Numbers 4

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses,

“Register the descendants of Kohath from the tribe of Levi, according to their family and father's line.

3 from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy.

This work that they are to do in the Tent of Meetings involves the things that are most holy.

5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it;

Whenever you move camp, Aaron and his sons will go in, take down the veil, and place it over the Ark of the Testimony.

6 and shall put thereon a covering of badgers' skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves [to it].

On top of this they are to put a fine leather covering, spread a cloth of solid blue over it, and then insert its carrying poles.

7 And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue; and put thereon the dishes, and the cups, and the bowls, and goblets of the drink-offering; and the continual bread shall be thereon.

Have them spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence as well, and put the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and jugs for the drink offering. The current bread offering is to stay on it.

8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves [to it].

Over everything they are to spread a crimson cloth, next a fine leather covering, and then insert its carrying poles.

9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-trays, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they perform its service;

Using a blue cloth, they are to cover the lampstand of light, together with its lamps, wick tongs, and trays, as well as the jars of olive oil used to fill them.

10 and they shall put it and all the utensils thereof within a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put it upon a pole.

Then have them wrap it together with all its utensils inside a fine leather covering and place it on the carrying frame.

11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves [to it].

They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and then insert its carrying poles.

12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, wherewith they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put them upon a pole.

They are to place all the utensils used for the service in the sanctuary in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and place them on the carrying frame.

13 And they shall cleanse the altar of the ashes, and spread a purple cloth thereon;

Have them clean the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it,

14 and they shall put upon it all the utensils thereof, wherewith they perform service about it: the firepans, the forks, and the shovels, and the bowls, — all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skin, and put its staves [to it].

and put on it all the equipment used in the services on the altar: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. Spread over it a fine leather covering and then insert its carrying poles.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have ended covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp setteth forward, then afterwards the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. This is what the sons of Kohath have to carry in the tent of meeting.

Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering these holy things and all the equipment connected with them, when the camp is ready to move, the priests of the Kohath family are to come and carry them. But they are forbidden to touch anything holy, otherwise they'll die. These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting.

16 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have the oversight of the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual oblation, and the anointing oil, — the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its furniture.

Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is to supervise obtaining olive oil for the lamps, the aromatic incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He is in charge of the whole Tabernacle and everything in it—all the holy things and equipment.”

17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

18 Ye shall not cut off the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites,

“Make sure the families of Kohath are not wiped out from the Levites.

19 but this shall ye do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they draw near unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden;

This is what you have to do so that they'll live and won't die by getting too close to something holy. Aaron and his sons must go in and tell each of them what they have to do and what they have to carry.

20 but they shall not go in and see for a moment the holy things, lest they die.

But they must not to go in and look at the things that are most holy, even for just a moment, otherwise they'll die.”

21 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, according to their fathers' houses, after their families.

“Register the descendants of Gershon, according to their family and father's line

23 From thirty years old and upward to fifty years old shalt thou number them; every one that cometh to labour in the work, to perform the service in the tent of meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

24 This shall be the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving, and in carrying:

This is how the families of Gershon will serve in terms of working and carrying:

25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of badgers' skin that is above upon it, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting,

Have them carry the Tabernacle curtains, the Tent of Meeting with its fine leather covering, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance, of the gate of the court, which surroundeth the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof, and all the instruments of their service; and all that is to be done for these things shall they perform.

the courtyard curtains, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle and altar, the ropes, and everything connected with their use. The families of Gershon are responsible for everything required involving these items.

27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their carrying, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their carrying.

All that they do is to be under the supervision of Aaron and his sons—all their work and carrying assignments. You are to tell them all they are required to carry.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

29 The sons of Merari: after their families, according to their fathers' houses shalt thou number them;

Register the descendants of Merari, according to their family and father's line.

30 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the labour, to perform the service of the tent of meeting.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

31 And this shall be the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and bases thereof,

This is how they will serve in handling the Tent of Meeting: they are to carry the frames of the Tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and stands,

32 and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, all their instruments, according to all their service; and by name ye shall number to them the materials which are their charge to carry.

the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their stands, tent pegs, and ropes, all their equipment and everything connected with their use. You are to tell them by name what they are responsible for carrying.

33 This 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.

These are their responsibilities for all their work in moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the assembly numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and according to their fathers' houses,

Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered the families of Kohath according to their family and father's line.

35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting.

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

36 And those that were numbered of them according to their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

The total by families was 2,750.

37 These are they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, every one that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses.

This was the total of the families of Kohath—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them in accordance with the Lord's instructions to Moses.

38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and according to their fathers' houses,

The families of Gershon were counted, according to their family and father's line,

39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting,

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

40 even those that were numbered of them, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.

The total by families and father's line was 2,630.

41 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah.

This was the total of the families of Gershon —all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. They were registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

42 And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, according to their fathers' houses,

The families of Merari were counted, according to their family and father's line,

43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting,

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

44 even those that were numbered of them according to their families, were three thousand two hundred.

The total by families was 3,200.

45 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses.

This was the total of the families of Merari registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

46 All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, after their families and according to their fathers' houses,

This is how Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered all the Levites according to their family and father's line.

47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that came to serve [in] the work of the service, and [in] the work of carrying, in the tent of meeting,

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting and carrying it.

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

The sum total was 8,580.

49 According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one for his service, and for his burden, and numbered by him, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

It was in response to the Lord's instructions that they were registered by Moses. Each of those registered were told what to do and what to carry, as the Lord had ordered Moses.