Numbers 4

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

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

2 Take the sum of the sons of Kehath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by their divisions,

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

3 From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that are fitted for the service, to do work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 This shall be the service of the sons of Kehath at the tabernacle of the congregation: The most holy things.

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

5 And Aaron shall come with his sons, when the camp setteth forward, and they shall take down the vail of the separation, and cover therewith 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 over it a covering of badgers' skins, and they shall spread over all a cloth wholly of blue [woollen yarn], and they shall put in its staves.

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 over the table of the showbread shall they spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the tubes, and the staves of the covering; and the continual bread shall be thereon:

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 spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall put in its staves.

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 cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the lighting, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its snuff-dishes, and all the oil-vessels thereof, wherewith they minister by it:

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 within a covering of badgers' skins, and they shall put it upon a barrow.

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 over the golden altar shall they spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall 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 vessels of the service, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins; and they shall put them on a barrow.

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 they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread over it a cloth 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 its vessels, wherewith they minister upon it, the fire-pans, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread over it a covering of badgers' skins, and put in its staves.

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 when Aaron and his sons have thus made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set forward: then shall, after that, the sons of Kehath come to carry it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die; these are the things which the sons of Kehath are to carry at the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 And under the supervision of Elazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the lighting, and the incense of spices, and the daily meat-offering, and the anointing-oil; the supervision of all the tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its vessels.

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 unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,

18 Do ye not cause the tribe of the families of the Kehathites to be cut off from among the Levites;

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

19 But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them, every one, to his service and to his burden;

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

20 That they may not go in to see when the holy things are covered, 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 unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,

22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, by their divisions, after their families;

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

23 From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that are fitted for the service, to do work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 shall be the service of the families of the Gershunites, to serve, and to carry:

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

25 They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and of the tent of the congregation, its covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is over it above, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

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 the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service; and all that is delivered to them shall they perform.

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 By the order of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershunites, in all their carrying, and in all their service: and ye shall designate unto them in charge all which they have to carry.

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 families of the sons of the Gershunites at the tabernacle of the congregation; their charge shall be under the supervision 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, shalt thou number after their families, by their divisions;

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

30 From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, shalt thou number them, every one that is fitted for the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 this is what is confided to them to carry, regarding all their service at the tabernacle of the congregation: The boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets,

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 the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and all which belongeth thereto; and by name shall ye designate [to them] the vessels which are confided to them to carry.

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 service of the families of the sons of Merari, regarding all their service, at the tabernacle of the congregation, under the supervision 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 with Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kehathites after their families, and after their divisions,

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 thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

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 those that were numbered of them after their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

They counted 2,750 men by their clans.

37 These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kehathites, all that could do service at the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord through 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 those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and after their divisions,

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

39 From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation,

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

40 Even those that were numbered of them, after their families, after their divisions, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

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

41 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that could do service at the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord.

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 those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, after their divisions,

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

43 From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that was fitted for the service, for the work at the tabernacle of the congregation.

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

44 Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

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

45 These are those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses with Aaron numbered by the order of the Lord through 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 those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses with Aaron and the chiefs of Israel numbered, after their families, and after their divisions,

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

47 From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the carrying at the tabernacle of the congregation,

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 Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty.

They counted 8,580 men.

49 By the order of the Lord through the hand of Moses, did he appoint them, every one to his proper service, and to his proper carrying: and they were numbered, as the Lord had 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.