1 N ow this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai.

2 T hese are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 T hese are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

4 N adab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.

5 Y ahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

6 “ Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

7 T hey shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

8 T hey shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9 Y ou shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel.

10 Y ou shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 Y ahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “ Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine:

13 f or all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”

14 Y ahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

15 “ Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”

16 M oses numbered them according to Yahweh’s word, as he was commanded.

17 T hese were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

18 T hese are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

19 T he sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

20 T he sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

21 O f Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

22 T hose who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred.

23 T he families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.

24 T he prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

25 T he duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

26 a nd the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.

27 O f Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.

28 A ccording to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

29 T he families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.

30 T he prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

31 T heir duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.

32 E leazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

33 O f Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari.

34 T hose who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

35 T he prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.

36 T he appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,

37 t he pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

38 T hose who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

39 A ll who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

40 Y ahweh said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

41 Y ou shall take the Levites for me (I am Yahweh) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”

42 M oses numbered, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

43 A ll the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.

44 Y ahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

45 “ Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.

46 F or the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites,

47 y ou shall take five shekels apiece for each one; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs ):

48 a nd you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”

49 M oses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites;

50 f rom the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

51 a nd Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.