Numbers 4

1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2 Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

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

3 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

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

4 And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things.

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

5 When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it;

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.

6 And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place.

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

7 And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them;

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.

8 And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places.

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

9 And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it:

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.

10 All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame.

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

11 On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places.

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

12 All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame.

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.

13 And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;

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

14 Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.

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.

15 And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.

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.

16 And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care.

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.”

17 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

18 Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites;

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

19 But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up;

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.

20 But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death.

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

21 And the Lord said to Moses,

And the LORD said to Moses,

22 Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

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

23 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

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

24 This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up.

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

25 They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting;

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,

26 And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.

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.

27 From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders.

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.

28 This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

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.

29 The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

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

30 Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

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

31 And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases;

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,

32 And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name.

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.

33 This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

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.”

34 So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

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

35 Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting;

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

36 And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.

37 This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

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.

38 And those of the sons of Gershon who were numbered by families,

Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,

39 All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting,

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

40 Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty.

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

41 This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

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

42 And those of the sons of Merari who were numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

43 All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the work in the Tent of meeting,

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

44 Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred.

The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.

45 This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

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

46 And all the Levites who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

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

47 Those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work of the Tent of meeting and of its transport,

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

48 Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

And the number of men was 8,580.

49 At the order of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, every one in relation to his work and to his part in the transport; so they were numbered by Moses at the order of the Lord.

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.