³⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be ^(A)attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.^[a]

²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you ^(A)kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” ²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. ²⁹ And Moses said, “Today you have been ^(B)ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

⁸ And ^(A)of Levi he said,

² And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may ^(A)join you and ^(B)minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ They shall keep guard over you and ^(C)over the whole tent, ^(D)but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar ^(E)lest they, and you, die. ⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(F)and no outsider shall come near you.

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a ^(A)man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman.

¹¹ The sons of ^(A)Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

²³ The sons of Leah: ^(A)Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, ^(A)Simeon and Levi, ^(B)Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.