Numbers 4

¹And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

³From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁴This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

⁵And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

⁶And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁷And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: 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 badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁹And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his 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 badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

¹¹And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

¹²And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a bar:

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, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins, and put to the staves of it.

¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹⁶And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

¹⁷And the Lord 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 when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

²¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²²Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;

²³From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

²⁴This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

²⁵And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

²⁶And the hangings of the court, and the hanging 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 all that is made for them: so shall they serve.

²⁷At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: 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 after their families, by the house of their fathers;

³⁰From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³¹And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and 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 reckon 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 tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

³⁴And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

³⁵From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:

³⁶And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

³⁷These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

³⁸And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,

³⁹From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

⁴⁰Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

⁴¹These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴²And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

⁴³From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

⁴⁴Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

⁴⁵These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

⁴⁷From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,

⁴⁸Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.

⁴⁹According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

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.