Numbers 4 Comparison: American Standard Version vs Berean Study Bible
Numbers 4
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
3from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter upon the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy things:
5when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it,
6and shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.
7And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls and the cups wherewith to pour out; and the continual bread shall be thereon:
8and they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof.
9And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:
10and they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it upon the frame.
11And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof:
12and they shall take all the vessels of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.
13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
14and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, the firepans, the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of sealskin, and put in the staves thereof.
15And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
16And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, the sanctuary, and the furniture thereof.
17And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
18Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
19but thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden;
20but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
21And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
22Take the sum of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;
23from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to wait upon the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
24This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
25they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above upon it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
26and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatsoever shall be done with them: therein shall they serve.
27At 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 ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burden.
28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them by their families, by their fathers’ houses;
30from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth upon the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.
31And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof,
32and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall appoint the instruments of the charge of their burden.
33This 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.
34And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,
35from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting:
36and those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
37These are they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah by Moses.
38And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers’ houses,
39from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting,
40even those that were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.
41These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah.
42And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
43from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting,
44even those that were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand and two hundred.
45These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah by Moses.
46All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,
47from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,
48even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.
49According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Numbers 4
1Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2“Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,
3men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
4This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things.
5Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.
6They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.
7Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it.
8And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles.
9They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it.
10Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame.
11Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.
12They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.
13Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,
14and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.
15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.
16Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.”
17Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
18“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.
19In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.
20But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”
21And the LORD said to Moses,
22“Take a census of the Gershonites as well, by their families and clans,
23from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
24This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport:
25They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,
26the curtains of the courtyard, and the curtains for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. The Gershonites will do all that needs to be done with these items.
27All the service of the Gershonites—all their transport duties and other work—is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.
28This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
29As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their clans and families,
30from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting.
31This is the duty for all their service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and bases,
32and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry.
33This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
34So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their clans and families,
35everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
36And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.
37These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses.
38Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,
39everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
40And those numbered by their clans and families totaled 2,630.
41These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command.
42And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,
43everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
44The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.
45These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses.
46So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their clans and families all the Levites
47from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.
48And the number of men was 8,580.
49At the LORD’s command they were numbered through Moses and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Understanding American Standard Version vs Berean Study Bible in Numbers 4
American Standard Version (ASV)
A highly literal translation known for accuracy and adherence to the original Hebrew and Greek. Consistent word choices make it excellent for careful study and cross-referencing. A strong pick for readers who want a precise, classic-modern English Bible.
Berean Study Bible (BSB)
A modern translation balancing readability with faithfulness to the original texts. Written in clear, contemporary English for both reading and study. A strong all-around choice for daily use.
You are viewing a side-by-side comparison of Numbers 4 in the American Standard Version and Berean Study Bible. Comparing these two versions can help shed light on the nuances of the original text.
Key Comparison: Numbers 4:16
"And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, the sanctuary, and the furniture thereof."
"Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.”"
