Numbers 4

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

And 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;

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

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.

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

4 This [is] the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting [for] the most holy things:

And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with 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,

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;

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.

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

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,

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;

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

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;

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:

10 and they have put it and all its vessels into a covering of tachash skin, and have put [it] on the bar.

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

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.

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,

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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

And 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 let the family of the Kohathites 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,

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;

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

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

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;

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

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.

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

24 This [is] the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve and for burden:

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

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 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;

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

29 The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers—you number them;

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

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.

Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do 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,

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;

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 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.

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 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.

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 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;

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,

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

36 and their numbered ones, by their families, are two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

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

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.

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.

38 And those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,

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

All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in 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.

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

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.

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.

42 And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers,

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

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,

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

44 even their numbered ones, by their families, are three thousand and two hundred.

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

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.

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

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,

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,

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,

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

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

Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

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 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.