Numbers 3

1 And these [are] births of Aaron and Moses, in the day of Jehovah's speaking with Moses in mount Sinai.

These are some of the things that happened to Aaron and Moses/me when Yahweh spoke to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain.

2 And these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar;

Aaron’s four sons were Nadab the oldest, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he hath consecrated for acting as priest.

They were appointed [MTY] (OR, Moses/I appointed them) to be priests.

4 And Nadab dieth — Abihu also — before Jehovah, in their bringing near strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and sons they had not; and Eleazar — Ithamar also — acteth as priest in the presence of Aaron their father.

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.

5 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

6 'Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him,

“Bring [the men of] the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron, in order that they may assist him.

7 and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle;

They will serve Aaron and all the other Israeli people, while they do their work inside the Sacred Tent and outside it.

8 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 tabernacle;

They must serve all the Israeli people by taking care of all the things that are inside the Sacred Tent.

9 and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel.

Appoint them to [help] Aaron and his two sons. I have chosen them from all the Israeli people to do that.

10 'And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.'

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.”

11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also told Moses/me,

12 'And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine;

“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,

13 for Mine [is] every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I [am] Jehovah.'

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.”

14 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses/me again in the Sinai Desert. He said,

15 'Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.'

“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.”

16 And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded.

So Moses/I counted them, just as Yahweh commanded.

17 And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

Levi had [three] sons, whose names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

18 And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

Gershon had [two] sons: Libni and Shimei. The clans that were descended from them had the same names as those [two] sons.

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

Kohath had [four] sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The clans that were descended from them had the same names as those [four] sons.

20 And the sons of Merari by their families [are] Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers.

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.

21 Of Gershon [is] the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite.

The two clans descended from Gershon are those that were descended from [his sons] Libni and Shimei.

22 Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones [are] seven thousand and five hundred.

In those two clans there were 7,500 males who were at least one month old.

23 The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward.

They were told to set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent.

24 And the prince of a father's house for the Gershonite [is] Eliasaph son of Lael.

The leader of those two clans was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.

25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting [is] the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting,

Their work was to take care of the Sacred Tent, including the coverings of the tent, the curtain at the entrance of the tent,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which [is] by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service.

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.

27 And of Kohath [is] 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.

The clans that were descended from Kohath were those descended from his four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

28 In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, [are] eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

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.

29 The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward.

They set up their tents on the south side of the Sacred Tent.

30 And the prince of a father's house for the families of the Kohathite [is] Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

The leader of those four clans was Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.

31 And their charge [is] the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service.

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.

32 And [to] the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary.

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.

33 Of Merari [is] the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these [are] the families of Merari.

The clans that were descended from Merari were those descended from [his sons] Mahli and Mushi.

34 And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, [are] six thousand and two hundred.

In those two clans there were 6,200 males who were at least one month old.

35 And the prince of a father's house for the families of Merari [is] Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward.

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.

36 And the oversight — the charge of the sons of Merari — [is] the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service,

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.

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

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].

38 And those encamping before the tabernacle 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 cometh near is put to death.

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].

39 All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered — Aaron also — by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, [are] two and twenty thousand.

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.

40 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names;

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.

41 and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I [am] Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.'

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.”

42 And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel.

So Moses/I did that. He/I counted the firstborn males of all the Israeli people, as Yahweh had commanded.

43 And all the first-born — male — by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three.

The total of those who were at least one month old was 22,273.

44 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

45 'Take the Levites instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites have been Mine; I [am] Jehovah.

“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.

46 'And [from] those ransomed of the two hundred and seventy and three (who are more than the Levites) of the first-born of the sons of Israel,

There are 273 more firstborn males of the other Israeli people than of the descendants of Levi.

47 thou hast even taken five shekels a-piece by the poll — by the shekel of the sanctuary thou takest; twenty gerahs the shekel [is];

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.”

48 and thou hast given the money to Aaron, and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.'

49 And Moses taketh the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites;

So Moses/I did that. He/I collected the silver from those 273 males.

50 from the first-born of the sons of Israel he hath taken the money, a thousand and three hundred and sixty and five — by the shekel of the sanctuary;

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.

51 and Moses giveth the money of those ransomed to Aaron, and to his sons, according to the command of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

Moses/I gave these silver coins to Aaron and his sons, as Yahweh had commanded.