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¹ THESE are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spoke with Moses on mount Sinai.² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, his first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron the priest, who were anointed and consecrated to minister in the priests office.⁴ But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priests office during the lifetime of Aaron their father.⁵ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,⁶ Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.⁷ And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation in the presence of the LORD before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.⁸ And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.⁹ And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him as a gift out of the children of Israel.¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priests office; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.¹¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,¹² Behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the first-born that open the womb among the children of Israel; therefore the Levites shall be mine;¹³ Because all the first-born are mine; for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast; they shall be mine; I am the LORD.

¹⁴ And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,¹⁵ Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a month old and upward, you shall number them.¹⁶ So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.¹⁹ And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahali and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.²¹ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these are the families of the Gershonites.²² Their number, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand and five hundred.²³ The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.²⁴ And the chief of the house of the fathers of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Eliab.²⁵ And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the tent, its covering and the curtains for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation²⁶ And the curtains of the court and the covering for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and the cords of it, and all the instruments thereof.²⁷ And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izeharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.²⁸ Their number according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, was eight thousand and six hundred, looking after the sanctuary.²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle southward.³⁰ And the chief of the house of the fathers of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizphan the son of Uzziel.³¹ And their charge shall be the ark and the table and the candlestick and the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister and the curtain of the door and all the service thereof.³² And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the chief over the chiefs of the Levites and have the oversight over those who have charge of the sanctuary.³³ Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.³⁴ Their number according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, was six thousand and two hundred.³⁵ And the chief of the house of the fathers of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; they shall encamp on the side of the tabernacle northward.³⁶ And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets and all the vessels thereof and all that pertains to it³⁷ And the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their pins and their cords.³⁸ But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary in addition to the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.³⁹ All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

⁴⁰ And the LORD said to Moses, Number all the first-born of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.⁴¹ And you shall present the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.⁴² And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel,⁴³ And all the first-born males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, and their number was twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.⁴⁴ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,⁴⁵ Present the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine; I am the LORD.⁴⁶ And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the children of Israel, that are above the number of the Levites,⁴⁷ You shall take five shekels apiece by the poll, by the shekel of the sanctuary shall you take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs).⁴⁸ And you shall give the money wherewith the excess number of them is to be redeemed to Aaron and to his sons.⁴⁹ So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites;⁵⁰ From the first-born of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary:⁵¹ And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.