1Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day when Yahweh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
2And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests whose hand he filled to serve as priests.
4But Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they brought near strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
5And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:
6Bring near the tribe of Levi and set it before Aaron the priest, and they shall serve him.
7They shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, doing the service of the tabernacle.
8They shall keep all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, doing the service of the tabernacle.
9You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given over to him from among the sons of Israel.
10And Aaron and his sons you shall appoint, and they shall guard their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
11And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:
12As for me, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn, the first to open the womb, among the sons of Israel; the Levites shall be mine.
13For every firstborn is mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated to myself every firstborn in Israel, from human to beast; they shall be mine. I am Yahweh.
14And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying:
15Enroll the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall enroll them.
16So Moses enrolled them at the mouth of Yahweh, just as he was commanded.
17And 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: Libni and Shimei.
19And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
20And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.
21Belonging to Gershon was the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these are the clans of the Gershonites.
22Their enrolled ones, by the count of every male from a month old and upward — their enrolled ones were seven thousand five hundred.
23The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle, to the west.
24And the leader of the fathers’ house for the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.
25And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,
26and the hangings of the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords for all its service.
27And belonging to Kohath was the clan of the Amramites, 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.
28By the count of every male from a month old and upward, they were eight thousand six hundred, keepers of the charge of the sanctuary.
29The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp along the side of the tabernacle, to the south.
30And the leader of the fathers’ house for the clans of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
31Their duty was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.
32And the chief of the chiefs of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he had oversight of those keeping the duty of the sanctuary.
33To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; these are the clans of Merari.
34Their numbered ones, by the count of every male from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.
35And the chief of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the side of the tabernacle, to the north.
36And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari was the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its bases, and all its vessels, and all its service,
37and the pillars of the courtyard all around, with their bases, their pegs, and their cords.
38And those camping before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the duty of the sanctuary as the charge for the sons of Israel; and the outsider who came near was to be put to death.
39All the numbered ones of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the mouth of Yahweh by their clans, every male from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
40And Yahweh said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the count of their names.
41And you shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of every firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel.”
42So Moses numbered, as Yahweh had commanded him, every firstborn among the sons of Israel.
43And every firstborn male, by the count of names from a month old and upward, according to their numbered ones, was twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
45“Take the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.
46And as for the redeemed ones, the two hundred and seventy-three who are in excess over the Levites, from the firstborn of the sons of Israel,
47you shall take five shekels apiece per head; by the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them—the shekel is twenty gerahs—
48and you shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons as the redemption of those in excess among them.”
49So Moses took the redemption silver from those in excess over those redeemed by the Levites.
50From the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
51And Moses gave the redemption silver to Aaron and to his sons at the mouth of Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
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