Numbers 4

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2 Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers' households;

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

3 from twenty-five years old and upward until fifty years, every one that goes in to minister, to do all the works in the tabernacle of witness.

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

4 And these are the works of the sons of Caath in the tabernacle of witness; it is most holy.

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

5 And Aaron and his sons shall go in, when the camp is about to move, and shall take down the shadowing veil, and shall cover with it the ark of the testimony.

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 they shall put on it a cover, even a blue skin, and put on it above a garment all of blue, and shall put the staves through [the rings].

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

7 And they shall put on the table set forth for shew-bread a cloth all of purple, and the dishes, and the censers, and the cups, and the vessels with which one offers drink-offerings; and the continual loaves shall be upon it.

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 they shall put upon it a scarlet cloth, and they shall cover it with a blue covering of skin, and they shall put the staves into it.

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

9 And they shall take a blue covering, and cover the candlestick that gives light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its funnels, and all the vessels of oil with which they minister.

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 And they shall put it, and all its vessels, into a blue skin cover; and they shall put it on bearers.

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

11 And they shall put a blue cloth for a cover on the golden altar, and shall cover it with a blue skin cover, and put in its staves.

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

12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, with which they minister in the sanctuary: and shall place them in a cloth of blue, and shall cover them with blue skin covering, and put them upon staves.

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 he shall put the covering on the altar, and they shall cover it with a cloth all of purple.

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

14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels with which they minister upon it, and the fire-pans, and the flesh-hooks, and the cups, and the cover, and all the vessels of the altar; and they shall put on it a blue cover of skins, and shall put in its staves; and they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.

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 Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy things, and all the holy vessels, when the camp begins to move; and afterwards the sons of Caath shall go in to take up [the furniture]; but shall not touch the holy things, lest they die: these shall the sons of Caath bear in the tabernacle of witness.

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 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is overseer—the oil of the light, and the incense of composition, and the daily meat-offering and the anointing oil, are his charge; even the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and all things that are in it in the holy place, in all the works.

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 spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

18 Ye shall not destroy the family of Caath from the tribe out of the midst of the Levites.

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

19 This do ye to them, and they shall live and not die, when they approach the holy of holies: Let Aaron and his sons advance, and they shall place them each in his post for bearing.

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 And [so] they shall by no means go in to look suddenly upon the holy things, and die.

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 spoke to Moses, saying,

And the LORD said to Moses,

22 Take the sum of the children of Gedson, and these according to the houses of their lineage, according to their families.

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

23 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until the age of fifty, every one that goes in to minister, to do his business in the tabernacle of witness.

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

24 This [is] the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.

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

25 And they shall bear the skins of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of witness, and its veil, and the blue cover that was on it above, and the cover of the door of the tabernacle of witness.

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 all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.

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 According to the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be the ministry of the sons of Gedson, in all their ministries, and in all their works; and thou shalt take account of them by name in all things borne by them.

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 service of the sons of Gedson in the tabernacle of witness, and their charge by the hand 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 according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take ye the number of them.

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

30 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until fifty years old, every one that goes in to perform the services of the tabernacle of witness.

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

31 And these are the charges of the things borne by them according to all their works in the tabernacle of witness: they shall bear the chapiters of the tabernacle, and the bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and the veil, and [there shall be] their sockets, and their pillars, and the curtain of the door of the tabernacle.

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 they shall bear the pillars of the court round about, and [there shall be] their sockets, and [they shall bear] the pillars of the veil of the door of the court, and their sockets and their pins, and their cords, and all their furniture, and all their instruments of service: take ye their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.

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 ministration of the family of the sons of Merari in all their works in the tabernacle of witness, by the hand 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 And Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel took the number of the sons of Caath according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage;

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

35 from five and twenty years old and upwards to the age of fifty years, every one that goes in to minister and do service in the tabernacle of witness.

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

36 And the numbering of them according to their families was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.

37 This is the numbering of the family of Caath, every one that ministers in the tabernacle of witness, as Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

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 the sons of Gedson were numbered according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage,

Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,

39 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister and to do the services in the tabernacle of witness.

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

40 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] two thousand six hundred and thirty.

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

41 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Gedson, every one who ministers in the tabernacle of witness; whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

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 also the family of the sons of Merari were numbered according to their divisions, according to the house of their fathers;

And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

43 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

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

44 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] three thousand and two hundred.

The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.

45 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

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

46 All that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel numbered, [namely], the Levites, according to their families and according to the houses of their lineage,

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

47 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to the service of the works, and the [charge of] the things that are carried in the tabernacle of witness.

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

48 And they that were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

And the number of men was 8,580.

49 He reviewed them by the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, appointing each man severally over their [respective] work, and over their burdens; and they were numbered, as the Lord commanded Moses.

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.