The Sons of Aaron

1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: ^dNadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ^ethe anointed priests, ^fwhom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 ^gBut Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

Duties of the Levites

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 ^h“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ⁱas they minister at the tabernacle. 8 They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9 And ^jyou shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are ^kwholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^lthey shall guard their priesthood. But if ^many outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, ⁿI have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13 for ^oall the firstborn are mine. ^pOn the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

14 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; ^qevery male from a month old and upward you shall list.” 16 So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17 ^rAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: ^sLibni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: ^tAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: ^uMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was¹ 7,500. 23 ^vThe clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. 25 And the ^wguard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved ^xthe tabernacle, ^ythe tent with ^zits covering, ^athe screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 ^bthe hangings of the court, ^cthe screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and ^dits cords—all the service connected with these.

27 To Kohath belonged the clan of the ^eAmramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 with ^fElizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31 And their guard duty involved ^gthe ark, ^hthe table, ⁱthe lampstand, ^jthe altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and ^kthe screen; all the service connected with these. 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. 34 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. 35 And the chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 ^lAnd the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the ^mframes of the tabernacle, ⁿthe bars, ^othe pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; 37 also ^pthe pillars around the court, with their bases and ^qpegs and ^rcords.

38 Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, ^sguarding the sanctuary itself, to protect² the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were ^t22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

40 And the Lord said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names. 41 ^uAnd you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” 42 So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.

44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 ^v“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. 46 And ^was the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, 47 you shall take ^xfive shekels³ per head; you shall take them according to ^ythe shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs⁴), 48 and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, ^z1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses ^agave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, ^swhen he was in the wilderness of Judah.

You Must Be Born Again

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^hNicodemus, ⁱa ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus^{1 j}by night and said to him, ^k“Rabbi, ^lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^munless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ⁿborn ^oagain² he cannot ^psee the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 ^rThat which is born of the flesh is ^sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.³ 7 ^tDo not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born ^uagain.’ 8 ^vThe wind⁵ blows ^wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, ^x“How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^yand yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^zwe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^zyou⁶ do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has ^bascended into heaven except ^che who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.⁷ 14 And ^das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^ebe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes ^fin him ^gmay have eternal life.⁸

For God So Loved the World

16 “For ^hGod so loved ⁱthe world,^{9 j}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^kperish but have eternal life. 17 For ^lGod did not send his Son into the world ^mto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 ⁿWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^obelieved in the name of the only Son of God. 19 ^pAnd this is the judgment: ^qthe light has come into the world, and ^rpeople loved the darkness rather than the light because ^stheir works were evil. 20 ^tFor everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^ulest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever ^vdoes what is true ^wcomes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and ^xwas baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for ^yJohn had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over ^zpurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, ^a“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^bto whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^call are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^d“A person cannot receive even one thing ^eunless it is given him ^ffrom heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^g‘I am not the Christ, but ^hI have been sent before him.’ 29 ⁱThe one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^jThe friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^krejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^lHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹⁰

31 ^mHe who comes from above ⁿis above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^ospeaks in an earthly way. ^pHe who comes from heaven ⁿis above all. 32 ^qHe bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^ryet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony ^ssets his seal to this, ^tthat God is true. 34 For he whom ^uGod has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^vwithout measure. 35 ^wThe Father loves the Son and ^xhas given all things into his hand. 36 ^yWhoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^zwhoever does not obey the Son shall not ^asee life, but the wrath of God remains on him.