The Inheritance of the Levites

351 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, 'near' Jericho, saying, 2 'Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit; also a suburb for the cities round about them ye do give to the Levites. 3 And the cities have been to them to inhabit, and their suburbs are for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts. 4 'And the suburbs of the cities which ye give to the Levites 'are', from the wall of the city and without, a thousand cubits round about. 5 And ye have measured from the outside of the city, the east quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the south quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the west quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the north quarter, two thousand by the cubit; and the city 'is' in the midst; this is to them the suburbs of the cities. 6 'And the cities which ye give to the Levites 'are' the six cities of refuge, which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities; 7 all the cities which ye give to the Levites 'are' forty and eight cities, them and their suburbs. 8 And the cities which ye give 'are' of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye multiply, and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, doth give of his cities to the Levites.'

The Cities of Refuge

9 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 10 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan, 11 and have prepared to yourselves cities—cities of refuge they are to you—then fled thither hath a man-slayer, smiting a person unawares, 12 and the cities have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer, and the man-slayer doth not die till his standing before the company for judgment. 13 'As to the cities which ye give—six 'are' cities of refuge to you; 14 the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan, and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they are. 15 To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares. 16 'And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he 'is' a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 17 'And if with a stone 'in' the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he 'is' a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 18 'Or with a wooden instrument 'in' the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he 'is' a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 19 'The redeemer of blood himself doth put the murderer to death; in his coming against him he doth put him to death. 20 'And if in hatred he thrust him through, or hath cast 'anything' at him by lying in wait, and he dieth; 21 or in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand, and he dieth; the smiter is certainly put to death; he 'is' a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him. 22 'And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait; 23 or with any stone wherewith he dieth, without seeing, and causeth 'it' to fall upon him, and he dieth, and he 'is' not his enemy, nor seeking his evil; 24 then have the company judged between the smiter and the redeemer of blood, by these judgments. 25 'And the company have delivered the man-slayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the company have caused him to turn back unto the city of his refuge, whither he hath fled, and he hath dwelt in it till the death of the chief priest, who hath been anointed with the holy oil. 26 'And if the man-slayer at all go out 'from' the border of the city of his refuge whither he fleeth, 27 and the redeemer of blood hath found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood hath slain the man-slayer, blood is not for him; 28 for in the city of his refuge he doth dwell till the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest doth the man-slayer turn back unto the city of his possession.

The Law concerning Bloodshed

29 'And these things have been to you for a statute of judgment to your generations, in all your dwellings: 30 whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth 'one' slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person—to die. 31 'And ye take no atonement for the life of a murderer who 'is' condemned—to die, for he is certainly put to death; 32 and ye take no atonement for him to flee unto the city of his refuge, to turn back to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 'And ye profane not the land which ye 'are' in, for blood profaneth the land; as to the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth it; 34 and ye defile not the land in which ye are dwelling, in the midst of which I do tabernacle, for I Jehovah do tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel.'

The Number and Duties of the Levites

31 And these 'are' births of Aaron and Moses, in the day of Jehovah's speaking with Moses in mount Sinai. 2 And these 'are' the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; 3 these 'are' the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he hath consecrated for acting as priest. 4 And Nadab dieth—Abihu also—before Jehovah, in their bringing near strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and sons they had not; and Eleazar—Ithamar also—acteth as priest in the presence of Aaron their father. 5 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 6 'Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him, 7 and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle; 8 and they have kept all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle; 9 and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel. 10 'And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.' 11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 12 'And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine; 13 for Mine 'is' every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I 'am' Jehovah.'

14 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 'Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.' 16 And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded. 17 And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these 'are' the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath, by their families, 'are' Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their families 'are' Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers. 21 Of Gershon 'is' the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite. 22 Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones 'are' seven thousand and five hundred. 23 The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward. 24 And the prince of a father's house for the Gershonite 'is' Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting 'is' the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which 'is' by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service. 27 And of Kohath 'is' the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite. 28 In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, 'are' eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward. 30 And the prince of a father's house for the families of the Kohathite 'is' Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge 'is' the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service. 32 And 'to' the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, 'is' the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary. 33 Of Merari 'is' the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these 'are' the families of Merari. 34 And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, 'are' six thousand and two hundred. 35 And the prince of a father's house for the families of Merari 'is' Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward. 36 And the oversight—the charge of the sons of Merari—'is' the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service, 37 and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38 And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, 'are' Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death. 39 All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered—Aaron also—by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, 'are' two and twenty thousand.

The Redemption of the Firstborn

40 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names; 41 and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I 'am' Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.' 42 And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel. 43 And all the first-born—male—by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three. 44 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 45 'Take the Levites instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites have been Mine; I 'am' Jehovah. 46 'And 'from' those ransomed of the two hundred and seventy and three (who are more than the Levites) of the first-born of the sons of Israel, 47 thou hast even taken five shekels a-piece by the poll—by the shekel of the sanctuary thou takest; twenty gerahs the shekel 'is'; 48 and thou hast given the money to Aaron, and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.' 49 And Moses taketh the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites; 50 from the first-born of the sons of Israel he hath taken the money, a thousand and three hundred and sixty and five—by the shekel of the sanctuary; 51 and Moses giveth the money of those ransomed to Aaron, and to his sons, according to the command of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.