3:1 1 Now these are the records 2 of Aaron and Moses when 3 the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 3:2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed 4 priests, whom he consecrated 5 to minister as priests. 6
3:4 Nadab and Abihu died 7 before the Lord 8 when they offered 9 strange 10 fire 11 before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. 12 So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests 13 in the presence of 14 Aaron their father.
3:5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 3:6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, 15 and present 16 them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 17 3:7 They are responsible for his needs 18 and the needs of the whole community before the tent of meeting, by attending 19 to the service of the tabernacle. 3:8 And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve 20 in the tabernacle. 3:9 You are to assign 21 the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they will be assigned exclusively 22 to him out of all 23 the Israelites. 3:10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; 24 but the unauthorized person 25 who comes near must be put to death.”
3:11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 3:12 “Look, 26 I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of 27 every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me, 3:13 because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed 28 all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.” 29
3:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai: 3:15 “Number the Levites by their clans 30 and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.” 31 3:16 So Moses numbered them according to the word 32 of the Lord, just as he had been commanded. 33
3:17 These were the sons 34 of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
3:18 These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 3:19 The sons of Kohath by their families were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 3:20 The sons of Merari by their families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their clans.
3:21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 3:22 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 7,500. 3:23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle toward the west. 3:24 Now the leader 35 of the clan 36 of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.
3:25 And 37 the responsibilities of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 3:26 the hangings of the courtyard, 38 the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard that surrounded the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, plus all the service connected with these things. 39
3:27 From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. 40 3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care 41 of the sanctuary. 3:29 The families of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 3:30 Now the leader of the clan of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.