Numbers 4

1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

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

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;

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

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.

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

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

5 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;

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.

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

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].

7 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;

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.

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

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.

9 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:

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.

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

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

11 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.

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.

12 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.

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.

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

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

14 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.

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.

15 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.

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.

16 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.

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.

17 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

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

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

19 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;

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.

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

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

21 And the Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

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

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

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.

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

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

25 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;

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.

26 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.

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.

27 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.

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.

28 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

31 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;

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.

32 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.

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.

33 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.

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.

34 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;

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;

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

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.

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

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

37 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

41 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

46 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,

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,

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

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.

48 Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.

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

49 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.

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.