Numbers 4

1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

The Lord told 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;

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

3 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able 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.

4 And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with 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 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 you move camp, Aaron and his sons will go in, take down the veil, and place it over the Ark of the Testimony.

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

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 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;

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

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

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 All these they are to put in a leather cover, and 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 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.

They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and then insert its carrying 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 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 And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;

Have them clean the ashes from the bronze altar and 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 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 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.

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 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, 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 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

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

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

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

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 And the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord told Moses,

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

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

23 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able 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.

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

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

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;

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 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 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 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 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 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.

These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out 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;

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

30 Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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;

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

35 Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the 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 And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

The total by families was 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.

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

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

39 All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the 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 Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty.

The total by families and father's line was 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.

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

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

43 All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the 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 Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred.

The total by families was 3,200.

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

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

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,

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

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

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 Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

The sum total 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.

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.