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Numbers 3
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Chapter 3
c.
Their divine election
a. The priests
1
These are the descendants of Aaron and Moses, at the time when Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2
These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the eldest, then Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
3
These are the names of Aaron’s sons, priests anointed and invested with the powers of the priesthood.
4
Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, when they offered fire that was unlawful. They left no children and so it fell to Eleazar and Ithamar to exercise the priesthood under their father Aaron.
b. The Levites: their duties
5
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:
6
‘Muster the tribe of Levi and put it at the disposal of Aaron the priest: they are to be at his service.
7
They are to undertake the duties that are laid on him and on the entire community before the Tent of Meeting, in their service of the tabernacle.
8
The furnishings for the Tent of meeting are to be in their charge, and they are to undertake the duties that are laid on the sons of Israel in their service of the tabernacle.
9
You are to give the Levites to Aaron and his sons as ‘oblates’,[*a] they are to be given to him by the sons of Israel.
10
‘You are to enrol Aaron and his sons, and they are to carry out their priestly duty. But any layman who comes near is to be put to death.’
11
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:
12
‘I myself have chosen the Levites from among the sons of Israel, in place of the first-born, those who open the mother’s womb among the sons of Israel; these Levites therefore belong to me.
13
For every first-born belongs to me. On the day when I struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born of Israel, of both man and beast. They are mine; I am Yahweh.’
14
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. He said:
15
‘You are to take a census of the sons of Levi by families and clans; all the males of the age of one month and over must be counted’.
16
At Yahweh’s word, Moses took his census, as Yahweh had ordered.
17
These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
18
These are the names of Gershon’s sons by their clans: Libni and Shimei;
19
Kohath’s sons by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and. Uzziel;
20
Merari’s sons by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi, grouped according to their patriarchal families.
21
From Gershon are descended the Libnite and the Shimeite clans; these are the Gershonite clans.
22
Their full number, counting the males of one month and over, came to seven thousand five hundred.
23
The Gershonite clans pitched their camp behind the tabernacle, on the west side.
24
The leader of the House of Gershon was Eliasaph son of Lael.
25
In the Tent of Meeting the sons of Gershon had charge of the tabernacle, the Tent and its covering, the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,
26
the hangings in the court, the screen for the entrance to the court surrounding the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords needed for all this work.
27
From Kohath are descended the Amramite, the Izharite, the Hebronite and the Uzzielite clans; these are the Kohathite clans.
28
Their full number, counting the males of one month and over, came to eight thousand three hundred. They were in charge of the sanctuary.
29
The Kohathite clans pitched their camp on the south side of the tabernacle.
30
The leader of the house of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel
31
They were in charge of the ark, the table, the lamp-stand, the altars, the sacred vessels used in the liturgy, and the screen with all its fittings.
32
The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest. He was the head of all those who were in charge of the sanctuary.
33
From Merari are descended the Mahlite and the Mushite clans; these are the Merarite clans;
34
Their full number, counting the males of one month and over, came to six thousand two hundred.
35
The leader of the house of the Merarite clans was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They pitched their camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
36
The sons of Merari were in charge of the framework of the tabernacle, with its crossbars, posts and sockets, all its accessories and fittings,
37
and also the posts round the court, with their sockets, pegs and cords.
38
Finally, on the east side, facing the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, towards the sunrise, was the camp of Moses and Aaron and his sons, who had charge of the sanctuary on behalf of the sons of Israel. Any layman coming near was to be put to death.
39
Altogether, the total count of Levites of the age of one month and over, whom Moses numbered by clans as Yahweh had ordered, came to twenty-two thousand.
e. The Levites and the ransoming of the first-born
40
Yahweh said to Moses: ‘Take a census of all the first-born among the sons of Israel, all the males from the age of one month and over; take a census of them by name.
41
Then you will present the Levites to me, Yahweh, in place of the first-born of Israel; in the same way you will give me their cattle in place of the first-born cattle of the sons of Israel.’
42
As Yahweh ordered, Moses took a census of all the first-born of the sons of Israel.
43
The total count, by name, of the first-born from the age of one month and over came to twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,
45
‘Take the Levites in the place of all the first-born of Israel’s sons, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites shall be my own, Yahweh’s own.
46
For the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the sons of Israel in excess of the number of Levites,
47
you are to take five shekels for each, reckoning by the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel;
48
you must then give this money to Aaron and his sons as the ransom price for this extra number.’
49
Moses received this money as the ransom for this extra number unransomed by the Levites.
50
He received the money for the first-born of the sons of Israel, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, sanctuary shekels.
51
Moses handed over this ransom money to Aaron and his sons, at the bidding of Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.
Chapters of Numbers
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
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