Numbers 3
1 These are some of the things that happened to Aaron and Moses/me when Yahweh spoke to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain.
And these [are] the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day of YHWH’s speaking with Moses in Mount Sinai.
2 Aaron’s four sons were Nadab the oldest, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
And these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron: the firstborn Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar;
3 They were appointed [MTY] (OR, Moses/I appointed them) to be priests.
these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he has consecrated for acting as priest.
4 But, while Yahweh was watching, Nadab and Abihu died in the Sinai Desert because they burned [incense] in a manner that was different from what Yahweh had commanded. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar were the [only] sons of Aaron who [were left to be] priests, along with their father Aaron.
And Nadab dies—Abihu also—before YHWH, in their bringing strange fire near before YHWH, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they did not have sons; and Eleazar—Ithamar also—acts as priest in the presence of their father Aaron.
5 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
6 “Bring [the men of] the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron, in order that they may assist him.
“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and you have caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him,
7 They will serve Aaron and all the other Israeli people, while they do their work inside the Sacred Tent and outside it.
and kept his charge, and the charge of all the congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the Dwelling Place;
8 They must serve all the Israeli people by taking care of all the things that are inside the Sacred Tent.
and they have kept all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the Dwelling Place;
9 Appoint them to [help] Aaron and his two sons. I have chosen them from all the Israeli people to do that.
and you have given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel.
10 Appoint Aaron and his two sons to do the work that priests do. But anyone else who comes close to the Sacred Tent [to do that work] must be executed.”
And you appoint Aaron and his sons, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who comes near is put to death.”
11 Yahweh also told Moses/me,
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
12 “Note that from all the Israelis, I have chosen the men of the tribe of Levi to take the places of all the firstborn sons of the Israeli people. The male descendants of Levi belong to me,
“And I, behold, have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine;
13 because truly all the firstborn [males] belong to me. That is because on the day that I killed all the firstborn [sons] of the people of Egypt, I [spared] all the firstborn [sons] of the Israelis and set them apart for myself. I also set apart the firstborn [males] of your domestic animals. They belong to me, Yahweh.”
for every firstborn [is] Mine, in the day of My striking every firstborn in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every firstborn in Israel, from man to beast; they are Mine; I [am] YHWH.”
14 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me again in the Sinai Desert. He said,
And YHWH speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
15 “Count the male members of the tribe of Levi. Write down their names and the names of their clans and family groups. Count all the males who are at least one month old.”
“Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward—you number them.”
16 So Moses/I counted them, just as Yahweh commanded.
And Moses numbers them according to the command of YHWH, as he has been commanded.
17 Levi had [three] sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
And these are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
18 Gershon had [two] sons: Libni and Shimei. The clans that were descended from them had the same names as those [two] sons.
And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19 Kohath had [four] sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The clans that were descended from them had the same names as those [four] sons.
And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20 Merari had [two] sons: Mahli and Mushi. The clans that were descended from them had the same names as those [two] sons. Those are the clans that were descended from Levi.
And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers.
21 The two clans descended from Gershon are those that were descended from [his sons] Libni and Shimei.
Of Gershon—the family of the Libnite and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite.
22 In those two clans there were 7,500 males who were at least one month old.
Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones [are] seven thousand and five hundred.
23 They were told to set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent.
The families of the Gershonite encamp westward behind the Dwelling Place.
24 The leader of those two clans was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.
And the prince of a father’s house for the Gershonite [is] Eliasaph son of Lael.
25 Their work was to take care of the Sacred Tent, including the coverings of the tent, the curtain at the entrance of the tent,
And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting [is] the Dwelling Place, and the tent, its covering, and the veil at the opening of the Tent of Meeting,
26 the (curtains/large pieces of cloth) that formed the walls around the courtyard that is around the tent and around the altar, the curtains that were at the entrance of the courtyard, and the ropes [for fastening the tent]. They also did all the work of taking care of the things outside the Sacred Tent.
and the hangings of the court, and the veil at the opening of the court, which [is] by the Dwelling Place and by the altar all around, and its cords, to all its service.
27 The clans that were descended from Kohath were those descended from his four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
And of Kohath—the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite.
28 In those four clans there were 8,600 males who were at least one month old. The work of the men of the clans was to take care of [the things that are inside] the Sacred Tent.
In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, [are] eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the holy place.
29 They set up their tents on the south side of the Sacred Tent.
The families of the sons of Kohath encamp southward by the side of the Dwelling Place.
30 The leader of those four clans was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.
And the prince of a father’s house for the families of the Kohathite [is] Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
31 The work of the men of those clans was to take care of the sacred chest, the table [on which the priest put the sacred bread], the lampstand, the altars, all the items that the priest used in the Sacred Tent, and the curtain that is inside the tent. Their work was also to take care of the things inside the tent.
And their charge [is] the Ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the holy place with which they serve, and the veil, and all its service.
32 Aaron’s son Eleazar was the leader of all the male descendants of Levi. He supervised all the work that was done at the Sacred Tent.
And Eleazar son of Aaron the priest [is] the prince of the princes of the Levites, [with] the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the holy place.
33 The clans that were descended from Merari were those descended from [his sons] Mahli and Mushi.
Of Merari—the family of the Mahlite and the family of the Mushite; these [are] the families of Merari.
34 In those two clans there were 6,200 males who were at least one month old.
And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, [are] six thousand and two hundred.
35 They were told to set up their tents on the north side of the Sacred Tent. The leader of those two clans was Zuriel, the son of Abihail.
And the prince of a father’s house for the families of Merari [is] Zuriel son of Abihail; they encamp northward by the side of the Dwelling Place.
36 The work of the men of those two clans was to take care of the frames that held up the tent, the crossbars, the pillars, and the bases. They also did all the work that was connected with those items.
And the oversight [and] charge of the sons of Merari [are] the boards of the Dwelling Place, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service,
37 Their work was also to take care of the posts [that held up the curtains that formed the walls of] the courtyard, and all the bases, tent pegs, and ropes [that fastened those curtains].
and the pillars of the court all around, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
38 Aaron and Moses/I and Aaron’s sons were told to set up their/our tents in the area in front of the Sacred Tent, on the east side. Their/Our work was to supervise the work that would be done in and around the Sacred Tent, for the benefit of the Israeli people. Only the priests were permitted to do that. [Yahweh declared that] we should execute anyone else who went near the tent [to do the work that the priests do].
And those encamping before the Dwelling Place eastward, before the Tent of Meeting, at the east, [are] Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who comes near is put to death.
39 When Aaron and Moses/I counted all the males who were at least one month old, who belonged to the clans descended from Levi, the total was 22,000.
All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered—Aaron also—by the command of YHWH, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, [are] twenty-two thousand.
40 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Now count all the [other] firstborn males in Israel who are at least one month old, and write down their names.
And YHWH says to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names;
41 Also, set apart for me the descendants of Levi to be substitutes for the firstborn males of the other Israelis. And set apart for me the livestock of the descendants of Levi to be substitutes for the firstborn livestock of the other Israeli people.”
and you have taken the Levites for Me (I [am] YHWH), instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of every firstling among the livestock of the sons of Israel.”
42 So Moses/I did that. He/I counted the firstborn males of all the Israeli people, as Yahweh had commanded.
And Moses numbers, as YHWH has commanded him, all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.
43 The total of those who were at least one month old was 22,273.
And every firstborn male, by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
45 “Set apart the descendants of Levi to be substitutes for [the firstborn males of] the other Israeli people. The descendants of Levi belong to me, Yahweh.
“Take the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites have been Mine; I [am] YHWH.
46 There are 273 more firstborn males of the other Israeli people than of the descendants of Levi.
And [from] those ransomed of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the sons of Israel, who are more than the Levites,
47 To pay for these 273 males, collect five pieces of silver for each of them. Each of those pieces of silver must weigh the same as each of the silver coins that are stored in the Sacred Tent. Give this silver to Aaron and his sons.”
you have even taken five shekels apiece by the counted head—you take by the shekel of the holy place; the shekel [is] twenty gerahs;
and you have given the money to Aaron and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.”
49 So Moses/I did that. He/I collected the silver from those 273 males.
And Moses takes the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites;
50 The total was 1,365 pieces of silver. Each silver coin weighed the same as each of the silver coins stored in the Sacred Tent.
he has taken the money from the firstborn of the sons of Israel—one thousand and three hundred and sixty-five, by the shekel of the holy place;
51 Moses/I gave these silver coins to Aaron and his sons, as Yahweh had commanded.
and Moses gives the money of those ransomed to Aaron and to his sons, according to the command of YHWH, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
