Numbers 3-4

Complete Jewish Bible

3 (iv) These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when Adonai spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai. ² The names of the sons of Aharon are: Nadav the firstborn, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. ³ These were the names of the sons of Aharon the cohen, whom he anointed and ordained as cohanim. ⁴ But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of Adonai when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El‘azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.

⁵ Adonai said to Moshe, ⁶ “Summon the tribe of Levi, and assign them to Aharon the cohen, so that they can help him. ⁷ They are to carry out his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of the tabernacle. ⁸ They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out all the duties of the people of Isra’el connected with the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ Assign the L’vi’im to Aharon and his sons; their one responsibility in regard to the people of Isra’el is to serve him. ¹⁰ You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death.”

¹¹ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹² “I have taken the L’vi’im from among the people of Isra’el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb among the people of Isra’el; the L’vi’im are to be mine. ¹³ All the firstborn males belong to me, because on the day that I killed all the firstborn males in the land of Egypt, I separated for myself all the firstborn males in Isra’el, both human and animal. They are mine; I am Adonai.”

(v) ¹⁴ Adonai said to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, ¹⁵ “Take a census of the tribe of Levi by clans and families. Count every male a month old or over.” ¹⁶ Moshe counted them in the manner Adonai had said, as he had been ordered. ¹⁷ The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, K’hat and M’rari. ¹⁸ The names of the sons of Gershon were Livni and Shim‘i; they fathered their respective clans; ¹⁹ likewise the sons of K’hat — ‘Amram,Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el — ²⁰ and the sons of M’rari — Machli and Mushi. These fathered the clans of the L’vi’im.

²¹ Gershon fathered the clans of Livni and Shim‘i; these were the Gershon clans. ²² Of them, 7,500 males a month old and over were counted. ²³ The Gershon clans were to camp behind the tabernacle, toward the west. ²⁴ The chief of the Gershon clan was Elyasaf, the son of La’el. ²⁵ In connection with the tent of meeting, the descendants of Gershon were to be in charge of the following: the tabernacle itself, its inner and outer coverings, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the curtains surrounding the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and the altar, all the fixtures and ropes for these items, and their maintenance.

²⁷ K’hat fathered the clans of ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el; these were the K’hat clans. ²⁸ Of them, 8,600 males a month old and over were counted; they were in charge of the Holy Place. ²⁹ The K’hat clans were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the south. ³⁰ The chief of the K’hat clan was Elitzafan the son of ‘Uzi’el. ³¹ They were responsible for the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils the cohanim use when they serve in the Holy Place, the curtain, and everything involved with the maintenance of these things. ³² El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen was first among the chiefs of the L’vi’im and supervised those in charge of the Holy Place.

³³ M’rari fathered the clans of Machli and Mushi; these were the M’rari clans. ³⁴ Of them, 6,200 males a month old and over were counted. ³⁵ The chief of the M’rari clan was Tzuri’el the son of Avichayil. They were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the north. ³⁶ The M’rari clans were assigned responsibility for the frames of the tabernacle, along with its crossbars, posts, sockets and fittings, together with their maintenance; ³⁷ also the posts of the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, pegs and ropes.

³⁸ Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moshe, Aharon and his sons who were in charge of the Holy Place. They carried out their responsibility on behalf of the people of Isra’el, and anyone else who involved himself was to be put to death.

³⁹ The total number of L’vi’im whom Moshe and Aharon counted by their clans, all the males a month old and over, was 22,000.

(vi) ⁴⁰ Adonai said to Moshe, “Register all the firstborn males of the people of Isra’el a month old and over, and determine how many there are. ⁴¹ Then you are to take the L’vi’im for me, Adonai, in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of the firstborn of the cattle belonging to the people of Isra’el.” ⁴² Moshe counted, as Adonai had ordered him, all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el. ⁴³ The total number of firstborn males registered, a month old and over, of those who were counted, was 22,273.

⁴⁴ Adonai said to Moshe, ⁴⁵ “Take the L’vi’im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of their cattle; the L’vi’im are to belong to me, Adonai. ⁴⁶ Since there were 273 more firstborn males from Isra’el than male L’vi’im, in order to redeem them, ⁴⁷ you are to take five shekels [two ounces] for each of these (use the sanctuary shekel, which is equal to twenty gerahs). ⁴⁸ Give the redemption money for these extra people to Aharon and his sons.” ⁴⁹ Moshe took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the L’vi’im; ⁵⁰ the amount of money he took from the firstborn of the people of Isra’el was 1,365 shekels, using the sanctuary shekel. ⁵¹ Moshe gave the redemption-money to Aharon and his sons, in keeping with what Adonai had said, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

4 (vii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ² “Take a census of the descendants of K’hat, who are among the descendants of Levi, by clans and families, ³ all those from thirty to fifty years old; these will enter the corps doing the work in the tent of meeting.

⁴ “Here is how the descendants of K’hat are to serve in the tent of meeting and deal with the especially holy things: ⁵ when the time comes to break camp, Aharon is to go in with his sons, take down the curtain which serves as a screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it. ⁶ On that they are to place a covering of fine leather, and on top of that spread an all-blue cloth. Then they are to insert the carrying-poles. ⁷ On the table of showbread they are to spread a blue cloth and place on it the dishes, incense pans, offering bowls and pitchers. The perpetual bread is to remain on the table. ⁸ They are to spread on these things a scarlet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather and insert the poles. ⁹ They are to take a blue cloth and cover the menorah for the light, its lamps, its tongs, its trays and the jars used to add oil to it. ¹⁰ They are to wrap it and all its accessories in fine leather and place them on a carrying-frame. ¹¹ On the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather and insert its carrying-poles. ¹² They are to take all the utensils they use when serving in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather and place them on a carrying-frame. ¹³ After removing the greasy ashes from the altar, they are to spread a purple cloth over it ¹⁴ and place on it all the utensils required for their altar service — the fire pans, meat-hooks, shovels, basins and other utensils for the altar. Then they are to spread over it a fine leather covering and insert its carrying-poles. ¹⁵ When Aharon and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy utensils, when the camp is about to move forward, then the descendants of K’hat are to come and carry them. But they are not to touch the holy things, so that they won’t die. These things are the responsibility of the descendants of K’hat in the tent of meeting.

¹⁶ “El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen is to be responsible for the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continuing grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

(Maftir) ¹⁷ Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ¹⁸ “Do not cut off the clan of K’hat from among the L’vi’im; ¹⁹ rather, do this for them, so that they will live and not die: when they approach the especially holy things, Aharon and his sons are to go in — and you are to assign each one his task; ²⁰ but the descendants of K’hat are not to go in and look at the holy things as they are being covered; if they do, they will die.”

Haftarah B’midbar: Hoshea (Hosea) 2:1(1:10)–2:22(20)

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B’midbar: Luke 2:1–7; 1 Corinthians 12:12–31

Parashah 35: Naso (Take) 4:21–7:89

²¹ Adonai said to Moshe, ²² “Take a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by clans and families; ²³ count all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will enter the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.

²⁴ “The Gershon families are to be responsible for serving and for transporting loads. ²⁵ They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the fine leather covering above it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the tapestries for the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard by the tabernacle and around the altar, along with the ropes and all the utensils they need for their service; and they are to do the work connected with these things. ²⁷ Aharon and his sons are to supervise all the work of the Gershon clan in transporting loads and serving, and to assign them who is to carry what. ²⁸ This is how the Gershon families are to serve in the tent of meeting, and they are to be under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.

²⁹ “As for the descendants of M’rari, take a census by clans and families ³⁰ of all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will be in the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.

³¹ “Their service for the tent of meeting will be to carry the frames, crossbars, posts and sockets of the tabernacle; ³² also the posts for the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, tent pegs, ropes and other accessories, and everything having to do with their service. You are to assign particular loads to specific persons by name. ³³ This is how the M’rari families are to serve in the tent of meeting, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.”

(S: ii) ³⁴ Moshe, Aharon and the community leaders took a census of the descendants of K’hat by their clans and families, ³⁵ all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting. ³⁶ Registered by their families, they numbered 2,750. ³⁷ These are the ones counted from the K’hat families of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.

(A: ii) ³⁸ The census of the descendants of Gershon, by their clans and families, ³⁹ all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁰ yielded 2,630, registered by their clans and families. ⁴¹ These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of Gershon of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai.

⁴² The census of the families of the descendants of M’rari, by their clans and families, ⁴³ all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ yielded 3,200, registered by their families. ⁴⁵ These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of M’rari, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.

⁴⁶ The census of the L’vi’im, whom Moshe, Aharon and the leaders of Isra’el enumerated by their clans and families, ⁴⁷ all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of those working to serve and working to carry loads in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁸ yielded a total of 8,580 persons.

⁴⁹ According to Adonai’s order they were appointed by Moshe, each one to his specific service or work. They were also enumerated, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.