The Kohath Families

4 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 2“Count the Kohath families of the Levites. Make a list of them family by family. 3Count 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.

4“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.

5“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. 6Then 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.

7“They must spread a blue cloth over the table for the holy bread. They must put the plates, dishes and bowls on the cloth. They must also put the jars for drink offerings on it. The bread that is always kept there must remain on it. 8They must spread a bright red cloth over everything. Then they must cover that with the hides of sea cows. And they must put the poles of the table in place.

9“They must get a blue cloth. With it they must cover the lampstand that gives light. They must also cover its lamps, trays and wick cutters. And they must cover all of its jars. The jars are for the olive oil that is used in the lampstand. 10Then Aaron and his sons must wrap the lampstand and all of the things that are used with it. They must cover it with the hides of sea cows. And they must put it on a frame to carry it.

11“They must spread a blue cloth over the gold altar for burning incense. They must cover that with the hides of sea cows. And they must put the poles of the altar in place.

12“They must get all of the articles that are used for serving in the sacred tent. They must wrap them in a blue cloth. They must cover that with the hides of sea cows. Then they must put the articles on a frame to carry them.

13“They must remove the ashes from the bronze altar for burnt offerings. They must spread a purple cloth over it. 14Then they must place all of the tools on it. The tools are used for serving at the altar. They include the pans for carrying ashes. They also include the meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Aaron and his sons must cover the altar with the hides of sea cows. And they must put its poles in place.

15“Aaron and his sons must cover all of the holy articles that belong to the holy tent. Then the men of Kohath must get ready to carry everything. They must do it when the camp is ready to move. But they must not touch the holy things. If they do, they will die. The men of Kohath must carry everything that is in the Tent of Meeting.

16“The priest Eleazar will be in charge of the olive oil for the light. He is the son of Aaron. Eleazar will be in charge of the sweet-smelling incense. He will be in charge of the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He will be in charge of the entire holy tent. He will also be in charge of everything that is in it. That includes all of the articles that belong to the tent.”

17The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 18“Make sure that the Kohath families are not cut off from the Levites. 19I want them to live and not die when they come near the very holy things. So here is what you must do for them. Aaron and his sons must go into the sacred tent and tell each man what to do. They must tell each man what to carry. 20But the men of Kohath must not go in and look at the holy things. They must not look at them even for a moment. If they do, they will die.”

The Gershon Families

21The Lord said to Moses, 22“Count the Gershon families. Make a list of them family by family. 23Count 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.

24“Here is how the Gershon families must serve. They must carry things. 25They must carry the curtains of the holy Tent of Meeting. They must carry its covering and the outside covering of the hides of sea cows. They must carry the curtains that cover the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 26They must carry the curtains of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent and altar. They must carry the curtain for the entrance. They must carry the ropes. They must also carry all of the supplies that are used for any purpose in the tent. The men of Gershon must do everything that needs to be done with those things.

27“All of their work must be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. That includes carrying and everything else they do. Aaron and his sons must tell them what to carry. And that will be their work. 28It is what the Gershon families must do at the Tent of Meeting. They must work under the direction of the priest Ithamar. He is the son of Aaron.

The Merari Families

29“Count the Merari families. Count them family by family. 30Count 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.

31“Here is the work they must do at the Tent of Meeting. They must carry the frames of the holy tent. They must carry its crossbars, posts and bases. 32They must also carry the posts of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent. And they must carry the bases for the posts as well as their tent stakes and ropes. They must also carry all of the supplies and everything that is connected with their use. Tell each man exactly what to carry. 33That is the work the Merari families must do at the Tent of Meeting. They must work under the direction of the priest Ithamar. He is the son of Aaron.”

Counting the Families of the Levites

34Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the men of Kohath. They counted them family by family. 35They counted all of the men who were from 30 to 50 years old. Those were the men who came and served at the Tent of Meeting. 36There were 2,750 men. They were counted family by family. 37That was the total of all of the men in the Kohath families who served at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

38The men of Gershon were counted family by family. 39All of the men who were from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the Tent of Meeting. 40There were 2,630 men. They were counted family by family. 41That was the total of the men in the Gershon families who served at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded.

42The men of Merari were counted family by family. 43All of the men who were from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the Tent of Meeting. 44There were 3,200 men. They were counted family by family. 45That was the total of the men in the Merari families. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

46So Moses and Aaron counted all of the Levites. The leaders of Israel helped them. They counted the Levites family by family. 47All of the men who were from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the Tent of Meeting. They were also supposed to carry it. 48The total number of men was 8,580. 49Everything was done as the Lord had commanded through Moses. Each man was given his work. And each one was told what to carry.

So they were counted, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.