(14) יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: (15) Record the descendants of Levi by ancestral house and by clan; record every male among them from the age of one month up. (16) So Moses recorded them at the command of יהוה, as he was bidden. (17) These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (18) These were the names of the sons of Gershon by clan: Libni and Shimei. (19) The sons of Kohath by clan: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. (20) The sons of Merari by clan: Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites within their ancestral houses:

(21) To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; those were the clans of the Gershonites. (22) The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up, as recorded, came to 7,500. (23) The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the Tabernacle, to the west. (24) The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. (25) The duties of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting comprised: the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; (26) the hangings of the enclosure, the screen for the entrance of the enclosure which surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the altar—all the service connected with these.

(27) To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; those were the clans of the Kohathites. (28) All the listed males from the age of one month up came to 8,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary. (29) The clans of the Kohathites were to camp along the south side of the Tabernacle. (30) The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. (31) Their duties comprised: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the sacred utensils that were used with them, and the screen —all the service connected with these. (32) The head chieftain of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, in charge of those attending to the duties of the sanctuary. (33) To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; those were the clans of Merari. (34) The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up came to 6,200. (35) The chieftain of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp along the north side of the Tabernacle. (36) The assigned duties of the Merarites comprised: the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, posts, and sockets, and all its furnishings—all the service connected with these; (37) also the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. (38) Those who were to camp before the Tabernacle, in front—before the Tent of Meeting, on the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons, attending to the duties of the sanctuary, as a duty on behalf of the Israelites; and any outsider who encroached was to be put to death. (39) All the Levites who were recorded, whom at יהוה’s command Moses and Aaron recorded by their clans, all the males from the age of one month up, came to 22,000.

(40) יהוה said to Moses: Record every first-born male of the Israelite people from the age of one month up, and make a list of their names; (41) and take the Levites for Me, יהוה, in place of every male first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of every male first-born among the cattle of the Israelites. (42) So Moses recorded all the male first-born among the Israelites, as יהוה had commanded him. (43) All the first-born males as listed by name, recorded from the age of one month up, came to 22,273.

(44) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (45) Take the Levites in place of all the male first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine, יהוה’s. (46) And as the redemption price of the 273 Israelite male first-born over and above the number of the Levites, (47) take five shekels per head—take this by the sanctuary weight, twenty gerahs to the shekel— (48) and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess. (49) So Moses took the redemption money from those over and above the ones redeemed by the Levites; (50) he took the money from the male first-born of the Israelites, 1,365 sanctuary shekels. (51) And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons at יהוה’s bidding, as יהוה had commanded Moses.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) Take a [separate] census of the Kohathites among the Levites, by the clans of their ancestral house, (3) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service, to perform tasks for the Tent of Meeting. (4) This is the responsibility of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting: the most sacred objects. (5) At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the Ark of the Pact with it. (6) They shall lay a covering of dolphin skin over it and spread a cloth of pure blue on top; and they shall put its poles in place. (7) Over the table of display they shall spread a blue cloth; they shall place upon it the bowls, the ladles, the jars, and the libation jugs; and the regular bread shall rest upon it. (8) They shall spread over these a crimson cloth which they shall cover with a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put the poles in place. (9) Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for lighting, with its lamps, its tongs, and its fire pans, as well as all the oil vessels that are used in its service. (10) They shall put it and all its furnishings into a covering of dolphin skin, which they shall then place on a carrying frame.

(11) Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the altar of gold and cover it with a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put its poles in place. (12) They shall take all the service vessels with which the service in the sanctuary is performed, put them into a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of dolphin skin, which they shall then place on a carrying frame. (13) They shall remove the ashes from the [copper] altar and spread a purple cloth over it. (14) Upon it they shall place all the vessels that are used in its service: the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the scrapers, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar—and over it they shall spread a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put its poles in place. (15) When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all the furnishings of the sacred objects at the breaking of camp, only then shall the Kohathites come and lift them, so that they do not come in contact with the sacred objects and die. These things in the Tent of Meeting shall be the porterage of the Kohathites. (16) Responsibility shall rest with Eleazar son of Aaron the priest for the lighting oil, the aromatic incense, the regular meal offering, and the anointing oil—responsibility for the whole Tabernacle and for everything consecrated that is in it or in its vessels. (17) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (18) Do not let the group of Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites. (19) Do this with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects: let Aaron and his sons go in and assign each of them to his duties and to his porterage. (20) But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, lest they die.

(17) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (18) Do not let the group of Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites. (19) Do this with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects: let Aaron and his sons go in and assign each of them to his duties and to his porterage. (20) But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, lest they die.

(1) The number of the people of Israel shall be like that of the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted; and instead of being told, “You are Not-My-People,” they shall be called Children-of-the-Living-God. (2) The people of Judah and the people of Israel shall assemble together and appoint one head over them; and they shall rise from the ground—for marvelous shall be the day of Jezreel! (3) Oh, call your brothers “My People,” And your sisters “Lovingly Accepted!” (4) Remonstrate your mother, remonstrate her— For she is not My wife And I am not her husband— And let her put away her whoredom from her face And her adultery from between her breasts. (5) Else will I strip her naked And leave her as on the day she was born: And I will make her like a wilderness, Render her like desert land, And let her die of thirst. (6) I will also disown her children; For they are now a whore’s brood, (7) In that their mother has played the whore, She that conceived them has acted shamelessly— Because she thought, “I will go after my lovers, Who supply my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.” (8) Assuredly, I will hedge up her roads with thorns And raise walls against her, And she shall not find her paths. (9) Pursue her lovers as she will, She shall not overtake them; And seek them as she may, She shall never find them. Then she will say, “I will go and return To my first husband, For then I fared better than now.” (10) And she did not consider this: It was I who bestowed on her The new grain and wine and oil; I who lavished silver on her And gold—which they used for Baal. (11) Assuredly, I will take back My new grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And I will snatch away My wool and My linen That serve to cover her nakedness. (12) Now will I uncover her shame In the very sight of her lovers, And not one of them shall save her from Me. (13) And I will end all her rejoicing: Her festivals, new moons, and sabbaths— All her festive seasons. (14) I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, Which she thinks are a fee She received from her lovers; I will turn them into brushwood, And beasts of the field shall devour them. (15) Thus will I punish her For the days of the Baalim, On which she brought them offerings; When, decked with earrings and jewels, She would go after her lovers, Forgetting Me —declares GOD. (16) Assuredly, I will speak coaxingly to her And lead her through the wilderness And speak to her tenderly. (17) I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a plowland of hope. There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, When she came up from the land of Egypt. (18) And in that day —declares GOD— You will call [Me] Ishi, And no more will you call Me Baali. (19) For I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, And they shall nevermore be mentioned by name. (20) In that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; I will also banish bow, sword, and war from the land. Thus I will let them lie down in safety. (21) And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, And with goodness and mercy, (22) And I will espouse you with faithfulness; Then you shall be devoted to GOD.

(30) At that time Joshua built an altar to the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, (31) as Moses, the servant of GOD, had commanded the Israelites—as is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses—an altar of unhewn stone upon which no iron had been wielded. They offered on it burnt offerings to GOD, and brought sacrifices of well-being. (32) And there, on the stones, he inscribed a copy of the Teaching that Moses had written for the Israelites. (33) All Israel—stranger and citizen alike—with their elders, officials, and magistrates, stood on either side of the Ark, facing the levitical priests who carried the Ark of GOD’s Covenant. Half of them faced Mount Gerizim and half of them faced Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of GOD had commanded them of old, in order to bless the people of Israel. (34) After that, he read all the words of the Teaching, the blessing and the curse, just as is written in the Book of the Teaching. (35) There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel, including the women and children and the strangers who accompanied them.

(33) All Israel—stranger and citizen alike—with their elders, officials, and magistrates, stood on either side of the Ark, facing the levitical priests who carried the Ark of GOD’s Covenant. Half of them faced Mount Gerizim and half of them faced Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of GOD had commanded them of old, in order to bless the people of Israel.

כי לי כל בכור, as the Temple service used to be the duty of the respective firstborn in each family.ביום הכותי כל בכור בארץ מצרים הקדשתי לי כל בכור בישראל, although at the time when the firstborn in Egypt were killed, the Jewish firstborn had been guilty of death also, as had been the firstborn of that entire generation. They were singled out for this penalty as they were the most honoured people of their time, and as such served as role models for others. There was no special merit due to which they would have been spared, as in Genesis 19,15 where the angels warned Lot not to remain in Sodom lest he too would be killed on account of the company he kept. G’d, in sanctifying them, i.e. placing them on a spiritually elevated pedestal so that they would not partake in all manner of secular pursuits, justified sparing them at that time. Now that, due to the sin of the golden calf, they had forfeited this spiritually elevated status, they had to be “redeemed” in order to resume life on a more mundane level than that for which they had been destined. This is the meaning of וכל בכור אדם תפדה, “you shall redeem every human male firstborn.” (Exodus 13,13).We must not make the mistake of thinking that seeing that this verse was written before the sin of the golden calf, that the firstborn had already been subject to redemption at that time, i.e that G’d had despised them as not fit to offer the sacrificial offerings. On the contrary, the “redemption” of which Exodus 13,13 speaks, i.e. [without a simultaneous substitution of others in their place, Ed.] was only in order to permit these firstborn to also pursue a regular lifestyle when they would not be performing service in the Temple, etc. Without “redemption” every object that has been sanctified is out of bounds for any mundane use whether passive or active, as it would constitute a demeaning of its holiness. (compare Chulin 137)