Numbers 4

Duties of the Sons of Kohath

4Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ²“Take a census of the sons of ^aKohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, ^3bfrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.

^4c“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to ^dthe most holy things: ⁵When 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. ⁶Then 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.

⁷“On the ⁱtable of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the ¹pitchers for pouring; and the ^jshowbread ²shall be on it. ⁸They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ⁹And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the ^klampstand of the light, ^lwith its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it. ¹⁰Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam.

¹¹“Over ^mthe golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ¹²Then they shall take all the ⁿutensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam. ¹³Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the ³basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles. ¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then ^othe sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; ^pbut they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.

^q“These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶“The appointed duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is ^rthe oil for the light, the ^ssweet incense, ^tthe daily grain offering, the ^uanointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ¹⁸“Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach ^vthe most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and ⁴appoint each of them to his service and his task. ^20wBut they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”

Duties of the Sons of Gershon

²¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²²“Also take a census of the sons of ^xGershon, by their fathers’ house, by their families. ^23yFrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. ²⁴This is the ^zservice of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: ^25aThey shall carry the ^bcurtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its covering, the covering of ^cbadger skins that is on it, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ²⁶the screen for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and altar, and their cords, all the furnishings for their service and all that is made for these things: so shall they serve.

²⁷“Aaron and his sons shall ⁵assign all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their tasks and all their service. And you shall ⁶appoint to them all their tasks as their duty. ²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting. And their duties shall be ^dunder the ⁷authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Sons of Merari

²⁹“As for the sons of ^eMerari, you shall number them by their families and by their fathers’ house. ^30fFrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ³¹And ^gthis is ^hwhat they must carry as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting: ⁱthe boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³²and the pillars around the court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, with all their furnishings and all their service; and you shall ^jassign to each man by name the items he must carry. ³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting, under the ⁸authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

Census of the Levites

^34kAnd Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁵from thirty ^lyears old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting; ³⁶and those who were numbered by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

³⁸And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁹from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting—⁴⁰those who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. ^41mThese are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴²Those of the families of the sons of Merari who were numbered, by their families, by their fathers’ ⁹house, ⁴³from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting—⁴⁴those who were numbered by their families were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered ⁿaccording to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶All who were ^onumbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, ^47pfrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting—⁴⁸those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

⁴⁹According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, ^qeach according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, ^ras the Lord commanded Moses.