1. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day when the Lord spoke to Moses on mount Sinai.
2. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: his firstborn Nadab, then Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3. These the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and whose hands were filled and consecrated in order to exercise the priesthood.
4. For Nadab and Abihu died without children, when they offered, in the sight of the Lord, a strange fire, in the desert of Sinai. And so, Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the sight of Aaron, their father.
5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6. "Bring forward the tribe of Levi, and cause them to stand in the sight of Aaron the priest, in order to minister to him. And let them keep watch outside,
7. and let them observe whatever pertains to the ritual for the multitude, in front of the tabernacle of the testimony,
8. and let them take care of the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in its ministry.
9. And you shall give the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons; for they have been delivered to them by the sons of Israel.
10. But you shall appoint Aaron and his sons over the service of priesthood. The outsider who approaches to minister shall be put to death."
11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12. "I have taken the Levites from the sons of Israel. For the Levites, and all the firstborn who open the womb among the sons of Israel, shall be mine.
13. For every firstborn is mine. From the time that I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I have sanctified for myself whatever is born first in Israel. From man, even to beast, they are mine. I am the Lord."
14. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying: