1 These are the generations {toledot: genealogical listing} of Aaron and Moses, from the day the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Speaker} spoke with Moses at Mount Sinai.
2 These are the names{shemot: official designations} of Aaron’s sons: Nadab the firstborn{bekhor: eldest heir}, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the priests, the anointed {mashukhim: ceremonially anointed}, whose hands he filled {mille: filled for office} to serve as priests.
4 Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD {YHWH, Holy Judge} when they brought unauthorized fire {esh: cultic flame} before Him in the wilderness of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence of their father Aaron.
5 Then the LORD {YHWH, Lawgiver} spoke to Moses {Mosheh: leader of Israel}, saying,
6 Bring near the tribe of Levi, set them before Aaron the priest {kohen: sacred official}, and let them serve {sharet: perform sacred duties} him.
7 And they shall guard his charge {mishmeret: designated priestly oversight} and the charge of the entire assembly before the Tent of Meeting, to perform the service {avodat: prescribed cultic duties} of the Tabernacle.
8 They shall keep all the utensils {kelei: sacred vessels} of the Tent of Meeting, along with the duty {mishmeret: assigned charge} of the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the tabernacle.
9 You shall give the Levites to Aaron {Aharon: priestly mediator} and to his sons; they are wholly given {netunim: repeated emphasis} to him from among the sons of Israel.
10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard {shamru: carefully guard} their priesthood; any outsider who approaches {hakarev: draws near} must be put to death.
11 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Speaker} spoke to Moses {Mosheh: chosen leader}, saying,
12 As for Me {YHWH, Covenant Redeemer}—behold, I have taken the Levites {ha-leviyim: priestly tribe} from among the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn who opens the womb, and the Levites shall be Mine.
13 For every firstborn {bekhor: consecrated representative} is Mine; on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for Myself every firstborn in Israel, from human to animal. They shall be Mine. I am the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Redeemer}.
14 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Speaker} spoke to Moses {Mosheh: chosen leader} in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
15 Count the sons of Levi {Levi: Priestly Tribe} by their fathers’ houses and their clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall number them {tifkedem: register by census}.
16 Moses counted them by the command {al-pi: by the LORD’s authority} of the LORD {YHWH, Law-Giver}, as he had been commanded.
17 These were the sons of Levi {Levi: priestly ancestor} by their names {shemot: personal designations}: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18 These are the names {shemot: identity signifiers} of Gershon’s {Gershon: firstborn of Levi} sons, by their clans: Libni and Shimei.
19 Kohath’s sons {Kehat: Levitical line}, by their clans {mishpechotam: family divisions}, were Amram, Yitzhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20 Merari’s {Merari: clan ancestor} sons, by their clans, were Mahli and Mushi; these are the Levite {Levi: tribal founder} clans by their fathers’ houses.
21 From Gershon {Gershon: tribal founder} came the clan of the Libnite and the clan of the Shimeite; these were the clans {mishpechot: clan divisions} of the Gershonite.
22 Their mustered ones by number {mispar: total count}—all the males {zakhar: male offspring} from one month old and upward—were 7,500.
23 The clans of the Gershonite {gershuni: descendants of Gershon} shall camp behind the tabernacle {mishkan: dwelling place} on the west.
24 The leader {nesi: tribal official} of the father’s house {beit-av: ancestral lineage} for the Gershonite was Eliasaph, son of Lael.
25 And the responsibility {mishmeret: official charge} of the sons of Gershon at the Tent of Meeting {ohel moed: appointed meeting place} was to care for the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the curtain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
26 They were also responsible for the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard that is by the tabernacle {mishkan: sacred dwelling} and by the altar all around, and its cords for all its service {avodah: assigned duties}.
27 To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramite, the clan of the Izharite, the clan of the Hebronite, and the clan of the Uzzielite; these were the clans {mishpachot: extended family groups} of the Kohathite {ha-kehati: Levitical ancestral line}.
28 In the total count of all males one month old and upward, there were 8,600 who kept the charge {mishmeret: official responsibility} of the sanctuary {hakodesh: sacred space}.
29 The clans of Kohath’s {Kehat: Levitical lineage} sons shall camp on the south side of the tabernacle {mishkan: sacred dwelling}.
30 The leader {nesi: chief tribal head} of the father’s house {beit-av: patriarchal lineage} among the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
31 Their responsibility included the ark {aron: sacred chest}, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary {kodesh: set-apart place} with which they ministered, the curtain, and all its service.
32 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was chief {nesi: principal official} over the leaders of the Levites and held oversight {pekudat: official charge} of those who guarded the sanctuary.
33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlite and the clan of the Mushite; these are the clans {mishpechot: extended family groups} of Merari {Merari: Levitical house}.
34 Their mustered ones {pequdeyhem: census registrants}, by number—the males from a month old and upward—were 6,200 {sheshet alafim umatayim: precise census enumeration}.
35 And the chief {nesi: leader} of the father’s house {beit-av: clan lineage} of Merari’s families was Zuriel son of Abihail; they shall camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
36 The appointed charge of the sons of Merari {Merari: Levitical family group} included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its bases, all its utensils {kelav: ritual vessels}, and all its service.
37 And the posts of the courtyard {chatzer: sacred enclosure} all around with their bases {adneihem: foundation blocks}, tent pegs, and ropes.
38 And those who camped eastward before the tabernacle, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons. They kept the charge {mishmeret: sacred duty} of the sanctuary on behalf of the sons of Israel. Any outsider {zar: non-priest} who came near was to be put to death.
39 All those counted from among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander}, by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand {elef: Hebrew thousand}.
40 And the LORD {YHWH, Census Commander} said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn male children of Israel who are one month old or older, and record the number of their names {shemotam: identity records}.”
41 You shall take the Levites {ha-leviyyim: designated servants} for Me, I the LORD {YHWH, Divine Substitute}, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel.
42 Moses counted all the firstborn among the sons {bivnei: genealogical lineage} of Israel, just as the LORD {YHWH, Law-Giver} had commanded him.
43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of names {shemot: individual enumeration}, from one month old and upward, according to their enrollments {lifkudeihem: official registry}, numbered 22,273.
44 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Speaker} spoke to Moses {Mosheh: chosen leader}, saying,
45 Take the Levites {ha-leviyim: Levitical tribe} in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and take the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine. I am the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Redeemer}.
46 As for the redeemed {peduyei: those ransomed}—the 273 in excess {odfim: the remaining group} of the Levites among the firstborn of the sons of Israel—they shall be redeemed.
47 You shall take five shekels per head by the shekel of the sanctuary {hakodesh: holy place standard}; the shekel is twenty gerahs {gerah: small unit}.
48 Give the money {keseph: silver currency} to Aaron and to his sons, for the redeemed of the surplus {odfim: those over and above} among them.
49 Then Moses received the silver {keseph: Precious Metal Currency} designated for redemption from those individuals exceeding {odfim: Surplus} the tally redeemed by the Levites.
50 From Israel’s firstborn {bekhor: family representative} he took a total of 1,365 shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary {ha-kodesh: cultic standard}.