The Sons of Aaron

¹These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: dNadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ethe anointed priests, fwhom he ordained to serve as priests. ⁴gBut Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

Duties of the Levites

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶h“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ias they minister at the tabernacle. ⁸They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹And jyou shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are kwholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and lthey shall guard their priesthood. But if many outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, nI have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³for oall the firstborn are mine. pOn the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

¹⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; qevery male from a month old and upward you shall list.” ¹⁶So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷rAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: sLibni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their clans: tAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their clans: uMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.

²¹To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. ²²Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was1 7,500. ²³vThe clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the wguard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved xthe tabernacle, ythe tent with zits covering, athe screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶bthe hangings of the court, cthe screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and dits cords—all the service connected with these.

²⁷To Kohath belonged the clan of the eAmramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. ²⁹The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with fElizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹And their guard duty involved gthe ark, hthe table, ithe lampstand, jthe altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and kthe screen; all the service connected with these. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

³³To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. ³⁵And the chief of the fathers' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶lAnd the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the mframes of the tabernacle, nthe bars, othe pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; ³⁷also pthe pillars around the court, with their bases and qpegs and rcords.

³⁸Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, sguarding the sanctuary itself, to protect2 the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were t22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰And the Lord said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names. ⁴¹uAnd you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.

⁴⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵v“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶And was the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take xfive shekels3 per head; you shall take them according to ythe shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs4), ⁴⁸and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” ⁴⁹So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, z1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹And Moses agave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.