Numbers 4

1 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers' households;

3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

from twenty-five years old and upward until fifty years, every one that goes in to minister, to do all the works in the tabernacle of witness.

4 “This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things.

And these are the works of the sons of Caath in the tabernacle of witness; it is most holy.

5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it,

And Aaron and his sons shall go in, when the camp is about to move, and shall take down the shadowing veil, and shall cover with it the ark of the testimony.

6 put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

And they shall put on it a cover, even a blue skin, and put on it above a garment all of blue, and shall put the staves through [the rings].

7 “On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.

And they shall put on the table set forth for show-bread a cloth all of purple, and the dishes, and the censers, and the cups, and the vessels with which one offers drink-offerings; and the continual loaves shall be upon it.

8 They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

And they shall put upon it a scarlet cloth, and they shall cover it with a blue covering of skin, and they shall put the staves into it.

9 “They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.

And they shall take a blue covering, and cover the candlestick that gives light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its funnels, and all the vessels of oil with which they minister.

10 They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

And they shall put it, and all its vessels, into a blue skin cover; and they shall put it on bearers.

11 “On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

And they shall put a blue cloth for a cover on the golden altar, and shall cover it with a blue skin cover, and put in its staves.

12 “They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

And they shall take all the instruments of service, with which they minister in the sanctuary: and shall place them in a cloth of blue, and shall cover them with blue skin covering, and put them upon staves.

13 “They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.

And he shall put the covering on the altar, and they shall cover it with a cloth all of purple.

14 They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

And they shall put upon it all the vessels with which they minister upon it, and the fire-pans, and the flesh hooks, and the cups, and the cover, and all the vessels of the altar; and they shall put on it a blue cover of skins, and shall put in its staves; and they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.

15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

And Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy things, and all the holy vessels, when the camp begins to move; and afterwards the sons of Caath shall go in to take up [the furniture]; but shall not touch the holy things, lest they die: these shall the sons of Caath bear in the tabernacle of witness.

16 “The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is overseer—the oil of the light, and the incense of composition, and the daily meat-offering and the anointing oil, are his charge; even the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and all things that are in it in the holy place, in all the works.

17 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

18 “Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

You shall not destroy the family of Caath from the tribe out of the midst of the Levites.

19 but do this to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden;

This do you to them, and they shall live and not die, when they approach the holy of holies: Let Aaron and his sons advance, and they shall place them each in his post for bearing.

20 but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

And [so] they shall by no means go in to look suddenly upon the holy things, and die.

21 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;

Take the sum of the children of Gedson, and these according to the houses of their lineage, according to their families.

23 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until the age of fifty, every one that goes in to minister, to do his business in the tabernacle of witness.

24 “This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

This [is] the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.

25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

And they shall bear the skins of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of witness, and its veil, and the blue cover that was on it above, and the cover of the door of the tabernacle of witness.

26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there.

And all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.

27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

According to the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be the ministry of the sons of Gedson, in all their ministries, and in all their works; and you shall take account of them by name in all things borne by them.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

This is the service of the sons of Gedson in the tabernacle of witness, and their charge by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses;

The sons of Merari according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take you the number of them.

30 you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until fifty years old, every one that goes in to perform the services of the tabernacle of witness.

31 This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

And these are the charges of the things borne by them according to all their works in the tabernacle of witness: they shall bear the chapiters of the tabernacle, and the bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and the veil, and [there shall be] their sockets, and their pillars, and the curtain of the door of the tabernacle.

32 the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name.

And they shall bear the pillars of the court round about, and [there shall be] their sockets, and [they shall bear] the pillars of the veil of the door of the court, and their sockets and their pins, and their cords, and all their furniture, and all their instruments of service: take you their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

This is the ministration of the family of the sons of Merari in all their works in the tabernacle of witness, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

34 Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

And Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel took the number of the sons of Caath according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage;

35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting.

from five and twenty years old and upwards to the age of fifty years, every one that goes in to minister and do service in the tabernacle of witness.

36 Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.

And the numbering of them according to their families was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

37 These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

This is the numbering of the family of Caath, every one that ministers in the tabernacle of witness, as Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

38 Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

And the sons of Gedson were numbered according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage,

39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister and to do the services in the tabernacle of witness.

40 even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.

And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41 These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD.

This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Gedson, every one who ministers in the tabernacle of witness; whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

42 Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

And also the family of the sons of Merari were numbered according to their divisions, according to the house of their fathers;

43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

44 even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.

And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] three thousand and two hundred.

45 These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

46 All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,

All that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel numbered, [namely], the Levites, according to their families and according to the houses of their lineage,

47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to the service of the works, and the [charge of] the things that are carried in the tabernacle of witness.

48 even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.

And they that were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

49 According to the commandment of the LORD they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

He reviewed them by the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, appointing each man severally over their [respective] work, and over their burdens; and they were numbered, as the Lord commanded Moses.