Numbers 4

1 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron saying:

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

2 Reckon up the sum of the sons of Kohath, out of the midst of the sons of Levi, —by their families by their ancestral house:

Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

3 from thirty years old, and upwards, even unto fifty years, —every one that can enter into the host, to do service in the tent of meeting.

All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

4 This, shall be the labour of the sons of Kohath, in the tent of meeting, —the most holy things,

And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things.

5 So then Aaron and his sons shall enter when the camp is to set forward, and take down the screening veil, —and enwrap therein the ark of the testimony;

When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it;

6 and put thereon a covering of badgers’ skin, and spread a complete wrapper of blue over above, —and put in the staves thereof.

And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place.

7 And over the Presence-table, shall they spread a wrapper of blue and put thereon the dishes and the pans and the bowls and the libation cups, the perpetual bread also, thereupon, shall remain;

And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them;

8 and they shall spread over them a wrapper of crimson, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skin, —and shall put in the staves thereof.

And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places.

9 Then shall they take a wrapper of blue, and cover the light-giving lampstand, and the lamps thereof, and the snuffers thereof and the snuff-trays thereof, —and all the oil-vessels, thereof, wherewith they minister thereunto;

And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it:

10 and shall put the same and all the vessels thereof, within a covering of, badgers’ skin, —and shall put it upon a frame.

All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame.

11 And upon the altar of gold, shall they spread a wrapper of blue, and shall cover the same in a covering of badgers’ skin, —and shall put in the staves thereof,

On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places.

12 And they shall take all the utensils of attendance wherewith they attend in the sanctuary, and put them within a wrapper of blue, and cover the same in a covering of badgers’ skin, —and put them on a frame.

All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame.

13 Then shall they remove the fat-ashes from the altar, —and spread over it a wrapper of purple;

And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;

14 and put thereupon all the utensils thereof wherewith they minister thereupon—the fire-pans, the flesh-hooks—and the shovels and the tossing-bowls, all the utensils of the altar, —and shall spread over it a covering of badgers’ skin and put in the staves thereof.

Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.

15 So shall Aaron and his sons make an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set forward, then after that, shall the sons of Kohath enter to bear it, but they must not put forth a touch unto that which, is holy, else should they die, these, shall be the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.

And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.

16 But the care of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, [shall be] —the light-giving oil, and the fragrant incense, and the perpetual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the care of all the habitation, and all that is therein, both as to the sanctuary, and as to the furniture thereof.

And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care.

17 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

18 Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off out of the midst of the Levites.

Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites;

19 This, therefore, do ye for them, so shall they live and not die when they approach the most holy place, —Aaron and his sons shall enter and set them man by man over his labour, and unto his burden;

But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up;

20 but they shall not enter to see, for a moment, that which is holy, else should they die.

But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death.

21 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

And the Lord said to Moses,

22 reckon up the sum of the sons of Gershon even of them also, —by their ancestral house by their families;

Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

23 from thirty years old and upwards even to fifty years, shalt thou number them, —All that may enter to take rank in the host, to do laborious work in the tent of meeting.

All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

24 This, shall be the labour of the families of the Gershonites, —in labouring and in bearing:

This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up.

25 they shall bear the curtains of the habitation and the tent of meeting, the covering thereof and the covering of badgers’ skin which is over above it, —and the screen, at the entrance of the tent of meeting;

They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting;

26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is near the habitation and near the altar round about, and their cords, and all their articles of service, and all that is to be done to them when they shall do their labour,

And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.

27 At the bidding of Aaron and his sons, shall be all the labour of the sons of the Gershonites, to the extent of their every burden, and to the extent of all their labour, —so shall ye appoint unto them in charge their every burden.

From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders.

28 This, shall be the labour of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, —and, the charge of them, shall be in the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, —by their families by their ancestral house, shall ye number them;

The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

30 from thirty years old and upwards even to fifty years, shall ye number them, —all that enter into the host, to do laborious work in the tent of meeting,

Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

31 And, this, shall be their charge of the burdens, to the extent of all their labour in the tent of meeting, the boards of the habitation, and the bars thereof and he pillars thereof and the sockets thereof:

And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases;

32 and the pillars of the court round about and their sockets and their pins and their cords, to the extent of all their articles, to the extent of all their labour, and by names, shall ye put under their care the articles of their charge of burdens.

And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name.

33 This, shall be the labour of the families of the sons of Merari, to the extent of all their labour in the tent of meeting, —in the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron, the priest.

This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

34 Then did Moses and Aaron, and the princes of the assembly, number the sons of the Kohathites, by their families, and by their ancestral house;

So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

35 from thirty years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, all that might enter the host, to labour in the tent of meeting;

Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting;

36 and they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

37 These, were they who were num-bered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might labour in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh by the mediation of Moses.

This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

38 And they who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, —by their families, and by their ancestral house;

And those of the sons of Gershon who were numbered by families,

39 from thirty years old and upwards, even to fifty years old, all that might enter the host, to labour in the tent of meeting:

All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting,

40 yea they who were numbered of them, by their families, by their ancestral house, —were found to be—two thousand, and six hundred, and thirty.

Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty.

41 These, are they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who might labour in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh.

This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

42 And they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families by their ancestral house;

And those of the sons of Merari who were numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

43 from thirty years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, —all that might enter the host to labour in the tent of meeting;

All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the work in the Tent of meeting,

44 yea they who were numbered of them, by their families, were found to be—three thousand and two hundred.

Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred.

45 These, are they who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, —whom Moses and Aaron did number, at the bidding of Yahweh, by the mediation of Moses.

This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

46 All they who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel did number, even the Levites, by their families and by their ancestral house;

And all the Levites who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,

47 from thirty years old and upwards, even unto fifty years old, all that might enter, to toil in the work of labouring and in the work of bearing burdens, in the tent of meeting,

Those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work of the Tent of meeting and of its transport,

48 yea, they who were numbered of them were found to be—eight thousand, and five hundred, and eighty.

Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

49 At the bidding of Yahweh, were they put in charge by the mediation of Moses, man by man, over his labour and over his burden, —yea, they who were put in charge by him, were they, whom Yahweh commanded Moses.

At the order of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, every one in relation to his work and to his part in the transport; so they were numbered by Moses at the order of the Lord.