Numbers 4

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 “Conduct a census of the male descendants of Kohath from among the Levites, by their clans and families.

“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;

3 Count all the men who are thirty to fifty years old. These men must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

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.

4 The descendants of Kohath must take care of the most holy things reserved for me in the tent of meeting.

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

5 When the camp prepares to move forward, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent, take down the curtain that separates the most holy place from the holy place and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

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,

6 They must cover the ark with sea cow skins. They must spread a blue cloth over it. They must insert the poles to carry it.

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.

7 They are to spread a blue cloth on the table of the bread of the presence. On it they must put the dishes, spoons, bowls, and jars for pouring. Bread must always continue to be on the table.

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,

8 They must cover them with a scarlet cloth and again with sea cow skins. They must insert poles to carry the table.

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,

9 They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, along with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the jars of oil for the lamps.

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;

10 They must put the lampstand and all its accessories into a covering of sea cow skins, and they must put it on a carrying frame.

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

11 They must spread a cloth of blue on the gold altar. They must cover it with a covering of sea cow skins, and then insert the carrying poles.

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,

12 They must take all the equipment for the work in the holy place and wrap it in a blue cloth. They must cover it with sea cow skins and put the equipment on the carrying frame.

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,

13 They must remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth on the altar.

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

14 They must put on the carrying frame all the equipment that they use in the work of the altar. These objects are the firepans, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the other equipment for the altar. They must cover the altar with sea cow skins and then insert the carrying poles.

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.

15 When Aaron and his sons have completely covered the holy place and all its equipment, and when the camp moves forward, then the descendants of Kohath must come to carry the holy place. If they touch the holy instruments, they must die. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath, to carry the furnishings in the tent of meeting.

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.

16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest oversees the care of the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil. He oversees the care of the entire tabernacle and all that is in it, the holy place and its equipment.”

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.”

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

18 “Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be removed from among the Levites.

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

19 Protect them, that they may live and not die, by doing this. When they approach the most holy things

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,

20 they must not go in to see the holy place even for a moment, or they must die. Aaron and his sons must go in, and then Aaron and his sons must assign each of the Kohathites to his work, to his special tasks.”

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

21 Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,

And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

22 “Conduct a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by their ancestor's families and by their clans.

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

23 Count those who are thirty years old to fifty years old. Count all of them who will join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

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.

24 This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites, when they serve and what they carry.

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

25 They must carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of sea cow skin that is on it, and the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting.

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,

26 They must carry the curtains of the court, the curtain for the doorway of the court's gate, which is near the tabernacle and near the altar, their ropes, and all the instruments for their service. Whatever should be done with these things, they must do it.

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.

27 Aaron and his sons must direct all the service of the descendants of the Gershonites, in everything that they transport, and in all their service. You must assign them to all their responsibilities.

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.

28 This is the service of the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites for the tent of meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest must lead them in their service.

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.

29 You must count the descendants of Merari by their clans, and order them by their ancestor's families,

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

30 from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. Count everyone who is going to join the company and serve in the tent of meeting.

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.

31 This is their responsibility and their work in all their service for the tent of meeting. They must care for the framing of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, and sockets,

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,

32 along with the posts of the courtyard around the tabernacle, their sockets, pegs, and their ropes, with all their hardware. List by name the articles they must carry.

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.

33 This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Merari, what they are to do for the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

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.”

34 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the descendants of the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestor's families.

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,

35 They counted them from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

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,

36 They counted 2,750 men by their clans.

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

37 Moses and Aaron counted all the men in the clans and families of the Kohathites who serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

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.

38 The descendants of Gershon were counted in their clans, by their ancestor's families,

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

39 from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

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,

40 All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 2,630.

even their numbered ones, by their families, by the house of their fathers, are two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

41 Moses and Aaron counted the clans of the descendants of Gershon who would serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

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.

42 The descendants of Merari were counted in their clans by their ancestor's families,

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

43 from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

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,

44 All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 3,200.

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

45 Moses and Aaron counted all these men, the descendants of Merari. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

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.

46 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans in their ancestral families

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,

47 from thirty to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would do work in the tabernacle, and who would carry and care for the items in the tent of meeting.

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,

48 They counted 8,580 men.

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

49 At Yahweh's command, Moses counted each man, keeping count of each by the type of work he was assigned to do. He counted each man by the kind of responsibility he would bear. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

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.