Numbers 4

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

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron saying:

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

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

This, shall be the labour of the sons of Kohath, in the tent of meeting, —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.

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 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.

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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 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 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.

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 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.”

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 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

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

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

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 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.”

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

21 Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,

Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

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

reckon up the sum of the sons of Gershon even of them also, —by their ancestral house 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 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 work of the clans of the Gershonites, when they serve and what they carry.

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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

As for the sons of Merari, —by their families by their ancestral house, shall ye 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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, 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 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the descendants of the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestor's families.

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

36 They counted 2,750 men by their clans.

and they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be 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, 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 The descendants of Gershon were counted in their clans, by their ancestor's families,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

yea they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be—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 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 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans in their ancestral families

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 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 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 They counted 8,580 men.

yea, they who were numbered of them were found to be—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.

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.