Add parallel Print Page Options

The Substitution for the Firstborn

40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take[a] the number of their names. 41 And take[b] the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.” 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:40 tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasaʾ, “take”) has here the sense of collect, take a census, or register the names.
  2. Numbers 3:41 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries forward the instructions from the preceding verse. The verb “take” now has the sense of appointing or designating the Levites.