Chapter 3

And these are births of Aaron and Moses, in the day of Yehovah`s speaking with Moses in mount Sinai.

And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar;

these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he hath consecrated for acting as priest.

And Nadab dieth -- Abihu also -- before Yehovah, in their bringing near strange fire before Yehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and sons they had not; and Eleazar -- Ithamar also -- acteth as priest in the presence of Aaron their father.

And Yehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

`Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him,

and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle;

and 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;

and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel.

`And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.`

And Yehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

`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;

for 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 Yehovah.`

And Yehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

`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.`

And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Yehovah, as he hath been commanded.

And these are 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, are Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

And the sons of Merari by their families are Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers.

Of Gershon is the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite.

Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones are seven thousand and five hundred.

The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward.

And the prince of a father`s house for the Gershonite is Eliasaph son of Lael.

And 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,

and 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.

And 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.

In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, are eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward.

And the prince of a father`s house for the families of the Kohathite is Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

And 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.

And 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.

Of Merari is the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these are the families of Merari.

And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, are six thousand and two hundred.

And 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.

And 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,

and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

And 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.

All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also -- by the command of Yehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, are two and twenty thousand.

And Yehovah 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;

and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I am Yehovah), 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.`

And Moses numbereth, as Yehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel.

And 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.

And Yehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

`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 Yehovah.

`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,

thou hast even taken five shekels a-piece by the poll -- by the shekel of the sanctuary thou takest; twenty gerahs the shekel is;

and thou hast given the money to Aaron, and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.`

And Moses taketh the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites;

from 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;

and Moses giveth the money of those ransomed to Aaron, and to his sons, according to the command of Yehovah, as Yehovah hath commanded Moses.