¹ Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai.

² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.

⁴ 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 priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶ "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

⁷ They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁸ 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.

⁹ You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel.

¹⁰ You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death."

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¹² "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:

¹³ 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 man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh."

¹⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵ "Count the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward."

¹⁶ Moses numbered them according to the word of Yahweh, as he was commanded.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰ The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses.

²¹ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

²² Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred.

²³ The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴ The prince of the fathers' house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

²⁵ The duty 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,

²⁶ 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.

²⁷ 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.

²⁸ According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.

³⁰ The prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹ Their duty 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.

³² Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements 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 Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

³⁵ The prince of the fathers' house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.

³⁶ The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,

³⁷ the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.

³⁸ Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

³⁹ All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, "Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹ 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."

⁴² Moses numbered, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

⁴³ All the firstborn males 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.

⁴⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵ "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.

⁴⁶ For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites,

⁴⁷ you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs):

⁴⁸ and you shall give the money, with which the remainder of them is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons."

⁴⁹ Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites;

⁵⁰ from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

⁵¹ and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Aaron, "I, behold, I have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel; to you have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever.

⁹ This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

¹⁰ You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹ "This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹² "All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh, to you have I given them.

¹³ The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹⁴ "Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours.

¹⁵ Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal shall be yours: nevertheless you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals.

¹⁶ You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs).

¹⁷ "But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

¹⁸ Their flesh shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours.

¹⁹ All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your seed with you."

²⁰ Yahweh said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ "To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting.

²² Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.

²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

²⁴ For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, 'Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.'"

²⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁶ "Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, 'When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe.

²⁷ Your wave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

²⁸ Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh's wave offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹ Out of all your gifts you shall offer every wave offering of Yahweh, of all its best, even the holy part of it out of it.'