Numbers Chapter 3

3:1 These also [are] the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day [that] the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

3:2 And these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3:3 These [are] the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.

3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

3:5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

3:6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

3:7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

3:8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

3:9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they [are] wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

3:10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

3:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

3:12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

3:13 Because all the firstborn [are] mine; [for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I [am] the LORD.

3:14 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

3:15 Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

3:16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

3:17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

3:18 And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

3:19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

3:20 And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These [are] the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

3:21 Of Gershon [was] the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these [are] the families of the Gershonites.

3:22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [even] those that were numbered of them [were] seven thousand and five hundred.

3:23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

3:24 And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites [shall be] Eliasaph the son of Lael.

3:25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation [shall be] the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

3:26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which [is] by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

3:27 And of Kohath [was] the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these [are] the families of the Kohathites.

3:28 In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [were] eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

3:29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

3:30 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites [shall be] Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

3:31 And their charge [shall be] the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

3:32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest [shall be] chief over the chief of the Levites, [and have] the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

3:33 Of Merari [was] the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these [are] the families of Merari.

3:34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, [were] six thousand and two hundred.

3:35 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari [was] Zuriel the son of Abihail: [these] shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

3:36 And [under] the custody and charge of the sons of Merari [shall be] the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,

3:37 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

3:38 But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, [even] before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, [shall be] Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

3:39 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, [were] twenty and two thousand.

3:40 And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

3:41 And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I [am] the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

3:42 And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

3:43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

3:44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

3:45 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I [am] the LORD.

3:46 And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

3:47 Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take [them]: (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs:)

3:48 And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

3:49 And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:

3:50 Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary:

3:51 And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.