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.
Now this is the history of the descendants of Aaron and Moses when Yahweh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 Aaron’s four sons were Nadab the oldest, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
The names of Aaron's sons were Nadab the firstborn, 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 priests who were anointed and who were ordained to serve as priests.
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.
But Nadab and Abihu fell dead before Yahweh when they offered to him unacceptable fire in the wilderness of Sinai. Nadab and Abihu had no children, so just Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with Aaron their father.
5 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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 and present them to Aaron the priest for them to help him.
7 They will serve Aaron and all the other Israeli people, while they do their work inside the Sacred Tent and outside it.
They must perform the duties on behalf of Aaron and the whole community before the tent of meeting. They must serve in the tabernacle.
8 They must serve all the Israeli people by taking care of all the things that are inside the Sacred Tent.
They must care for all the furnishings in the tent of meeting, and they must help the tribes of Israel to carry out the tabernacle service.
9 Appoint them to [help] Aaron and his two sons. I have chosen them from all the Israeli people to do that.
You must give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are wholly given to help him serve the people 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.”
You must appoint Aaron and his sons as priests, but any foreigner who comes near must be put to death.”
11 Yahweh also told Moses/me,
Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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,
“Look, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel. I have done this instead of taking each firstborn male who is born among the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me.
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.”
All the firstborn belong to me. On the day that I attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both people and animals. They belong to me. I am Yahweh.”
14 Yahweh spoke to Moses/me again in the Sinai Desert. He said,
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. He said,
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.”
“Count the descendants of Levi in each family, in their clans. Count every male who is one month old and older.”
16 So Moses/I counted them, just as Yahweh commanded.
Moses counted them, following the word of Yahweh, just as he was commanded to do.
17 Levi had [three] sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The names of Levi's sons were Gershon, 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.
The clans coming from Gershon's sons were 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.
The clans coming from Kohath's sons were Amram, 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.
The clans coming from Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, listed clan by clan.
21 The two clans descended from Gershon are those that were descended from [his sons] Libni and Shimei.
The clans of the Libnites and the Shimeites come from Gershon. These are the clans of the Gershonites.
22 In those two clans there were 7,500 males who were at least one month old.
All the males from a month old and older were counted, totaling 7,500.
23 They were told to set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent.
The clans of the Gershonites must camp on the west side of the tabernacle.
24 The leader of those two clans was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.
Eliasaph son of Lael must lead the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites.
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,
The family of Gershon must care for the tent of meeting including the tabernacle. They must care for the tent, its covering, and the curtain used as the entrance to 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.
They must care for the courtyard hangings, the curtain at the courtyard entrance—the courtyard that surrounds the sanctuary and the altar. They must care for the ropes of the tent of meeting and for everything in it.
27 The clans that were descended from Kohath were those descended from his four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
These clans come from Kohath: the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites. These clans belong to the Kohathites.
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.
8,600 males have been counted aged one month old and older to take care of the things that belong to Yahweh.
29 They set up their tents on the south side of the Sacred Tent.
The Kohath clans must camp on the south side of the tabernacle.
30 The leader of those four clans was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.
Elizaphan son of Uzziel must lead the clans of the Kohathites.
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.
They must care for the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the holy things that are used in their service, the curtain, and all the work around it.
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.
Eleazar son of Aaron the priest must lead the men who lead the Levites. He must supervise the men who care for the holy place.
33 The clans that were descended from Merari were those descended from [his sons] Mahli and Mushi.
Two clans have come from Merari: the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites. These clans have come from Merari.
34 In those two clans there were 6,200 males who were at least one month old.
6,200 males have been counted aged one month old and older.
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.
Zuriel son of Abihail must lead the clans of Merari. They must camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
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.
The descendants of Merari must care for the framing of the tabernacle, the crossbars, posts, bases, all the hardware, and everything related to them, including
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].
the pillars and posts of the courtyard that surround the tabernacle, with their sockets, pegs, and ropes.
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].
Moses and Aaron and his sons must camp on the east side of the tabernacle, in front of the tent of meeting, toward the sunrise. They are responsible for the fulfillment of the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the people of Israel. Any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary must be 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.
Moses and Aaron counted all the males in the clans of Levi who were aged one month old and older, just as Yahweh commanded. They counted twenty-two thousand men.
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.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the people of Israel who are aged one month old and older. List 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.”
You must take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of the firstborn of the livestock of the descendants of Israel.”
42 So Moses/I did that. He/I counted the firstborn males of all the Israeli people, as Yahweh had commanded.
Moses counted all the firstborn people of Israel as Yahweh had commanded him to do.
43 The total of those who were at least one month old was 22,273.
He counted all the firstborn males by name, aged one month old and older. He counted 22,273 men.
44 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
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 all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and take the Levites' livestock instead of the people's livestock. The Levites belong to me—I am Yahweh.
46 There are 273 more firstborn males of the other Israeli people than of the descendants of Levi.
You must collect five shekels for the redemption of each of the 273 firstborn people of Israel who exceed the number of 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 must use the shekel of the sanctuary as your standard weight. The shekel equals twenty gerahs.
You must give the price of redemption that you paid to Aaron and his sons.”
49 So Moses/I did that. He/I collected the silver from those 273 males.
So Moses collected the payment of redemption from those who exceeded the number of those redeemed 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.
Moses collected the money from the firstborn of the people of Israel. He collected 1,365 shekels, weighing with the shekel of the sanctuary.
51 Moses/I gave these silver coins to Aaron and his sons, as Yahweh had commanded.
Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons. Moses did everything he was told to do by Yahweh's word, as Yahweh had commanded him.
