Numbers 3:1-18 The Message (MSG)

1. This is the family tree of Aaron and Moses at the time God spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

11-13. God spoke to Moses: “I have taken the Levites from among the People of Israel as a stand-in for every Israelite mother’s firstborn son. The Levites belong to me. All the firstborn are mine—when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated for my own use every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They belong to me. I am God.”

14-16. God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: “Count the Levites by their ancestral families and clans. Count every male a month old and older.” Moses counted them just as he was instructed by the mouth of God.

17. These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

18. These are the names of the Gershonite clans: Libni and Shimei.

Numbers 3