Numbers 4

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

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron saying:

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;

Reckon up the sum of the sons of Kohath, out of the midst of the sons of Levi, —by their families by their ancestral house:

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.

from thirty years old, and upwards, even unto fifty years, —every one that can enter into the host, to do service in 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, shall be the labour of the sons of Kohath, in the tent of meeting, —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.

So then Aaron and his sons shall enter when the camp is to set forward, and take down the screening veil, —and enwrap therein the ark of the testimony;

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].

and put thereon a covering of badgers’ skin, and spread a complete wrapper of blue over above, —and put in the staves thereof.

7 And they shall put on the table set forth for show-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.

And over the Presence-table, shall they spread a wrapper of blue and put thereon the dishes and the pans and the bowls and the libation cups, the perpetual bread also, thereupon, shall remain;

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 over them a wrapper of crimson, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skin, —and shall put in the staves thereof.

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.

Then shall they take a wrapper of blue, and cover the light-giving lampstand, and the lamps thereof, and the snuffers thereof and the snuff-trays thereof, —and all the oil-vessels, thereof, wherewith they minister thereunto;

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

and shall put the same and all the vessels thereof, within a covering of, badgers’ skin, —and shall put it upon a 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.

And upon the altar of gold, shall they spread a wrapper of blue, and shall cover the same in a covering of badgers’ skin, —and shall put in the staves thereof,

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.

And they shall take all the utensils of attendance wherewith they attend in the sanctuary, and put them within a wrapper of blue, and cover the same in a covering of badgers’ skin, —and put them on a frame.

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

Then shall they remove the fat-ashes from the altar, —and spread over it a wrapper of purple;

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 put thereupon all the utensils thereof wherewith they minister thereupon—the fire-pans, the flesh-hooks—and the shovels and the tossing-bowls, all the utensils of the altar, —and shall spread over it a covering of badgers’ skin and put in the staves thereof.

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.

So shall Aaron and his sons make an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set forward, then after that, shall the sons of Kohath enter to bear it, but they must not put forth a touch unto that which, is holy, else should they die, these, shall be the burden of the sons of Kohath in 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.

But the care of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, [shall be] —the light-giving oil, and the fragrant incense, and the perpetual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the care of all the habitation, and all that is therein, both as to the sanctuary, and as to the furniture thereof.

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

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

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

Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off out of the midst of the Levites.

19 This do you 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.

This, therefore, do ye for them, so shall they live and not die when they approach the most holy place, —Aaron and his sons shall enter and set them man by man over his labour, and unto his burden;

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

but they shall not enter to see, for a moment, that which is holy, else should they die.

21 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

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

reckon up the sum of the sons of Gershon even of them also, —by their ancestral house by their families;

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 years old and upwards even to fifty years, shalt thou number them, —All that may enter to take rank in the host, to do laborious work in the tent of meeting.

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

This, shall be the labour of the families of the Gershonites, —in labouring and in bearing:

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 shall bear the curtains of the habitation and the tent of meeting, the covering thereof and the covering of badgers’ skin which is over above it, —and the screen, at the entrance of 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.

and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is near the habitation and near the altar round about, and their cords, and all their articles of service, and all that is to be done to them when they shall do their labour,

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 you shall take account of them by name in all things borne by them.

At the bidding of Aaron and his sons, shall be all the labour of the sons of the Gershonites, to the extent of their every burden, and to the extent of all their labour, —so shall ye appoint unto them in charge their every burden.

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, shall be the labour of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, —and, the charge of them, shall be in the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

29 The sons of Merari according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take you the number of them.

As for the sons of Merari, —by their families by their ancestral house, shall ye number them;

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 years old and upwards even to fifty years, shall ye number them, —all that enter into the host, to do laborious work in 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.

And, this, shall be their charge of the burdens, to the extent of all their labour in the tent of meeting, the boards of the habitation, and the bars thereof and he pillars thereof and the sockets thereof:

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 you their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.

and the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their pins and their cords, to the extent of all their articles, to the extent of all their labour, and by names, shall ye put under their care the articles of their charge of burdens.

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, shall be the labour of the families of the sons of Merari, to the extent of all their labour in the tent of meeting, —in the hand 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;

Then did Moses and Aaron, and the princes of the assembly, number the sons of the Kohathites, by their families, and by their ancestral house;

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.

from thirty years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, all that might enter the host, to labour in the tent of meeting;

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

and they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

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 they who were num-bered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might labour in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh by the mediation of Moses.

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

And they who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, —by their families, and by their ancestral house;

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.

from thirty years old and upwards, even to fifty years old, all that might enter the host, to labour in 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.

yea they who were numbered of them, by their families, by their ancestral house, —were found to be—two thousand, and six hundred, and thirty.

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, are they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who might labour in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh.

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

And they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families by their ancestral house;

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.

from thirty years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, —all that might enter the host to labour in 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.

yea they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be—three thousand and two hundred.

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, are they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, —whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh, by the mediation of 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,

All they who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel did number, even the Levites, by their families and by their ancestral house;

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 years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, all that might enter, to toil in the work of labouring and in the work of bearing burdens, in the tent of meeting,

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

yea, they who were numbered of them were found to be—eight thousand, and five hundred, and eighty.

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 bidding of Yahweh, were they put in charge by the mediation of Moses, man by man, over his labour and over his burden, —yea, they who were put in charge by him, were they, whom Yahweh commanded Moses.