Numbers 4

¹And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

³All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

⁴And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things.

⁵When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it;

⁶And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place.

⁷And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them;

⁸And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places.

⁹And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it:

¹⁰All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame.

¹¹On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places.

¹²All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame.

¹³And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;

¹⁴Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.

¹⁵And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.

¹⁶And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care.

¹⁷And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

¹⁸Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites;

¹⁹But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up;

²⁰But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²²Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

²³All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

²⁴This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up.

²⁵They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting;

²⁶And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.

²⁷From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders.

²⁸This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

³⁰Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

³¹And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases;

³²And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name.

³³This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

³⁴So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

³⁵Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting;

³⁶And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

³⁷This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

³⁸And those of the sons of Gershon who were numbered by families,

³⁹All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting,

⁴⁰Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty.

⁴¹This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

⁴²And those of the sons of Merari who were numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

⁴³All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the work in the Tent of meeting,

⁴⁴Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred.

⁴⁵This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

⁴⁶And all the Levites who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

⁴⁷Those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work of the Tent of meeting and of its transport,

⁴⁸Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

⁴⁹At the order of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, every one in relation to his work and to his part in the transport; so they were numbered by Moses at the order of the Lord.

Numbers 4

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

²"Take a census 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 who enter into 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, the most holy things.

⁵When the camp moves 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 a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

⁷On 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁴They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh 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.

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. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

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."

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

¹⁸"Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

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

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

²¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

²³you 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.

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

²⁵they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on 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 around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever 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 you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

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

²⁹"As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;

³⁰you 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.

³¹This 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,

³²and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty 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."

³⁴Moses 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 to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.

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

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

³⁸Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,

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

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

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

⁴²Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

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

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

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

⁴⁶All those who 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 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,

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

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