Knox Bible

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Aaron and Moses had already sons to succeed them at the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Sinai;

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and these were the names of Aaron’s sons, Nadab, his first-born, then Abiu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

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All these sons of Aaron were anointed priests, their hands enriched and consecrated for priestly duties,

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but Nadab and Abiu, who offered unhallowed fire in the Lord’s presence, died there in the desert of Sinai without issue; it was only Eleazar and Ithamar that performed the duties of the priesthood now, under the eye of Aaron their father.

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And now the Lord gave Moses this command,

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Dedicate the tribe of Levi to me, and bid them wait on the pleasure of Aaron, the high priest; doing him service and keeping watch,

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carrying out the duties that belong to public worship before the tabernacle,

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keeping safe, too, the appurtenances of the tabernacle, and attending to its needs.

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Thou shalt put the Levites at the disposal of

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Aaron and his sons, to whom the Israelites have assigned them; but it is to Aaron and his sons that thou wilt entrust the priestly office. No one else must minister there, on pain of death.

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This, too, the Lord said to Moses,

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Among all the sons of Israel, I have singled out the Levites to be my own, in lieu of those first-born Israelites that handsel the womb;

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all first-born things belong to me. Ever since I smote the first-born in the land of Egypt, I have claimed the eldest birth, whether of man or of beast, as forfeit; forfeit to me, the Lord.

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And while they were still in the desert of Sinai, the Lord bade Moses

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register the sons of Levi by their households and their families, all of them that were more than a month old.

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So Moses made a register, as the Lord had bidden him;

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giving the names of Levi’s sons in their order, Gerson, Caath and Merari;

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then the sons of Gerson, Lebni and Semei,

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the sons of Caath, Amram, Jessar, Hebron and Oziel

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and the sons of Merari, Moholi and Musi.

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The two families that came down from Gerson through Lebni and Semei

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amounting to seven thousand five hundred males, above the age of a month;

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these were to encamp behind the tabernacle, to the west,

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under Eliasaph the son of Lael.

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The parts of the tabernacle which were to be in their charge

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were the tent itself and its canopy, and the screen stretched over the doorway by which the tabernacle was entered; the curtains for the court, and the hanging at the entrance to the court, with all that belongs to the service of the altar;✻ the tabernacle ropes, too, and its appurtenances in general.

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The race of Caath, comprising the families that were named after Amram, Jesaar, Hebron and Oziel,

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which counted eight thousand six hundred males above a month old, were in charge of the sanctuary.

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They were to encamp south of it,

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under Elisaphan the son of Oziel,

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and have the keeping of the ark, the table, the lamp-stand, the altars, the vessels for worship in the sanctuary, the veil, and all other such furniture.

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These guardians of the sanctuary had the chief of all the Levites at their head, Eleazar, son of the high priest Aaron.

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The two families of Merari’s line, named after Moholi and Musi,

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counting six thousand two hundred males above a month old,

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were to encamp on the north, under Suriel the son of Abihaiel.

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They were to guard the frames and poles of the tabernacle, the posts with their sockets, and all that went with such an office;

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the posts of the outer court, too, with their sockets, the pegs and the ropes.

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In front of the tabernacle, that is, on the east, Moses and Aaron were to encamp with their sons, keeping guard over the sanctuary in the midst of the Israelite people; it was death for any other to come near it.

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The whole strength of the Levites, all the families registered at the Lord’s command by Moses and Aaron, was twenty-two thousand males above a month old.✻

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And now the Lord said to Moses, Count up all the male first-born in Israel who are more than a month old, and find their number.

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I must have a Levite for every male in Israel; it is the Lord’s due. And they must have cattle to match in number all the first-born cattle the Israelites possess.

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So Moses counted the first-born of Israel, as the Lord bade him,

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and found that there were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three such persons.

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And the Lord said to Moses,

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Set apart the Levites to be my own, instead of the first-born Israelites, and the cattle of the Levites to be mine, instead of the first-born cattle; it is the Lord’s due.

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Meanwhile, here are two hundred and seventy-three first-born who have no Levites to match their number; for these, ransom must be paid.

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Claim five silver pieces, by sanctuary reckoning, for each of them, (the silver piece is worth twenty pence),

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and pay the money to Aaron and his sons, as the ransom for the first-born who are left over.

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So Moses took ransom for those who were left out of the count when the Levites stood as ransom

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for the first-born sons of Israel, a thousand three hundred and sixty-five silver pieces by sanctuary reckoning;

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and these he paid over to Aaron and his sons as the Lord had bidden him.