Numbers 4–5

The Jobs of the Kohath Family

4The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Count the Kohathites among the Levites by family groups and families. ³Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who come to serve in the Meeting Tent.

⁴“The Kohathites are responsible for the most holy things in the Meeting Tent. ⁵When the Israelites are ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the Holy Tent, take down the curtain, and cover the Ark of the Agreement with it. ⁶Over this they must put a covering made from fine leather, then spread the solid blue cloth over that, and put the poles in place.

⁷“Then they must spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread that shows a person is in God’s presence. They must put the plates, pans, bowls, and the jars for drink offerings on the table; they must leave the bread that is always there on the table. ⁸Then they must put a red cloth over all of these things, cover everything with fine leather, and put the poles in place.

⁹“With a blue cloth they must cover the lampstand, its lamps, its wick trimmers, its trays, and all the jars for the oil used in the lamps. ¹⁰Then they must wrap everything in fine leather and put all these things on a frame for carrying them.

¹¹“They must spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and put the poles in place.

¹²“They must gather all the things used for serving in the Holy Place and wrap them in a blue cloth. Then they must cover that with fine leather and put these things on a frame for carrying them.

¹³“They must clean the ashes off the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴They must gather all the things used for serving at the altar—the pans for carrying the fire, the meat forks, the shovels, and the bowls—and put them on the bronze altar. Then they must spread a covering of fine leather over it and put the poles in place.

¹⁵“When the Israelites are ready to move, and when Aaron and his sons have covered the holy furniture and all the holy things, the Kohathites may go in and carry them away. In this way they won’t touch the holy things and die. It is the Kohathites’ job to carry the things that are in the Meeting Tent.

¹⁶“Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, will be responsible for the Holy Tent and for everything in it, for all the holy things it has: the oil for the lamp, the sweet-smelling incense, the continual grain offering, and the oil used to appoint priests and things to the Lord’s service.”

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸“Don’t let the Kohathites be cut off from the Levites. ¹⁹Do this for the Kohathites so that they may go near the Most Holy Place and not die: Aaron and his sons must go in and show each Kohathite what to do and what to carry. ²⁰The Kohathites must not enter and look at the holy things, even for a second, or they will die.”

The Jobs of the Gershon Family

²¹The Lord said to Moses, ²²“Count the Gershonites by families and family groups. ²³Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who have a job to do in the Meeting Tent.

²⁴“This is what the Gershonite family groups must do and what they must carry. ²⁵They must carry the curtains of the Holy Tent, the Meeting Tent, its covering, and its outer covering made from fine leather. They must also carry the curtains for the entrance to the Meeting Tent, ²⁶the curtains of the courtyard that go around the Holy Tent and the altar, the curtain for the entry to the courtyard, the ropes, and all the things used with the curtains. They must do everything connected with these things. ²⁷Aaron and his sons are in charge of what the Gershonites do or carry; you tell them what they are responsible for carrying. ²⁸This is the work of the Gershonite family group at the Meeting Tent. Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest, will direct their work.

The Jobs of the Merari Family

²⁹“Count the Merarite families and family groups. ³⁰Count the men from thirty to fifty years old, all who work at the Meeting Tent. ³¹It is their job to carry the following as they serve in the Meeting Tent: the frames of the Holy Tent, the crossbars, the posts, and bases, ³²in addition to the posts that go around the courtyard, their bases, tent pegs, ropes, and everything that is used with the poles around the courtyard. Tell each man exactly what to carry. ³³This is the work the Merarite family group will do for the Meeting Tent. Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest, will direct their work.”

The Levite Families

³⁴Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted the Kohathites by families and family groups, ³⁵the men from thirty to fifty years old who were to work at the Meeting Tent. ³⁶There were 2,750 men in the family groups. ³⁷This was the total of the Kohath family groups who worked at the Meeting Tent, whom Moses and Aaron counted as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁸Also, the Gershonites were counted by families and family groups, ³⁹the men from thirty to fifty years old who were given work at the Meeting Tent. ⁴⁰The families and family groups had 2,630 men. ⁴¹This was the total of the Gershon family groups who worked at the Meeting Tent, whom Moses and Aaron counted as the Lord had commanded.

⁴²Also, the men in the families and family groups of the Merari family were counted, ⁴³the men from thirty to fifty years old who were to work at the Meeting Tent. ⁴⁴The family groups had 3,200 men. ⁴⁵This was the total of the Merari family groups, whom Moses and Aaron counted as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴⁶So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by families and family groups. ⁴⁷They counted the men from thirty to fifty who were given work at the Meeting Tent and who carried the Tent. ⁴⁸The total number of these men was 8,580. ⁴⁹Each man was counted as the Lord had commanded Moses; each man was given his work and told what to carry as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Rules About Cleanliness

5The Lord said to Moses, ²“Command the Israelites to send away from camp anyone with a harmful skin disease. Send away anyone who gives off body fluid or who has become unclean by touching a dead body. ³Send both men and women outside the camp so that they won’t spread the disease there, where I am living among you.” ⁴So Israel obeyed the Lord’s command and sent those people outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had told Moses.

Paying for Doing Wrong

⁵The Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Tell the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman does something wrong to another person, that is really sinning against the Lord. That person is guilty ⁷and must admit the wrong that has been done. The person must fully pay for the wrong that has been done, adding one-fifth to it, and giving it to the person who was wronged. ⁸But if that person is dead and does not have any close relatives to receive the payment, the one who did wrong owes the Lord and must pay the priest. In addition, the priest must sacrifice a male sheep to remove the wrong so that the person will belong to the Lord. ⁹When an Israelite brings a holy gift, it should be given to the priest. ¹⁰No one has to give these holy gifts, but if someone does give them, they belong to the priest.’ ”

Suspicious Husbands

¹¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹²“Tell the Israelites: ‘A man’s wife might be unfaithful to him ¹³and have sexual relations with another man. Her sin might be kept hidden from her husband so that he does not know about the wrong she did. Perhaps no one saw it, and she wasn’t caught. ¹⁴But if her husband has feelings of jealousy and suspects she has sinned—whether she has or not—¹⁵he should take her to the priest. The husband must also take an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He must not pour oil or incense on it, because this is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of remembrance. It is to find out if she is guilty.

¹⁶“ ‘The priest will bring in the woman and make her stand before the Lord. ¹⁷He will take some holy water in a clay jar, and he will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water. ¹⁸The priest will make the woman stand before the Lord, and he will loosen her hair. He will hand her the offering of remembrance, the grain offering for jealousy; he will hold the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹The priest will make her take an oath and ask her, “Has another man had sexual relations with you? Have you been unfaithful to your husband? If you haven’t, this bitter water that brings a curse won’t hurt you. ²⁰But if you have been unfaithful to your husband and have had sexual relations with a man besides him”—²¹the priest will then put on her the curse that the oath will bring—“the Lord will make the people curse and reject you. He will make your stomach get big, and he will make your body unable to give birth to another baby. ²²This water that brings a curse will go inside you and make your body unable to give birth to another baby.”

“ ‘The woman must say, “I agree.”

²³“ ‘The priest should write these curses on a scroll, wash the words off into the bitter water, ²⁴and make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. If she is guilty, the water will make her sick. ²⁵Then the priest will take the grain offering for jealousy from her. He will present it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. ²⁶He will take a handful of the grain, which is a memorial offering, and burn it on the altar. After that he will make the woman drink the water ²⁷to see if she is not pure and if she has sinned against her husband. When it goes into her, if her stomach gets big and she is not able to have another baby, her people will reject her. ²⁸But if the woman has not sinned, she is pure. She is not guilty, and she will be able to have babies.

²⁹“ ‘So this is the teaching about jealousy. This is what to do when a woman does wrong and is unfaithful while she is married to her husband. ³⁰It also should be done if the man gets jealous because he suspects his wife. The priest will have her stand before the Lord, and he will do all these things, just as…