The Bible

Numbers Chapter 4

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses, ³from thirty years old to fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴"This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things. ⁵When the camp moves forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons; and they are to take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it, ⁶put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

⁷"They should spread a blue cloth on the show table and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups for pouring; and the continual bread should be on it. ⁸They should spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

⁹"They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, [for the] ministry. ¹⁰They are to put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and put it on the frame.

¹¹"On the golden altar they are to spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹²"They are to take all the vessels of ministry that they minister with in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and put them on the frame.

¹³"They should remove the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. ¹⁴They are to put on it all the vessels with which they minister around it- the fire pans, the meathooks, the shovels, and the basins- all the vessels of the altar; and they are to spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath are to come to carry it; but they must not touch the sanctuary, otherwise they would die. The sons of Kohath are to carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶"The responsibilities of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest are to be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings."

¹⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸"Don't cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹but do this for them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons are to go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; ²⁰But they must not go in to see the sanctuary. [Not] even for a moment. Otherwise they must die."

²¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²²"Take a census of the sons of Gershon as well, by their fathers' houses, by their families; ²³count them from thirty years old to fifty years old: all who enter the army of service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴"This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, serving and carrying: ²⁵they are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever is to be be done with them. [That's how] they'll serve. ²⁷All the service of the sons of the Gershonites will be at Aaron and his sons' word. All they carry and all they do. Assign their duties to them in all their responsibilities. ²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty will be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹"As for the sons of Merari, count them by their families, by their fathers' houses; ³⁰count them from thirty years old to fifty years old- everyone who enters the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. ³¹[This is what they are] charged with carrying, [as] all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³²the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. List by name the instruments they are to carry. ³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."

³⁴Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses, ³⁵from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting. ³⁶Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. ³⁷These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to Yahweh's commandment by Moses.

³⁸Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, ³⁹from thirty years old to fifty years old- everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁰those listed, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty. ⁴¹These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to Yahweh's commandment.

⁴²Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses, ⁴³from thirty years old to fifty years old- everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁴those listed by their families, were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to Yahweh's commandment by Moses.

⁴⁶All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers' houses, ⁴⁷from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁸those listed were eight thousand five hundred eighty. ⁴⁹Everyone was listed according to serving or carrying by Moses in accordance with Yahweh's commandment. That's how he counted them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.