Numbers 4:1-20

Amplified Bible

Duties of the Kohathites

4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, ³ from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ⁴ This is the work and responsibility of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle): the most holy things.

⁵ “When the camp prepares to move out, Aaron and his sons shall come into the sanctuary and take down ^[a]the veil (curtain) screening off the Holy of Holies, and cover the ark of the testimony with it; ⁶ and they shall put on it a covering of ^[b]porpoise skin (fine leather), and shall spread over that a cloth of pure blue, and shall insert the carrying poles of the ark. ⁷ Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes [for incense], the sacrificial bowls, the jars for the drink offering, and the continual bread [of the Presence] shall be on it. ⁸ They shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover that with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its carrying poles. ⁹ Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps, its wick cutters, its trays, and all the oil vessels, by which it is supplied; ¹⁰ and they shall put the lampstand and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin, and shall put it on the carrying bars. ¹¹ Over the golden [incense] altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and shall insert its carrying poles; ¹² and they shall take all the utensils of the service with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin, and put them on the carrying bars. ¹³ Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar [of burnt offering], and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ They shall also put on it all its utensils with which they minister in connection with it: the pans, the meat-forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a covering of porpoise skin over it, and insert its carrying poles. ¹⁵ When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furniture, as the camp sets out, after all that [is done, but not before], the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them [using the poles], so that they do not touch the holy things, and die. These are the things in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶ “The responsibility of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is the oil for the light, the ^[c]fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ¹⁸ “Do not cut off (eliminate, destroy) the tribe of the families of the Kohathites [who are only Levites and not priests], from among the Levites [by exposing them to the sin of ^[d]touching the most holy things]. ¹⁹ But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march]. ²⁰ But the Kohathites shall not go in to see the holy things, even for an instant, or they will die.”