The Sons of Aaron

(Leviticus 10:1-7)

1And these [are] births of Aaron and Moses, in the day of Jehovah’s speaking with Moses in mount Sinai. 2And these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; 3these [are] the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he hath consecrated for acting as priest. 4And Nadab dieth — Abihu also — before Jehovah, in their bringing near strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and sons they had not; and Eleazar — Ithamar also — acteth as priest in the presence of Aaron their father.

Duties of the Levites

5And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 6‘Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him, 7and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle; 8and they have kept all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle; 9and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel. 10‘And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.’

11And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 12‘And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine; 13for Mine [is] every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I [am] Jehovah.’

Registration of the Levites

14And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15‘Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.’ 16And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded. 17And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18And these [are] the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath, by their families, [are] Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari by their families [are] Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers.

The Gershonites

(Numbers 4:21-28; Numbers 4:38-41; 1 Chronicles 23:7-11)

21Of Gershon [is] the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite. 22Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones [are] seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward. 24And the prince of a father’s house for the Gershonite [is] Eliasaph son of Lael.

25And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting [is] the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, 26and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which [is] by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service.

The Kohathites

(Numbers 4:1-20; Numbers 4:34-37; 1 Chronicles 23:12-20)

27And of Kohath [is] the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite. 28In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, [are] eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward. 30And the prince of a father’s house for the families of the Kohathite [is] Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31And their charge [is] the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service. 32And [to] the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary.

The Merarites

(Numbers 4:29-33; Numbers 4:42-49; 1 Chronicles 23:21-23)

33Of Merari [is] the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these [are] the families of Merari. 34And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, [are] six thousand and two hundred. 35And the prince of a father’s house for the families of Merari [is] Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward. 36And the oversight — the charge of the sons of Merari — [is] the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service, 37and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

Moses and Aaron

38And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, [are] Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death. 39All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered — Aaron also — by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, [are] two and twenty thousand.

Firstborn Sons Redeemed

40And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names; 41and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I [am] Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.’ 42And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel. 43And all the first-born — male — by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three.

44And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 45‘Take the Levites instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites have been Mine; I [am] Jehovah. 46‘And [from] those ransomed of the two hundred and seventy and three (who are more than the Levites) of the first-born of the sons of Israel, 47thou hast even taken five shekels a-piece by the poll — by the shekel of the sanctuary thou takest; twenty gerahs the shekel [is]; 48and thou hast given the money to Aaron, and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.’ 49And Moses taketh the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites; 50from the first-born of the sons of Israel he hath taken the money, a thousand and three hundred and sixty and five — by the shekel of the sanctuary; 51and Moses giveth the money of those ransomed to Aaron, and to his sons, according to the command of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.