Numbers 4-5

Contemporary English Version

The Duties of the Kohathite Clans

4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron:

^2-3 Find out how many men between the ages of 30 and 50 are in the four Levite clans of Kohath. Count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.

⁴ The Kohathites will be responsible for carrying the sacred objects used in worship at the sacred tent. ⁵ When the Israelites are ready to move their camp, Aaron and his sons will enter the tent and take down the curtain that separates the sacred chest from the rest of the tent. They will cover the chest with this curtain, ⁶ and then with a piece of fine leather, and cover it all with a solid blue cloth. After this they will put the carrying poles in place.

⁷ Next, Aaron and his sons will use another blue cloth to cover the table for the sacred bread.^[a] On the cloth they will place the dishes, the bowls for incense, the cups, the jugs for wine, as well as the bread itself. ⁸ They are to cover all of this with a bright red cloth, and then with a piece of fine leather, before putting the carrying poles in place.

⁹ With another blue cloth they will cover the lampstand, along with the lamps, the lamp snuffers, the fire pans, and the jars of oil for the lamps. ¹⁰ All of this will then be covered with a piece of fine leather and placed on a carrying frame.

¹¹ The gold incense altar^[b] is to be covered with a blue cloth, and then with a piece of fine leather, before its carrying poles are put in place.

¹² Next, Aaron and his sons will take blue cloth and wrap all the objects used in worship at the sacred tent. These will need to be covered with a piece of fine leather, then placed on a carrying frame.

¹³ They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and cover it with a purple cloth. ¹⁴ On that cloth will be placed the utensils used at the altar, including the fire pans, the meat forks, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. All of this will then be covered with a piece of fine leather, before the carrying poles are put in place.

¹⁵ When the camp is ready to be moved, the Kohathites will be responsible for carrying the sacred objects and the furnishings of the sacred tent. But Aaron and his sons must have already covered those things so the Kohathites won't touch them and die.

¹⁶ Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will be in charge of the oil for the lamps, the sweet-smelling incense, the grain for the sacrifices, and the olive oil used for dedications and ordinations. Eleazar is responsible for seeing that the sacred tent, its furnishings, and the sacred objects are taken care of.

^17-20 The Kohathites must not go near or even look at the sacred objects until Aaron and his sons have covered those objects. If they do, their entire clan will be wiped out. So make sure that Aaron and his sons go into the tent with them and tell them what to carry.

The Duties of the Gershonite Clans

²¹ The Lord said to Moses:

^22-23 Find out how many men between the ages of 30 and 50 are in the two Levite clans of Gershon. Count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.

²⁴ The Gershonites will be responsible ²⁵ for carrying the curtains of the sacred tent, its two outer coverings,^[c] the curtain for the entrance to the tent, ²⁶ the curtains hanging around the courtyard of the tent, and the curtain and ropes for the entrance to the courtyard. The Gershonites are to do whatever needs to be done to take care of these things, ²⁷ and they will carry them wherever Aaron and his sons tell them to. ²⁸ These are the duties of the Gershonites at the sacred tent, and Ithamar son of Aaron will make sure they do their work.

The Duties of the Merarite Clans

^29-30 The Lord said:

Moses, find out how many men between 30 and 50 are in the two Levite clans of Merari, but count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.

³¹ The Merarites will be responsible for carrying the frames of the tent and its other pieces, including the bars, the posts, and the stands, ³² as well as the posts that support the courtyard, together with their stands, tent pegs, and ropes. The Merarites are to be told exactly what objects they are to carry, ³³ and Ithamar son of Aaron will make sure they do their work.

The Levites Are Counted Again

^34-49 Moses, Aaron, and the other Israelite leaders obeyed the Lord and counted the Levi tribe by families and clans, to find out how many men there were between the ages of 30 and 50 who could work at the sacred tent. There were 2,750 Kohathites, 2,630 Gershonites, and 3,200 Merarites, making a total of 8,580. Then they were all assigned their duties.

People Are Sent Outside the Camp

5 The Lord told Moses ^2-3 to say to the people of Israel, “Put out of the camp everyone who has leprosy^[d] or a bodily discharge or who has touched a dead body. Now that I live among my people, their camp must be kept clean.”

⁴ The Israelites obeyed the Lord's instructions.

The Penalty for Committing a Crime

(Leviticus 6.1-7)

^5 (A) The Lord told Moses ⁶ to say to the community of Israel:

If any of you commit a crime against someone, you have sinned against me. ⁷ You must confess your guilt and pay the victim in full for whatever damage has been done, plus a fine of 20 percent. ⁸ If the victim has no relative who can accept this money, it belongs to me and will be paid to the priest. In addition to that payment, you must take a ram for the priest to sacrifice so your sin will be forgiven.

^9-10 When you make a donation to the sacred tent, that money belongs only to the priest, and each priest will keep what is given to him.

A Suspicious Husband

¹¹ The Lord told Moses ^12-14 to say to the people of Israel:

Suppose a man becomes jealous and suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, but he has no proof. ¹⁵ He must take his wife to the priest, together with one kilogram of ground barley as an offering to find out if she is guilty. No olive oil or incense is to be put on that offering.

¹⁶ The priest will lead the woman to my altar and make her stand there. ¹⁷ He will then pour sacred water into a clay jar and stir in some dust from the floor of the sacred tent. ^18-22 Next, he will remove her veil, then hand her the barley offering, and say, “If you have been faithful to your husband, this water won't harm you. But if you have been unfaithful, it will bring down the Lord's curse—you will never be able to give birth to a child, and everyone will curse your name.”

Then the woman will answer, “If I am guilty, let it happen just as you say.”

²³ The priest will write these curses on special paper and wash them off into the bitter water, ²⁴ so that when the woman drinks this water, the curses will enter her body. ²⁵ He will take the barley offering from her and lift it up^[e] in dedication to me, the Lord. Then he will place it on my altar ²⁶ and burn part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water.

²⁷ If the woman has been unfaithful, the water will immediately make her unable to have children, and she will be a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if she is innocent, her body will not be harmed, and she will still be able to have children.

^29-30 This is the ceremony that must take place at my altar when a husband suspects that his wife has been unfaithful. The priest must tell the woman to stand in my presence and carefully follow these instructions. ³¹ If the husband is wrong, he will not be punished; but if his wife is guilty, she will be punished.