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1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day when the Lord spoke to Moses on mount Sinai
2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: his firstborn Nadab, then Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar
3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and whose hands were filled and consecrated in order to exercise the priesthood
4 For Nadab and Abihu died without children, when they offered, in the sight of the Lord, a strange fire, in the desert of Sinai. And so, Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the sight of Aaron, their father
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying
6 “Bring forward the tribe of Levi, and cause them to stand in the sight of Aaron the priest, in order to minister to him. And let them keep watch outside
7 and let them observe whatever pertains to the ritual for the multitude, in front of the tabernacle of the testimony
8 and let them take care of the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in its ministry
9 And you shall give the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons; for they have been delivered to them by the sons of Israel
10 But you shall appoint Aaron and his sons over the service of the priesthood. The outsider who approaches to minister shall be put to death.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying
12 “I have taken the Levites from the sons of Israel. For the Levites, and all the firstborn who open the womb among the sons of Israel, shall be mine
13 For every firstborn is mine. From the time that I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I have sanctified for myself whatever is born first in Israel. From man, even to beast, they are mine. I am the Lord.
14 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying
15 “Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and their families, every male from one month and above.
16 Moses numbered them, just as the Lord had instructed
17 and there were found the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari
18 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei
19 The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel
20 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi
21 From Gershon were two families: the Libnites, and the Shimeites
22 The people of these were numbered, of the male sex, from one month and above: seven thousand five hundred
23 These shall encamp behind the tabernacle, toward the west
24 under the leader Eliasaph the son of Lael
25 And they shall keep watch over the tabernacle of the covenant
26 the tabernacle itself, and its covering; the tent that is drawn before the doors of the covering of the covenant; and the curtains of the atrium; likewise, the tent that is suspended at the entrance of the atrium of the tabernacle; and whatever pertains to the ritual of the altar; the cords of the tabernacle and all its implements
27 The kinship of Kohath includes the peoples of the Amramites and Izharites and Hebronites and Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites, having been counted by their names
28 all those of the male gender, from one month and above: eight thousand six hundred. They shall keep watch over the Sanctuary
29 and they shall encamp toward the south side
30 And their leader shall be Elisaphan the son of Uzziel
31 And they shall take care of the ark, and the table and the lampstand, the altars and the vessels of the Sanctuary, by which they minister, and the veil, and all the articles of this kind
32 But the leader of the leaders of the Levites, Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, shall be over those who watch over the care of the Sanctuary
33 And truly, from Merari are the peoples of the Mahlites and Mushites, having been counted by their names
34 all those of the male gender, from one month and above: six thousand two hundred
35 Their leader is Suriel the son of Abihaiel. They shall make camp on the north side
36 Under their care shall be the panels of the tabernacle, and the bars, and the columns with their bases, and all the things which pertain to service of this kind
37 and the columns of the surrounding atrium with their bases, and the tent pegs with their cords
38 Moses and Aaron, with their sons, shall make camp before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is, on the east side, holding the custody of the Sanctuary in the midst of the sons of Israel. Whatever foreigner approaches it shall die
39 All the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by their families according to the precept of the Lord, of the male gender, from one month and above, were twenty-two thousand
40 And the Lord said to Moses: “Number the firstborn of the male sex from the sons of Israel, from one month and above, and you shall take their total
41 And you shall bring the Levites to me, in place of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and you shall bring their cattle to me, in place of all the firstborn of the cattle of the sons of Israel. I am the Lord.
42 Moses took a census, just as the Lord had instructed, of the firstborn of the sons of Israel
43 And the males by their names, from one month and above, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three
44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying
45 “Take the Levites, in place of the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites, in place of their cattle, and so the Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord
46 But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, which exceed the number of the Levites compared to the number of firstborn of the sons of Israel
47 you shall take five shekels for each head, by the measure of the Sanctuary. A shekel has twenty obols
48 And you shall give the money to Aaron and his sons as the price of those that are in excess.
49 Therefore, Moses took the money for those that were in excess, and whom they had redeemed from the Levite
50 in place of the firstborn of the sons of Israel: one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, according to the weight of the Sanctuary
51 And he gave it to Aaron and his sons, according to the word by which the Lord had instructed him
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