Numbers 4

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

2 Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers' households;

“Conduct a census of the male descendants of Kohath from among the Levites, by their clans and families.

3 from twenty-five years old and upward until fifty years, every one that goes in to minister, to do all the works in the tabernacle of witness.

Count all the men who are thirty to fifty years old. These men must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

4 And these are the works of the sons of Caath in the tabernacle of witness; it is most holy.

The descendants of Kohath must take care of the most holy things reserved for me in the tent of meeting.

5 And Aaron and his sons shall go in, when the camp is about to move, and shall take down the shadowing veil, and shall cover with it the ark of the testimony.

When the camp prepares to move forward, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent, take down the curtain that separates the most holy place from the holy place and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

6 And they shall put on it a cover, even a blue skin, and put on it above a garment all of blue, and shall put the staves through [the rings].

They must cover the ark with sea cow skins. They must spread a blue cloth over it. They must insert the poles to carry it.

7 And they shall put on the table set forth for show-bread a cloth all of purple, and the dishes, and the censers, and the cups, and the vessels with which one offers drink-offerings; and the continual loaves shall be upon it.

They are to spread a blue cloth on the table of the bread of the presence. On it they must put the dishes, spoons, bowls, and jars for pouring. Bread must always continue to be on the table.

8 And they shall put upon it a scarlet cloth, and they shall cover it with a blue covering of skin, and they shall put the staves into it.

They must cover them with a scarlet cloth and again with sea cow skins. They must insert poles to carry the table.

9 And they shall take a blue covering, and cover the candlestick that gives light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its funnels, and all the vessels of oil with which they minister.

They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, along with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the jars of oil for the lamps.

10 And they shall put it, and all its vessels, into a blue skin cover; and they shall put it on bearers.

They must put the lampstand and all its accessories into a covering of sea cow skins, and they must put it on a carrying frame.

11 And they shall put a blue cloth for a cover on the golden altar, and shall cover it with a blue skin cover, and put in its staves.

They must spread a cloth of blue on the gold altar. They must cover it with a covering of sea cow skins, and then insert the carrying poles.

12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, with which they minister in the sanctuary: and shall place them in a cloth of blue, and shall cover them with blue skin covering, and put them upon staves.

They must take all the equipment for the work in the holy place and wrap it in a blue cloth. They must cover it with sea cow skins and put the equipment on the carrying frame.

13 And he shall put the covering on the altar, and they shall cover it with a cloth all of purple.

They must remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth on the altar.

14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels with which they minister upon it, and the fire-pans, and the flesh hooks, and the cups, and the cover, and all the vessels of the altar; and they shall put on it a blue cover of skins, and shall put in its staves; and they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.

They must put on the carrying frame all the equipment that they use in the work of the altar. These objects are the firepans, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the other equipment for the altar. They must cover the altar with sea cow skins and then insert the carrying poles.

15 And Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy things, and all the holy vessels, when the camp begins to move; and afterwards the sons of Caath shall go in to take up [the furniture]; but shall not touch the holy things, lest they die: these shall the sons of Caath bear in the tabernacle of witness.

When Aaron and his sons have completely covered the holy place and all its equipment, and when the camp moves forward, then the descendants of Kohath must come to carry the holy place. If they touch the holy instruments, they must die. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath, to carry the furnishings in the tent of meeting.

16 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is overseer—the oil of the light, and the incense of composition, and the daily meat-offering and the anointing oil, are his charge; even the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and all things that are in it in the holy place, in all the works.

Eleazar son of Aaron the priest oversees the care of the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil. He oversees the care of the entire tabernacle and all that is in it, the holy place and its equipment.”

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

18 You shall not destroy the family of Caath from the tribe out of the midst of the Levites.

“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be removed from among the Levites.

19 This do you to them, and they shall live and not die, when they approach the holy of holies: Let Aaron and his sons advance, and they shall place them each in his post for bearing.

Protect them, that they may live and not die, by doing this. When they approach the most holy things

20 And [so] they shall by no means go in to look suddenly upon the holy things, and die.

they must not go in to see the holy place even for a moment, or they must die. Aaron and his sons must go in, and then Aaron and his sons must assign each of the Kohathites to his work, to his special tasks.”

21 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,

22 Take the sum of the children of Gedson, and these according to the houses of their lineage, according to their families.

“Conduct a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by their ancestor's families and by their clans.

23 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until the age of fifty, every one that goes in to minister, to do his business in the tabernacle of witness.

Count those who are thirty years old to fifty years old. Count all of them who will join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

24 This [is] the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.

This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites, when they serve and what they carry.

25 And they shall bear the skins of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of witness, and its veil, and the blue cover that was on it above, and the cover of the door of the tabernacle of witness.

They must carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of sea cow skin that is on it, and the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting.

26 And all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.

They must carry the curtains of the court, the curtain for the doorway of the court's gate, which is near the tabernacle and near the altar, their ropes, and all the instruments for their service. Whatever should be done with these things, they must do it.

27 According to the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be the ministry of the sons of Gedson, in all their ministries, and in all their works; and you shall take account of them by name in all things borne by them.

Aaron and his sons must direct all the service of the descendants of the Gershonites, in everything that they transport, and in all their service. You must assign them to all their responsibilities.

28 This is the service of the sons of Gedson in the tabernacle of witness, and their charge by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

This is the service of the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites for the tent of meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest must lead them in their service.

29 The sons of Merari according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take you the number of them.

You must count the descendants of Merari by their clans, and order them by their ancestor's families,

30 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until fifty years old, every one that goes in to perform the services of the tabernacle of witness.

from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. Count everyone who is going to join the company and serve in the tent of meeting.

31 And these are the charges of the things borne by them according to all their works in the tabernacle of witness: they shall bear the chapiters of the tabernacle, and the bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and the veil, and [there shall be] their sockets, and their pillars, and the curtain of the door of the tabernacle.

This is their responsibility and their work in all their service for the tent of meeting. They must care for the framing of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, and sockets,

32 And they shall bear the pillars of the court round about, and [there shall be] their sockets, and [they shall bear] the pillars of the veil of the door of the court, and their sockets and their pins, and their cords, and all their furniture, and all their instruments of service: take you their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.

along with the posts of the courtyard around the tabernacle, their sockets, pegs, and their ropes, with all their hardware. List by name the articles they must carry.

33 This is the ministration of the family of the sons of Merari in all their works in the tabernacle of witness, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Merari, what they are to do for the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel took the number of the sons of Caath according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage;

Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the descendants of the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestor's families.

35 from five and twenty years old and upwards to the age of fifty years, every one that goes in to minister and do service in the tabernacle of witness.

They counted them from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

36 And the numbering of them according to their families was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

They counted 2,750 men by their clans.

37 This is the numbering of the family of Caath, every one that ministers in the tabernacle of witness, as Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

Moses and Aaron counted all the men in the clans and families of the Kohathites who serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

38 And the sons of Gedson were numbered according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage,

The descendants of Gershon were counted in their clans, by their ancestor's families,

39 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister and to do the services in the tabernacle of witness.

from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

40 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] two thousand six hundred and thirty.

All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 2,630.

41 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Gedson, every one who ministers in the tabernacle of witness; whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

Moses and Aaron counted the clans of the descendants of Gershon who would serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

42 And also the family of the sons of Merari were numbered according to their divisions, according to the house of their fathers;

The descendants of Merari were counted in their clans by their ancestor's families,

43 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

44 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] three thousand and two hundred.

All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 3,200.

45 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

Moses and Aaron counted all these men, the descendants of Merari. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

46 All that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel numbered, [namely], the Levites, according to their families and according to the houses of their lineage,

So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans in their ancestral families

47 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to the service of the works, and the [charge of] the things that are carried in the tabernacle of witness.

from thirty to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would do work in the tabernacle, and who would carry and care for the items in the tent of meeting.

48 And they that were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

They counted 8,580 men.

49 He reviewed them by the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, appointing each man severally over their [respective] work, and over their burdens; and they were numbered, as the Lord commanded Moses.

At Yahweh's command, Moses counted each man, keeping count of each by the type of work he was assigned to do. He counted each man by the kind of responsibility he would bear. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.