Numbers 4

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

“Register the descendants of Kohath from the tribe of Levi, according to their family and father's line.

3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

4 “This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things.

This work that they are to do in the Tent of Meetings involves the things that are most holy.

5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it,

Whenever you move camp, Aaron and his sons will go in, take down the veil, and place it over the Ark of the Testimony.

6 put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

On top of this they are to put a fine leather covering, spread a cloth of solid blue over it, and then insert its carrying poles.

7 “On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.

Have them spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence as well, and put the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and jugs for the drink offering. The current bread offering is to stay on it.

8 They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

Over everything they are to spread a crimson cloth, next a fine leather covering, and then insert its carrying poles.

9 “They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.

Using a blue cloth, they are to cover the lampstand of light, together with its lamps, wick tongs, and trays, as well as the jars of olive oil used to fill them.

10 They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

Then have them wrap it together with all its utensils inside a fine leather covering and place it on the carrying frame.

11 “On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and then insert its carrying poles.

12 “They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

They are to place all the utensils used for the service in the sanctuary in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and place them on the carrying frame.

13 “They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.

Have them clean the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it,

14 They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

and put on it all the equipment used in the services on the altar: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. Spread over it a fine leather covering and then insert its carrying poles.

15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering these holy things and all the equipment connected with them, when the camp is ready to move, the priests of the Kohath family are to come and carry them. But they are forbidden to touch anything holy, otherwise they'll die. These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting.

16 “The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is to supervise obtaining olive oil for the lamps, the aromatic incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He is in charge of the whole Tabernacle and everything in it—all the holy things and equipment.”

17 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

18 “Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

“Make sure the families of Kohath are not wiped out from the Levites.

19 but do this to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden;

This is what you have to do so that they'll live and won't die by getting too close to something holy. Aaron and his sons must go in and tell each of them what they have to do and what they have to carry.

20 but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

But they must not to go in and look at the things that are most holy, even for just a moment, otherwise they'll die.”

21 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;

“Register the descendants of Gershon, according to their family and father's line

23 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

24 “This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

This is how the families of Gershon will serve in terms of working and carrying:

25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

Have them carry the Tabernacle curtains, the Tent of Meeting with its fine leather covering, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there.

the courtyard curtains, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle and altar, the ropes, and everything connected with their use. The families of Gershon are responsible for everything required involving these items.

27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

All that they do is to be under the supervision of Aaron and his sons—all their work and carrying assignments. You are to tell them all they are required to carry.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses;

Register the descendants of Merari, according to their family and father's line.

30 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

31 This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

This is how they will serve in handling the Tent of Meeting: they are to carry the frames of the Tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and stands,

32 the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name.

the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their stands, tent pegs, and ropes, all their equipment and everything connected with their use. You are to tell them by name what they are responsible for carrying.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

These are their responsibilities for all their work in moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.”

34 Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered the families of Kohath according to their family and father's line.

35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting.

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

36 Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.

The total by families was 2,750.

37 These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

This was the total of the families of Kohath—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them in accordance with the Lord's instructions to Moses.

38 Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

The families of Gershon were counted, according to their family and father's line,

39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

40 even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.

The total by families and father's line was 2,630.

41 These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD.

This was the total of the families of Gershon —all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. They were registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

42 Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

The families of Merari were counted, according to their family and father's line,

43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

44 even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.

The total by families was 3,200.

45 These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

This was the total of the families of Merari registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

46 All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,

This is how Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered all the Levites according to their family and father's line.

47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting and carrying it.

48 even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.

The sum total was 8,580.

49 According to the commandment of the LORD they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

It was in response to the Lord's instructions that they were registered by Moses. Each of those registered were told what to do and what to carry, as the Lord had ordered Moses.