1. This is the family history of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord talked to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2. Aaron had four sons. Nadab was the firstborn son. Then there were Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3. These sons were the chosen priests. They were given the special work of serving the Lord as priests.
4. But Nadab and Abihu died while serving the Lord. They used fire that the Lord did not allow when they made an offering to him. So Nadab and Abihu died there, in the desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar took their place and served the Lord as priests. This happened while their father Aaron was still alive.
5. The Lord said to Moses,
6. “Bring all the men from the tribe of Levi. Bring them to Aaron the priest. These men will be his helpers.
7. The Levites will help him when he serves at the Meeting Tent. And they will help all the Israelites when they come to worship at the Holy Tent.
8. The Israelites should protect everything in the Meeting Tent; it is their duty. But the Levites will serve the Israelites by caring for these things. This will be their way of serving at the Holy Tent.
9. “Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. The Levites were chosen from all the Israelites to help Aaron and his sons.
10. “Appoint Aaron and his sons to be priests. They must do their duty and serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to come near the holy things must be killed.”
11. The Lord also said to Moses,
12-13. “I destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt. At that time I chose all the firstborn from every family in Israel to be mine in a special way. That included all the firstborn men and animals. But now I am choosing the Levites to take their place. Now they will be my special servants. I, the Lord, give this command!”
14. The Lord again said to Moses in the desert of Sinai,
15. “Count all the families and family groups in the tribe of Levi. Count every man or boy who is one month old or older.”
16. So Moses obeyed the Lord. He counted them all.
17. Levi had three sons. Their names were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18. Each son was the leader of several family groups. The Gershon family groups were Libni and Shimei.
19. The Kohath family groups were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20. The Merari family groups were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families that belonged to Levi’s family group.
21. The families of Libni and Shimei belonged to the family of Gershon. They were the Gershonite family groups.
22. There were 7500 men and boys over one month old in these two family groups.