The Anselm Project

Chapter 3

¹ These are the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. ² These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the firstborn: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests, the anointed ones whom he filled with his hand to serve as priests. ⁴ And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they presented strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai. And they had no sons, and Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests before Aaron their father. ⁵ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶ Bring the tribe of Levi near and place it before Aaron the priest, so they shall serve him. ⁷ And they shall keep his sacred charge and the sacred charge of all the congregation before the tent of meeting, to serve the service of the tabernacle. ⁸ And they shall keep all the vessels of the tent of meeting and the charge of the sons of Israel, to serve the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are given to him from the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who draws near shall be put to death. ¹¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² I, behold, have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn who opens the womb among the sons of Israel. The Levites shall be mine. ¹³ For every firstborn is mine, on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt. I consecrated to myself every firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be mine—I am the LORD. ¹⁴ And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying. ¹⁵ Muster the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, according to their clans; every male from a son of a month and upward you shall muster them. ¹⁶ Moses mustered them at the mouth of the LORD, just as he commanded. ¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸ These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: the sons of Shimei. ¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi according to their fathers' houses. ²¹ To Gershon belong the clan of the Libnites and the clan of Shimei. These are the clans of the Gershonites. ²² Their musterings in number, every male from a son of a month and upward: seven thousand five hundred. ²³ The clan of the Gershonites will encamp behind the Tabernacle on the seaward side. ²⁴ The leader of the ancestral house of the Gershonites was Elizaphan son of Lael. ²⁵ The charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting: the Tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²⁶ and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the court, which is on the tabernacle and on the altar all around, and its cords for all its service ²⁷ To Kohath belonged the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸ In the number every male from a son of a month and upward: eight thousand and six hundred keepers of the observance of the holy. ²⁹ The clan of the sons of Kohath will encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰ And the prince of the father's house for the family of the Kohathites: Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹ Their charge is the Ark and the Table and the Menorah and the Altar and the vessels of the holy portion which they will serve with, and the screen and all its service. ³² The chief of the chiefs of the Levites—Eleazar son of Aaron the priest—was given charge of the keepers of the charge of the holy things. ³³ To Merari belong the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites—these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴ Their census by number, every male from a son of a month and upward, was six thousand and two hundred. ³⁵ The ruler of the father's house for the family of the Merari, Zuriel son of Abihail; they shall encamp next to the Tabernacle on the north side. ³⁶ And you shall appoint the observance of the sons of Merari: the boards of the Tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its bases, and all its utensils and all its service. ³⁷ and the posts of the court all around, and their bases and their pegs and their cords. ³⁸ Those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the east: Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping watch over the sanctuary for the watch of the sons of Israel; and the stranger who draws near shall be put to death. ³⁹ All those numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the word of the LORD, by their clans, every male from a son of a month and upward, twenty-two thousand. ⁴⁰ And the LORD said to Moses, "Appoint every firstborn male among the sons of Israel, from a son of a month and upward, and take the census of those you have numbered." ⁴¹ And take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of every firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel. ⁴² And Moses mustered them, just as the LORD commanded him, every firstborn among the sons of Israel. ⁴³ And all the firstborn males, by number of names, from a month old and upward, for their registration: twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. ⁴⁴ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁴⁵ Take the Levites in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock, and the Levites shall be mine. I am the LORD. ⁴⁶ And the redemption of the three hundred and seventy-two, the excess over the Levites from the firstborn of the sons of Israel. ⁴⁷ And you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them in the shekel of the sanctuary—twenty gerahs is the shekel. ⁴⁸ And you shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, the redemption money of the excess among them. ⁴⁹ And Moses took the silver of the redemption from the excess over the redeemed of the Levites. ⁵⁰ From the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver—five thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels—in the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹ And Moses gave the silver of the redemption payments to Aaron and to his sons according to the word of the LORD, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers

The Levites’ Duties