Loading…

Numbers 4:1–6

Duties of the Sons of Kohath

4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: “Take a census of the sons of aKohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, bfrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.

c“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to dthe most holy things: When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down ethe covering veil and cover the fark of the Testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of gblue; and they shall insert hits poles.

Read more Explain verse



Numbers 4:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families. Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

“This is the work of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things. When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law. Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.

Numbers 4:1–6 — English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

Numbers 4:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, From 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. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: And 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: And 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.

Numbers 4:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi. List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

“The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects. When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons must enter the Tabernacle first to take down the inner curtain and cover the Ark of the Covenant with it. Then they must cover the inner curtain with fine goatskin leather and spread over that a single piece of blue cloth. Finally, they must put the carrying poles of the Ark in place.

Numbers 4:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

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

“The Kohathites are responsible for the most holy things in the Meeting Tent. When 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. Over this they must put a covering made from fine leather, then spread the solid blue cloth over that, and put the poles in place.

Numbers 4:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter upon the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy things: when the camp setteth 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, and shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

Numbers 4:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers’ houses, from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy. And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it; and shall put thereon a covering of badgers’ skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves to it.

Numbers 4:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take a census of the Levites who are descended from Kohath. List them by families and households. Register all the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who are qualified to work at the tent of meeting. 

“This is the work the Kohathites will do in the tent of meeting: They will take care of the most holy things. When the camp is supposed to move, Aaron and his sons will go in and take down the canopy that hangs over the ark containing the words of God’s promise. First they will cover the ark with the canopy. Over this they will put a covering of fine leather.On top of that they will spread a cloth made entirely of violet material. Then they will put the poles in place. 

Numbers 4:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

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

“The service of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting concerns the most holy objects. Whenever 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. They are to place over this a covering made of manatee skin, spread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles.

Numbers 4:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: Take a census of the Kohathites separate from the other Levites, by their clans and their ancestral houses, from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who qualify to do work relating to the tent of meeting. The service of the Kohathites relating to the tent of meeting concerns the most holy things.

When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the covenant with it; then they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put its poles in place.

Numbers 4:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from the midst of the descendants of Levi, according to their clans and their families, from thirty years old and above, up to fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service to do the work in the tent of assembly. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of assembly, concerning the holiness of the sanctuary: When setting out the camp, Aaron and his sons will go and lower the curtain of the covering and cover with it the ark of the testimony. They will put on it a covering of fine leather, and they will spread a cloth of perfect blue over it, and they will place its poles.

Numbers 4:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “Count the Kohath families of the Levites. Make a list of them family by family. Count all of the men who are from 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the Tent of Meeting.

“Here is the work the men of Kohath must do at the Tent of Meeting. They must take care of the things that are very holy.

“When the camp is ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent. They must take down the curtain that screens the ark where the tablets of the covenant are kept. They must cover the ark with the curtain. Then they must cover that with the hides of sea cows. They must spread a solid blue cloth over the hides. And they must put the poles in place.

Numbers 4:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers households,

from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

“When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it;

and they shall lay a covering of porpoise skin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth of pure blue, and shall insert its poles.


A service of Logos Bible Software