Numbers 4–5

Duties of the Kohathites

4The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ²“Among the Levites, take a census of the Kohathites ^vby their clans and their ancestral houses, ³men from 30 years old to 50 years old—everyone who is qualified ^wto do work at the tent of meeting.

⁴“The service of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting concerns the most holy objects. ^x5Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening veil, and cover the ark of the testimony with it. ^y6They are to place over this a covering made of manatee skin, ^zaspread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles. ^b

⁷“They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and place the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to be on it. ^c8They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with a covering made of manatee skin, ^dand insert the poles in the table. ^e

⁹“They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand ^fused for light, with its lamps, snuffers, and firepans, ^gas well as its jars of oil by which they service it. ¹⁰Then they must place it with all its utensils inside a covering made of manatee skin ^hand put them on the carrying frame.

¹¹“They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, ⁱcover it with a covering made of manatee skin, ^jand insert its poles. ^k12They are to take all the serving utensils they use in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made of manatee skin, ^land put them on a carrying frame.

¹³“They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it, ¹⁴and place all the equipment on it that they use in serving: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and basins—all the equipment of the altar. ^mThey are to spread a covering made of manatee skin ⁿover it and insert its poles. ^op

¹⁵“Aaron and his sons are to finish covering the holy objects and all their equipment whenever the camp is to move on. The Kohathites will come and carry them, but they are not to touch the holy objects or they will die. ^qThese are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the tent of meeting.

¹⁶“Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has oversight of the lamp oil, ^rthe fragrant incense, ^sthe daily grain offering, ^tand the anointing oil. ^uHe has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, the holy objects and their utensils.” ^v

¹⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ¹⁸“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be wiped out from the Levites. ¹⁹Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects: ^wAaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty. ²⁰The Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, ^xor they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ²²“Take a census of the Gershonites ^yalso, by their ancestral houses and their clans. ²³Register men from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who is qualified to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting. ²⁴This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transportation duties: ²⁵They are to transport the tabernacle curtains, ^zthe tent of meeting with its covering and the covering made of manatee skin ^aon top of it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. They will carry out everything that needs to be done with these items.

²⁷“All the service of the Gershonites, all their transportation duties and all their other work, is to be done at the command 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 will be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ^b

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹“As for the Merarites, you are to register them by their clans ^cand their ancestral houses. ³⁰Register men from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who is qualified to do the work of the tent of meeting. ³¹This is what they are responsible to carry as the whole of their service at the tent of meeting: the supports of the tabernacle, with its crossbars, posts, and bases, ³²the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and all the work related to them. You are to assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry. ³³This is the service of the Merarite clans regarding all their work at the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

Census of the Levites

³⁴So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community registered the Kohathites by their clans and their ancestral houses, ³⁵men from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who was qualified for work at the tent of meeting. ³⁶The men registered by their clans numbered 2,750. ³⁷These were the registered men of the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them at the Lord’s command through Moses.

³⁸The Gershonites were registered by their clans and their ancestral houses, ³⁹men from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who was qualified for work at the tent of meeting. ⁴⁰The men registered by their clans and their ancestral houses numbered 2,630. ⁴¹These were the registered men of the Gershonite clans. At the Lord’s command Moses and Aaron registered everyone who could serve at the tent of meeting.

⁴²The men of the Merarite clans were registered by their clans and their ancestral houses, ⁴³those from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who was qualified for work at the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200. ⁴⁵These were the registered men of the Merarite clans; Moses and Aaron registered them at the Lord’s command through Moses.

⁴⁶Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel registered all the Levites by their clans and their ancestral houses, ⁴⁷from 30 years old to 50 years old, everyone who was qualified to do the work of serving at the tent of meeting and transporting it. ⁴⁸Their registered men numbered 8,580. ⁴⁹At the Lord’s command they were registered under the direction of Moses, each one according to his work and transportation duty, and his assignment was as the Lord commanded Moses.

Isolation of the Unclean

5The Lord instructed Moses: ²“Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, ^danyone who has a bodily discharge, ^eor anyone who is defiled because of a corpse. ^f3You must send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” ⁴The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.

Compensation for Wrongdoing

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶“Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord ^gand is guilty. ^h7The person is to confess ⁱthe sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the individual he has wronged. ^j8But if that individual has no relative ^kto receive compensation, ^lthe compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the guilty person. ^m9Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his. ⁿ¹⁰Each one’s holy contribution is his to give; what each one gives to the priest will be his.”

The Jealousy Ritual

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, ¹³and sleeps with another, ^obut it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act; ¹⁴and if a feeling of jealousy ^pcomes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself— ¹⁵then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts ^qof barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance that brings sin to mind.

¹⁶“The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. ¹⁷Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, and take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor and put it in the water. ¹⁸After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair ^rand place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse. ²⁰But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you’— ²¹at this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He makes your thigh ^sshrivel and your belly swell. ^t22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’

“And the woman must reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’

²³“Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴He will require the…