Numbers 4

1 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 “Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,

Take the sum of the sons of Kehath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by their divisions,

3 men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that are fitted for the service, to do work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

4 This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things.

This shall be the service of the sons of Kehath at the tabernacle of the congregation: The most holy things.

5 Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.

And Aaron shall come with his sons, when the camp setteth forward, and they shall take down the vail of the separation, and cover therewith the ark of the testimony;

6 They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.

And they shall put over it a covering of badgers' skins, and they shall spread over all a cloth wholly of blue [woollen yarn], and they shall put in its staves.

7 Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it.

And over the table of the showbread shall they spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the tubes, and the staves of the covering; and the continual bread shall be thereon:

8 And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles.

And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall put in its staves.

9 They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it.

And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the lighting, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its snuff-dishes, and all the oil-vessels thereof, wherewith they minister by it:

10 Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame.

And they shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of badgers' skins, and they shall put it upon a barrow.

11 Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.

And over the golden altar shall they spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall put in its staves.

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

And they shall take all the vessels of the service, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall put them on a barrow.

13 Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,

And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread over it a cloth of purple;

14 and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.

And they shall put upon it all its vessels, wherewith they minister upon it, the fire-pans, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread over it a covering of badgers' skins, and put in its staves.

15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

And when Aaron and his sons have thus made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set forward: then shall, after that, the sons of Kehath come to carry it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die; these are the things which the sons of Kehath are to carry at the tabernacle of the congregation.

16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.”

And under the supervision of Elazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the lighting, and the incense of spices, and the daily meat-offering, and the anointing-oil; the supervision of all the tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its vessels.

17 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

18 “Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.

Do ye not cause the tribe of the families of the Kehathites to be cut off from among the Levites;

19 In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.

But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them, every one, to his service and to his burden;

20 But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”

That they may not go in to see when the holy things are covered, and die.

21 And the LORD said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

22 “Take a census of the Gershonites as well, by their families and clans,

Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, by their divisions, after their families;

23 from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that are fitted for the service, to do work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

24 This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport:

This shall be the service of the families of the Gershunites, to serve, and to carry:

25 They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and of the tent of the congregation, its covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is over it above, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

26 the curtains of the courtyard, and the curtains for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. The Gershonites will do all that needs to be done with these items.

And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service; and all that is delivered to them shall they perform.

27 All the service of the Gershonites—all their transport duties and other work—is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.

By the order of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershunites, in all their carrying, and in all their service: and ye shall designate unto them in charge all which they have to carry.

28 This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershunites at the tabernacle of the congregation; their charge shall be under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their clans and families,

The sons of Merari, shalt thou number after their families, by their divisions;

30 from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, shalt thou number them, every one that is fitted for the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

31 This is the duty for all their service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and bases,

And this is what is confided to them to carry, regarding all their service at the tabernacle of the congregation: The boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets,

32 and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry.

And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and all which belongeth thereto; and by name shall ye designate [to them] the vessels which are confided to them to carry.

33 This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, regarding all their service, at the tabernacle of the congregation, under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest.

34 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their clans and families,

And Moses with Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kehathites after their families, and after their divisions,

35 everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

36 And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.

And those that were numbered of them after their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kehathites, all that could do service at the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord through the hand of Moses.

38 Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,

And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and after their divisions,

39 everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation,

40 And those numbered by their clans and families totaled 2,630.

Even those that were numbered of them, after their families, after their divisions, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

41 These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command.

These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that could do service at the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord.

42 And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, after their divisions,

43 everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

44 The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.

Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

45 These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses.

These are those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord through the hand of Moses.

46 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their clans and families all the Levites

All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses with Aaron and the chiefs of Israel numbered, after their families, and after their divisions,

47 from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.

From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the carrying at the tabernacle of the congregation,

48 And the number of men was 8,580.

Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty.

49 At the LORD’s command they were numbered through Moses and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

By the order of the Lord through the hand of Moses, did he appoint them, every one to his proper service, and to his proper carrying: and they were numbered, as the Lord had commanded Moses.