Numbers 3 · Parashat Bamidbar

These also are the generations of Aharon and Moshe in the day that the Lord spoke with Moshe in mount Sinay.

And these are the names of the sons of Aharon; Nadav the firstborn, and Avihu, El῾azar and Itamar.

These are the names of the sons of Aharon, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

And Nadav and Avihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinay, and they had no children: and El῾azar and Itamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aharon their father.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe saying,

Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aharon the priest, that they may minister to him.

And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

And they shall keep all the instruments of the Tent of Meeting, and the charge of the children of Yisra᾽el, to do the service of the tabernacle.

And thou shalt give the Levites to Aharon and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Yisra᾽el.

And thou shalt appoint Aharon and his sons, and they shall keep their priest’s office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Yisra᾽el instead of all the firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Yisra᾽el: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Miżrayim I hallowed to me all the firstborn in Yisra᾽el, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinay, saying,

Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

And Moshe numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Qehat, and Merari.

And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Livni, and Shim῾i.

And the sons of Qehat by their families; ῾Amram, and Yiżhar, Ḥevron, and ῾Uzzi᾽el.

And the sons of Merari by their families; Maĥli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

Of Gershon was the family of the Livni, and the family of the Shim῾i: these are the families of the Gershoni.

Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred.

The families of the Gershoni shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershoni shall be Elyasaf the son of La᾽el.

And the charge of the sons 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 by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all its service.

And of Qehat was the family of the ῾Amrami, and the family of the Yiżhari, and the family of the Ḥevroni, and the family of the ῾Uzzi’eli: these are the families of the Qehati.

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

The families of the sons of Qehat shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Qehati shall be Eliżafan, the son of ῾Uzzi᾽el.

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 screen, and all its service.

And El῾azar the son of Aharon the priest shall be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

Of Merari was the family of the Maĥli, and the family of the Mushi: these are the families of Merari.

And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Żuri᾽el the son of Aviĥayil: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

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 its vessels, and all that belongs to it.

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

But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting eastward, shall be Moshe and Aharon and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Yisra᾽el; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moshe and Aharon numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty two thousand.

And the Lord said to Moshe, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Yisra᾽el from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Yisra᾽el.

And Moshe numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el.

And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty two thousand, two hundred and seventy three.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.

And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and seventy three of the firstborn of the children of Yisra᾽el who are more than the Levites:

thou shalt take five shekels for every man, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gera:)

and thou shalt give the money, with which the surplus of them is to be redeemed, to Aharon and to his sons.

And Moshe took the redemption money of those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites:

of the firstborn of the children of Yisra᾽el he took the money; a thousand three hundred and sixty five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

and Moshe gave the money of those who were redeemed to Aharon and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moshe.