Numbers 4

And 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, ^3afrom 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 ^bthe most holy things: ⁵and when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down ^cthe covering vail, and cover the ^dark of Testimony with it: ⁶and shall put thereon ^ethe covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in ^fthe staves thereof. ⁷And upon the ^gtable 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 ^hthe staves thereof. ⁹And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the ⁱcandlestick of the light, ⁱand 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 ^kthe golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to ^kthe 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 ^lthe altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon: ¹⁴and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even ^lthe 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 ^lthe 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, ^mthe sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: ⁿbut 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 ^othe oil for the light, and the ^psweet incense, and ^qthe daily meat offering, and the ^ranointing 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 ^sthe most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: ^20tbut they shall not go in to see when ^uthe 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 ^xthey shall bear ^ythe curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, ^zhis covering, and the ^zcovering 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 ^athis 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 ^breckon 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, ^cunder the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

³⁴And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation ^dnumbered 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. ^37dThese 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. ^41eThese 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. ^45fThese 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, ^gevery one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, ^has the Lord commanded Moses.

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