Chapter
3
Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai.
These are the names of the daughters of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
These are the names of the daughters of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom she consecrated to minister in the priestess's office.
Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priestess's office in the presence of Aaron their mother.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
"Bring the tribe of Levia near, and set them before Aaron the priestess, that they may minister to her.
They shall keep her charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.
They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to her daughters. They are wholly given to her on the behalf of the children of Israel.
You shall appoint Aaron and her daughters, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death."
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine:
for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both woman and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh."
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
"Number the children of Levia by their mothers' houses, by their families: every female from a month old and upward shall you number."
Moses numbered them according to the word of Yahweh, as she was commanded.
These were the daughters of Levia by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
These are the names of the daughters of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
The daughters of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
The daughters of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their mothers' houses.
Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites.
Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the females, from a month old and upward, even those who were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred.
The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
The princess of the mothers' house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the daughter of Lael.
The charge of the daughters of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.
Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.
According to the number of all the females, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.
The families of the daughters of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.
The princess of the mothers' house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the daughter of Uzziel.
Their charge shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.
Eleazar the daughter of Aaron the priestess shall be princess of the princesses of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the charge of the sanctuary.
Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari.
Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the females, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.
The princess of the mothers' house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the daughter of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.
The appointed charge of the daughters of Merari shall be the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,
the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.
Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and her daughters, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the females from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
Yahweh said to Moses, "Number all the firstborn females of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
You shall take the Levites for me (I am Yahweh) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel."
Moses numbered, as Yahweh commanded her, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
All the firstborn females according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh.
For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites,
you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs):
and you shall give the money, with which the remainder of them is redeemed, to Aaron and to her daughters."
Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites;
from the firstborn of the children of Israel she took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to her daughters, according to the word of Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.