The Sons of Aaron
And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: the firstborn Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hands he filled to serve as priests.
But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they brought near strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; and Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Duties of the Levites
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Bring near the tribe of Levi, and set them before Aaron the priest, and they shall minister to him.
And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of all the congregation, before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the Dwelling.
And they shall keep all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the Dwelling.
And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; wholly given are they to him from among the sons of Israel.
And Aaron and his sons you shall appoint, and they shall keep their priesthood; and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“And I — look, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn who opens the womb among the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine.
For every firstborn is mine: in the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to myself every firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. Mine they shall be. I am the LORD.”
The Numbering of the Levites
And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
“Muster the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall muster.”
And Moses mustered them at the mouth of the LORD, as he was commanded.
And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.
The Gershonites
To Gershon belonged the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites.
Those mustered of them, by the number of every male from a month old and upward — those mustered of them were seven thousand five hundred.
The families of the Gershonites shall camp behind the Dwelling, westward.
And the leader of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites is Eliasaph the son of Lael.
And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting: the Dwelling and the tent, its covering, and the screen of the door of the Tent of Meeting,
and the hangings of the court, and the screen of the door of the court that is around the Dwelling and the altar, and its cords — for all its service.
The Kohathites
And to Kohath belonged 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.
By the number of every male from a month old and upward: eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the holy place.
The families of the sons of Kohath shall camp on the side of the Dwelling, southward.
And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites is Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
And their charge: the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the holy place with which they minister, and the screen — and all its service.
And the leader of the leaders of the Levites is Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, with oversight of those keeping the charge of the holy place.
The Merarites
To Merari belonged the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.
And those mustered of them, by the number of every male from a month old and upward: six thousand two hundred.
And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari is Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall camp on the side of the Dwelling, northward.
And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari: the boards of the Dwelling, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its vessels — and all its service;
and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords.
Moses and Aaron
And those camping before the Dwelling, on the east — before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise — were Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary as the charge of the sons of Israel; and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
All those mustered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron mustered at the mouth of the LORD, by their families — every male from a month old and upward: twenty-two thousand.
The Redemption of the Firstborn
And the LORD said to Moses, “Muster every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and lift the number of their names.
And you shall take the Levites for me — I am the LORD — in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of every firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.”
And Moses mustered, as the LORD had commanded him, every firstborn among the sons of Israel.
And every firstborn male, by the number of names from a month old and upward, of those mustered of them, was twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Take the Levites in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine. I am the LORD.
And as the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites,
you shall take five shekels apiece, head by head; by the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them — twenty gerahs to the shekel —
and you shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, as the ransom of those who exceed among them.”
And Moses took the ransom silver from those who exceeded the number ransomed by the Levites;
from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
And Moses gave the ransom silver to Aaron and to his sons, at the mouth of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.