mine;

13 For every firstborn is mine: since I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt: I have sanctified to myself whatsoever is firstborn in Israel both of man and beast, they are mine: I am the Lord.

for, mine, is every firstborn, in the day when I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto myself every firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast, —mine, did they become, and belong unto me, Yahweh.

14 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying:

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, in the desert of Sinai, saying: —

15 Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and their families, every male from one month and upward.

Number thou the sons of Levi, by their ancestral houses, by their families, —every male, from one month old and upwards, shalt thou number them.

16 Moses numbered them as the Lord had commanded.

So then Moses numbered them according to the bidding of Yahweh, —as he was commanded.

17 And there were found sons of Levi by their names, Gerson and Caath and Merari.

And these were the sons of Levi, by their names, —Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

18 The sons of Gerson: Lebni and Semei.

And these, the names of the sons of Gershon by their families, —Libni and Shimei.

19 The sons of Caath: Amram, and Jesaar, Hebron and Oziel:

And, the sons of Kohath, by their families Amram, and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

20 The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi.

And the sons of Merari by their families, Mahli and Mushi. These, are they—the families of the Levites by their ancestral houses.

21 Of Gerson were two families, the Lebnites, and the Semeites:

To, Gershon, belonged the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites, —these, are they—the families of the Gershonites.

22 Of which were numbered, people of the male sex from one month and upward, seven thousand five hundred.

They who were numbered of them in the counting of every male, from one month old, and upwards, —they who were num-bered of them, were seven thousand and five hundred.

23 These shall pitch behind the tabernacle on the west,

the families of the Gershonites, to the rear of the habitation, were to encamp, westward.

24 Under their prince Eliasaph the son of Lael.

And, the prince of the ancestral house of the Gershonites, was Eliasaph son of Lael.

25 And their charge shall be in the tabernacle of the covenant:

And, the charge, of the sons of Gershon, was over the tent of meeting, the habitation, and the tent, —the covering thereof, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting;

26 The tabernacle itself and the cover thereof, the hanging that is drawn before the doors of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the curtains of the court: the hanging also that is hanged in the entry of the court of the tabernacle, and whatsoever belongeth to the rite of the altar, the cords of the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof.

and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the court which was near the habitation and near the altar, round about, —and the cords thereof, as to all the laborious work thereof.

27 Of the kindred of Caath come the families of the Amramites and Jesaarites and Hebronites and Ozielites. These are the families of the Caathites reckoned up by their names:

And to Kohath, belonged 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 they—the families of the Kohathites.

28 All of the male sex from one month and upward, eight thousand six hundred: they shall have the guard of the sanctuary,

In, the counting of every male, from one month old and upwards, there were eight thousand and six hundred, to keep the charge of the sanctuary.

29 And shall camp on the south side.

The, families of the sons of Kohath, were to encamp, —on the side of the habitation, south-ward.

30 And their prince shall be Elisaphan the son of Oziel:

And the prince of the ancestral house of the families of the Kohathites, was Elizaphan, son of Uzziel.

31 And they shall keep the ark, and the table and the candlestick, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, wherewith they minister, and the veil, and all the furniture of this kind.

And their charge, was—the ark and the table and the lampstand and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary wherewith they were to minister, —and the screen, as to all the laborious work thereof.

32 And the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be over them that watch for the guard of the sanctuary.

And the prince of the princes of the Levites, was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, —to have the oversight of them that were to keep the charge of the sanctuary.

33 And of Merari are the families of the Moholites, and Musites, reckoned up by their names:

To Merari, belonged the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites, —these, are they—the families of Merari.

34 All of the male kind from one month and upward, six thousand two hundred.

And they who were numbered of them in the counting of every male, from one month old and upwards, were six thousand, and two hundred.

35 Their prince Suriel the son of Abihaiel: they shall camp on the north side.

And the prince of the ancestral house of the families of Merari, was Zuriel son of Abihail, —on the side of the habitation, were they to encamp northward.

36 Under their custody shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars, and the pillars and their sockets, and all things that pertain to this kind of service:

And the oversight of the charge of the sons of Merari, was—the boards of the habitation, and the bars thereof and the pillars thereof and the sockets thereof, —and all the furniture thereof, as to all the laborious work thereof;

37 And the pillars of the court round about with their sockets, and the pins with their cords.

also the pillars of the court round about and their sockets, —and their pins and their cords.

38 Before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is to say on the east side, shall Moses and Aaron camp, with their sons, having the custody of the sanctuary, in the midst of the children of Israel. What stranger soever cometh unto it, shall be put to death.

But, they who were to encamp before the habitation eastwards before the tent of meeting, towards sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons. to keep the charge of the sanctuary, as the charge of the sons of Israel and, the stranger that came near, was to be put to death.

39 All the Levites, that Moses and Aaron numbered according to the precept of the Lord, by their families, of the male kind from one month and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

All they who were numbered of the Levites whom Moses [and Aaron] numbered at the bidding of Yahweh by their families, —every male, from one month old and upwards, were two-and-twenty thousand.

40 And the Lord said to Moses: Number the firstborn of the male sex of the children of Israel, from one month and upward, and thou shalt take the sum of them.

And Yahweh said unto Moses: Number thou every firstborn male belonging to the sons of Israel, from one month old and upwards, —and reckon up the number of their names;

41 And thou shalt take the Levites to me for all the firstborn of the children of Israel, I am the Lord: and their cattle for all the firstborn of the cattle of the children of Israel:

then shalt thou take the Levites for me, me Yahweh, instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, —also the cattle of the Levites, instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.

42 Moses reckoned up, as the Lord had commanded, the firstborn of the children of Israel:

So then Moses numbered, as Yahweh commanded him, —every firstborn among the sons of Israel.

43 And the males by their names, from one month and upward, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

And it was so—that all the firstborn of the males in the counting of names from one month old and upwards of such as were numbered of them, —were two-and-twenty thousand, two hundred and seventy-three.

44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saving:

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying: —

45 Take the Levites for the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites for their cattle, and the Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord.

Take the Levites, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites, instead of their cattle, —so shall the Levites belong unto me, me Yahweh;

46 But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, of the firstborn of the children of Israel, that exceed the number of the Levites,

and as the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three, —who are more than the Levites, of the firstborn of the sons of Israel,

47 Thou shalt take five sides for every head, according to the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll, —by the shekel of the sanctuary, shalt thou take it, twenty gerahs to the shekel;

48 And then shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons, the price of them that are above.

and shalt give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, —as the ransom of them that are in excess over them.

49 Moses therefore took the money of them that were above, and whom they had redeemed from the Levites,

So Moses took the redemption silver from them who were in excess over them who were redeemed by the Levites:

50 For the firstborn of the children of Israel, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,

from the firstborn of the sons of Israel, took he the silver, —a thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary,

51 And gave it to Aaron and his sons, according to the word that the Lord had commanded him.

And Moses gave the redemption silver to Aaron and to his sons at the bidding of Yahweh, —As Yahweh commanded Moses.