Numbers 4

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron saying:

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

2 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:

“Write down the names of the men who belong to the clans descended from Levi.

3 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.

Write the names of the men who are between 30 and 50 years old. These will be men who will work at the Sacred Tent.

4 This, shall be the labour of the sons of Kohath, in the tent of meeting, —the most holy things,

“The work of these descendants of Kohath will be [to take care of] the sacred items [that are used when the people worship] at the Sacred Tent.

5 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;

When you Israelis move to another location, Aaron and his sons must enter the tent to take down the curtain that separates the Very Holy Place from the other part of the Sacred Tent. They must cover the sacred chest with that curtain.

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

Then they must cover that with a nice covering made from the skins of goats. Over that they must spread a blue cloth. Then they must insert into the rings on the chest the poles [for carrying it].

7 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;

“Then they must put a blue cloth over the table on which the priests put the sacred bread. On top of the cloth they must put the bowls [for incense], the pans, the other dishes, the jars for [the wine that will be] offered as a sacrifice, and the sacred bread.

8 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.

Over all of this they must spread a scarlet/red cloth. Finally, they must put on top a nice covering made from the skins of goats. Then they must insert into the [rings at the corners of] the tables the poles [for carrying it].

9 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;

“Then with another blue cloth they must cover the lampstand, the lamps, the lamp snuffers, the trays, and the special jars of [olive] oil [to burn in the lamps].

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

They must cover the lampstand and all the other items with a nice covering made from the skins of goats. They must place all these things on a frame for carrying them.

11 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,

“Then they must spread another blue cloth over the gold altar [which is used for burning] incense. Over this they must spread a nice covering made from the skins of goats. Then they must insert into [the rings of] that altar the poles for carrying it.

12 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.

“They must take all the other items that are inside the Sacred Tent and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with a nice covering made from the skins of goats, and place all that on a frame for carrying it.

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

“Then they must remove the ashes from the altar [on which they have burned sacrifices]. Then they must cover the altar with a purple cloth.

14 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.

Then they must spread on top of the cloth all the items used at the altar—the pans [for carrying the hot coals], the meat forks, the shovels, the bowls [for containing the blood to sprinkle on the people], and all the other containers. Then they must spread over all those things a nice covering made from the skins of goats. Then they must insert into [the rings at the sides of] the altar the poles [for carrying it].

15 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.

“Then Aaron and his sons have finished covering all these sacred things, the Israeli people will be ready to move [to a new location]. The descendants of Kohath must come and carry all the sacred things to [the next place] where you Israelis will set up your tents. But the descendants of Kohath must not touch any of these sacred items, because they will [immediately] die [if they touch them]. They are the ones who will carry these things, [but they must not touch them].

16 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.

“Aaron’s son Eleazar will have the work of taking care of the [olive] oil for the lamps, the nice-smelling incense, the grain which will be burned on the altar each day, and the [olive] oil for anointing [the priests]. Eleazar is the one who will supervise the work that is done at the Sacred Tent and the men who take care of everything that is in it.”

17 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

“Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

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

“When the descendants of Kohath approach the sacred items in the Sacred Tent [to take them to another location], Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and show each of them what work to do and what things to carry. But the descendants of Kohath must not enter the Sacred Tent [at any other time] and look at the things that are in it. If they do that, I will get rid of all the descendants of Kohath.”

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

21 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

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

“Write down the names of all the men who belong to the clans descended from the Gershon [division of the descendants of Levi].

23 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.

Write the names of the men who are between 30 and 50 years old. They will be men who will also work at the Sacred Tent.

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

“This is the work that they must do and the things that they must carry [when you move to a new location]:

25 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;

They must carry the curtains of the Sacred Tent; they must carry the Sacred Tent and all the things that cover it, including the nice outer covering made from skins of goats, and the curtain which is at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.

26 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,

They must also carry the curtains that form the wall that surrounds the courtyard that surrounds the Sacred Tent and the altar, the curtain that is at the entrance to the courtyard, and the ropes [that fasten the curtains]. They must also do the packing and loading of these things.

27 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.

Aaron and his sons will supervise the work of all the descendants of Gershom. That work includes carrying those things and doing other work that is necessary for moving them. They must tell each of the descendants of Gershom what things they must carry.

28 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.

Those are the tasks that you must give to the men who belong to the clans descended from Gershom. Aaron’s son Ithamar is the one who will supervise their work.

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

Count also the men who belong to the clans descended from Levi’s son Merari.

30 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,

Write the names of the men who are between 30 and 50 years old. They will be men who will also work at the Sacred Tent.

31 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:

Their work will be to carry the frames that hold up the tent, the crossbars, the posts [that hold up the curtains], and the bases.

32 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.

They must also carry the posts for [the curtains that form the walls of] the courtyard and the bases for the posts, the tent pegs, and the ropes [to fasten the curtains]. Tell each man what things he must carry.

33 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.

Those are the tasks that the descendants of Merari must do at the Sacred Tent. Aaron’s son Ithamar is the one who will supervise them.”

34 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;

So Aaron and Moses/I and the Israeli leaders counted the descendants of Kohath, writing also the names of their clans and family groups.

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

They/We counted all the men who were between 30 and 50 years old who were able to work at the Sacred Tent.

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

The total was 2,750 men.

37 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.

They were the descendants of Kohath who [were able to] work at the Sacred Tent. Aaron and Moses/I counted them just as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.

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

They/We also counted the descendants of Gershon, writing also the names of their clans and family groups.

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

They/We counted all the men who were between 30 and 50 years old who were able to work at the Sacred Tent.

40 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.

The total was 2,630 men.

41 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.

They were the descendants of Gershon who [were able to] work at the Sacred Tent. Aaron and Moses/I counted them as Yahweh had commanded.

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

They/We also counted the descendants of Merari, writing also the names of their clans and family groups.

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

They/We counted all the men who were between 30 and 50 years old who were able to work at the Sacred Tent.

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

The total was 3,200 men.

45 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.

They were the descendants of Merari who [were able to] work. Aaron and Moses/I counted them as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.

46 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;

So Aaron and Moses/I and the Israeli leaders counted all the descendants of Levi, writing also the names of their clans and family groups.

47 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,

They/We counted all the men who were between 30 and 50 years old. They were ones who [were able to] work at the Sacred Tent and who carried the tent and everything that was connected with it.

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

The total was 8,580 men.

49 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.

They/We completed the counting [of all the descendants of Levi], as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me. And they/we told each man what work he was to do and what things he must carry [when they moved to a new location].