Numbers 4

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers;

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

3 from a son of thirty years and upward, even until a son of fifty years, everyone going in to the host, to do work in 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 This [is] the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting [for] the most holy things:

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

5 when Aaron and his sons have come in, in the journeying of the camp, and have taken down the veil of the hanging, and have covered the Ark of the Testimony 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 then they have put a covering of tachash skin on it, and have spread a garment completely of blue above, and have placed its poles.

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 spread a garment of blue over the table of the presence, and have put the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups of the drink-offering on it, and the bread of continuity is on 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 have spread a garment of scarlet over them, and have covered it with a covering of tachash skin, and have placed its poles,

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

9 and have taken a garment of blue, and have covered the lampstand of the lamp, and its lights, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, and all its oil vessels with which they minister to 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 and they have put it and all its vessels into a covering of tachash skin, and have put [it] on the bar.

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 spread a garment of blue over the golden altar, and have covered it with a covering of tachash skin, and have placed its poles,

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

12 and have taken all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the holy place, and have put [them] into a garment of blue, and have covered them with a covering of tachash skin, and have put [them] on the bar,

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 have removed the ashes of the altar, and have spread a garment of purple over it,

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

14 and have put on it all its vessels with which they minister on it—the censers, the hooks, and the shovels, and the bowls, all the vessels of the altar—and have spread a covering of tachash skin on it, and have placed its poles.

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 has finished—his sons also—covering the holy place, and all the vessels of the holy place, in the journeying of the camp, and afterward the sons of Kohath come in to carry [it], and they do not come to the holy thing, lest they have died; these [things are] the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

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 the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oil of the lamp, and the spice-incense, and the present of continuity, and the anointing oil, the oversight of all the Dwelling Place and of all that [is] in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels.”

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 YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

18 “You do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathite from the midst of the Levites;

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

19 but do this for them, and they have lived and do not die in their drawing near [to] the Holy of Holies: Aaron and his sons go in, and have set them, each man to his service, and to his burden,

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 they do not go in to see when the holy thing is swallowed, lest they have died.”

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

21 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

And the LORD said to Moses,

22 “Also take a census of the sons of Gershon by the house of their fathers, by their families;

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

23 from a son of thirty years and upward, until a son of fifty years, you number them—everyone who is going in to serve the host, to do the service in 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] the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve and for burden:

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

25 and they have carried the curtains of the Dwelling Place, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of the tachash [skin] which [is] on it above, and the veil at the opening 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 of the court, and the veil at the opening of the gate of the court which [is] by the Dwelling Place, and by the altar all around, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is made for them—and they have served.

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 By the command of Aaron and his sons is all the service of the sons of the Gershonite, in all their burden and in all their service; and you have laid a charge on them concerning the charge of all their burden.

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 families of the sons of the Gershonite in the Tent of Meeting; and their charge [is] under the hand of Ithamar 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, by their families, by the house of their fathers—you number them;

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

30 from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, you number them—everyone who is going in to the host, to do the service 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] the charge of their burden, of all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards of the Dwelling Place, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets,

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 court all around, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, of all their vessels, and of all their service; and you number the vessels of the charge of their burden 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 service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, by the hand of Ithamar 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 numbers—Aaron also, and the princes of the congregation—the sons of the Kohathite, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

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

35 from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service 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 their numbered ones, by their families, are two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.

37 These [are] those numbered of the families of the Kohathite, everyone who is serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH, 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 those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,

39 from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service 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 even their numbered ones, by their families, by the house of their fathers, are two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

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

41 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who is serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH.

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 numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers,

And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

43 from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service 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 even their numbered ones, by their families, are three thousand and two hundred.

The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.

45 These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH, 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 those numbered, whom Moses numbered—Aaron also, and the princes of Israel—of the Levites, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

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

47 from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to do the work of the service, even the service of burden in the Tent of Meeting,

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

48 even their numbered ones are eight thousand and five hundred and eighty;

And the number of men was 8,580.

49 he has numbered them by the command of YHWH, by the hand of Moses, each man by his service, and by his burden, with his numbered ones, as YHWH has 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.