Numbers 3

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

This is the account concerning Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.

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

The names of the sons of Aaron were: Nadab (firstborn), Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

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

These were the names of Aaron's sons who were anointed and ordained to serve as priests.

4 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.

Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord's presence when they offered forbidden fire before the Lord in the Sinai desert. Since they didn't have any sons, Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests while their father Aaron was alive.

5 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying—

The Lord told Moses,

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

“Gather the tribe of Levi together and present them to Aaron the priest to help him with the ministry.

7 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;

They are to carry out duties on his behalf and for all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting, looking after the service of the Tabernacle.

8 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.

They are responsible for caring for all the furniture of the Tent of Meeting, serving the Israelites through what they do in the Tabernacle.

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

The Levites are to work exclusively for Aaron and his sons of because this is their assignment among the Israelites.

10 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.

You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to have the responsibility of the priesthood. Anyone else who tries to act as a priest must be executed.”

11 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying—

The Lord told Moses,

12 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;

“I've taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every one of their firstborn. The Levites belong to me

13 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.

because all the firstborn are mine. When I killed every firstborn in Egypt I set apart as holy to me all the firstborn of Israel, human and animal. They are mine. I am the Lord.”

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

The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert. He told him,

15 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.

“Register the Levites by their father's line and family. Count every male aged one month or older.”

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

So Moses registered them following the Lord's instructions, just as he had been told.

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

These were the names of Levi's sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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

These were the names of the Gershon's sons by family: Libni and Shimei.

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

Kohath's sons by family were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

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

Merari's sons by family were Mahli and Mushi. These were the families of the Levites, according to their father's line.

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

The family of Libni and the family of Shimei came from Gershon. These were the families of Gershon.

22 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.

The total of all males aged one month or older was 7,500.

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

The camp of families of Gerson was to the west, behind the Tabernacle.

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

The leader of the Gershon families was Eliasaph, son of Lael.

25 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;

Their assigned responsibility for the Tent of Meeting was to take care of the Tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,

26 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.

the courtyard curtains, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle and altar, the ropes, and everything connected with their use.

27 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.

The families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel came from Kohath. These were the families of Kohath.

28 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.

The total of all males aged one month or older was 8,600. Their assigned responsibility was to take care of the sanctuary.

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

The camp of families of Kohath was on the south side of the Tabernacle.

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

The leader of the Kohath families was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

31 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.

Their assigned responsibility was to care for the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, the veil, and everything connected with these items.

32 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.

The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those responsible for serving in the sanctuary.

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

The family of Mahli and the family of Mushi came from Merari. These were the families of Merari.

34 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.

The total of all males aged one month or older was 6,200.

35 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.

The leader of the Merari families was Zuriel, son of Abihail. Their camp was on the north side of the Tabernacle.

36 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;

Their assigned responsibility was to take care of the Tabernacle's frames, crossbars, posts, stands, all its equipment, and everything connected with their use,

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

as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their stands, tent pegs, and ropes.

38 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.

The camp of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons was to the east of the Tabernacle, in the direction of the sunrise, in front of the Tent of Meeting. They were responsible for the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who tried to act as a priest was to be executed.

39 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.

The sum total of Levites registered by Moses and Aaron as the Lord ordered was 22,000. This included all males aged one month or older.

40 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;

The Lord told Moses, “Conduct a census of all the firstborn Israelite males aged one month or older, and register their names.

41 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.

Assign the Levites to me. I am the Lord. They are in place of all of the Israelites' firstborn children. The livestock of the Levites are in place of all the Israelites' firstborn livestock.”

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

Moses conducted a census of all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord had instructed him.

43 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.

The sum total of the firstborn males a month old or more, registered by name, was 22,273.

44 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying: —

The Lord spoke to Moses and told him,

45 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;

“You are to take the Levites in place of all the firstborn children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock, because the Levites belong to me. I am the Lord.

46 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,

In order to buy back the 273 firstborn Israelites who are more than the number of Levites,

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

collect five shekels for each of them, (using the sanctuary shekel standard of twenty gerahs).

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

He handed the money over to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the extra Israelites.”

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

Moses collected the redemption money for those extra Israelites that were more than the number redeemed by the Levites.

50 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,

He collected the money given on behalf of the Israelites' firstborn children. It came to 1,365 shekels, (using the sanctuary shekel standard).

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

Moses gave this redemption money to Aaron and his sons as the Lord had told him to, following the Lord's instructions.