Numbers 4
English Standard Version
Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites
4 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 clans and their fathers' houses, 3 (A)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: (B)the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down (C)the veil of the screen and cover (D)the ark of the testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin[a] and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its (E)poles. 7 And over the (F)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 bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; (G)the regular showbread also shall be on it. 8 Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall (H)put in its poles. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover (I)the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over (J)the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12 And they shall take all (K)the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that (L)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, (M)but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of (N)the oil for the light, the (O)fragrant incense, (P)the regular grain offering, and (Q)the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”
17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to (R)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 (S)but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”
21 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses and by their clans. 23 (T)From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can (U)come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 (V)they shall carry (W)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with (X)its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26 and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be (Y)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers' houses. 30 (Z)From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And (AA)this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall (AB)list by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, (AC)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 35 (AD)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 (AE)This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.
38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 39 (AF)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers' houses were 2,630. 41 (AG)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord.
42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 43 (AH)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 (AI)This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.
46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 47 (AJ)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, (AK)each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, (AL)as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5
Numbers 4
International Standard Version
The Duties of the Descendants of Kohath
4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, 2 “Take a census[a] of the descendants of Kohath from among the descendants of Levi according to their tribes and ancestral houses 3 from 30 years and older through the age of 50 years, from everyone who can enter the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.
4 “Here’s what the descendants of Kohath are to do regarding the Tent of Meeting and what’s inside the Most Holy Place: 5 When the camp is about to travel, Aaron and his sons are to come and take down the veil of the curtain and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it. 6 They are to set a leather-dyed[b] skin covering over it, cover it with a pure blue cloth, and then insert its poles.
7 “They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and on top of it the dishes, pans, bowls, pitchers for drink offerings,[c] and the bread of presence are to be on it continually. 8 They are to spread over them a scarlet cloth and a leather-dyed[d] skin covering and then insert its poles.
9 “They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand for the light with its lamp, lamp-snuffers, censer, and all the utensils for its oil with which they minister. 10 Then they are to put them with all the other[e] utensils on the leather-dyed[f] skin covering and set them on the beams for transport.[g]
11 “On the golden altar, they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a leather-dyed[h] skin covering, and then insert its poles. 12 Then they are to take all the utensils for service with which they minister at the sanctuary, set them on the blue cloth, cover them with the leather-dyed[i] skin covering, and then set them on the beams for transport. 13 They are also to remove the ashes on the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 Then they are to put all the instruments with which they minister there—trays, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the utensils of the altar. They are to spread over it a leather-dyed[j] skin covering and then insert its poles.
15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the utensils of the sanctuary, and the camp is about to travel, then the descendants of Kohath are to come and carry them, but they are not to touch the most sacred objects, so they won’t die. These are the duties of the descendants of Kohath at the Tent of Meeting.”
16 “Now the duty of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest is to maintain the oil for the light, the spiced incense, the daily offerings, andthe oil for anointing, to carry out all the duties of the tent and the sanctuary, and to maintain[k] its utensils.”
Protecting the Descendants of Kohath
17 Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron, 18 “You are not to eliminate the tribe of the families of the descendants of Kohath from the descendants of Levi. 19 But do this for them so that they may live and not die when they approach the Most Holy Place: Aaron and his sons are to go in and set specific responsibilities for each of them to carry out.[l] 20 But they are not to go in to see the sanctuary as it is being covered,[m] so they won’t die.”
Eleazar’s Duties
21 Then the Lord told Moses, 22 “Take a census[n] of the descendants of Gershon according to their ancestral house and tribes. 23 Count their number from between 30 to 50 years old, including everyone who can enter the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.”
Gershonite Responsibilities
24 “These are the responsibilities that the descendants of Gershon are to have: 25 They are to carry the curtain of the tent, the covering of the Tent of Meeting, the dyed leather covering that goes over it, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 26 the hangings for the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tent, the altar, the ropes, all the service utensils, and everything made for them. This is to be their service area. 27 The descendants of Gershon are to carry out the instructions of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign them their responsibilities to carry out. 28 This is the work of the tribes of Gershon at the Tent of Meeting—their duties under the supervision of[o] Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
Merarite Responsibilities
29 “For the descendants of Merari, number them according to their tribes and ancestral houses 30 from 30 to 50 years old as you count them, including everyone who can enter service and perform work at the Tent of Meeting. 31 This is to be their area of responsibility to carry out with respect to their service at the Tent of Meeting: the board of the tent, its bars, its crossbars, its sockets, 32 the pillars around the courtyard, their sockets, their pegs, their ropes, and all the utensils for all their services. Assign the utensils by name to each person whose responsibility it will be to carry them. 33 This is the work of the tribes of the descendants of Merari with reference to their service at the Tent of Meeting under the supervision of Aaron the priest’s son Ithamar.”
Responsibilities are Assigned
34 Moses, Aaron, and the congregational leaders numbered the descendants of Kohath according to their tribes and ancestral houses 35 from 30 to 50 years old—that is, everyone who entered the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting. 36 The total according to their tribe numbered 2,750 37 from the tribe of the descendants of Kohath, everyone who would be serving at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the Lord had said, under the supervision of Moses.
38 The tribes and the ancestral houses of the descendants of Gershon were numbered 39 from 30 to 50 years old; that is, everyone who entered the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting. 40 The total according to their tribes and ancestral house numbered 2,630 41 from the tribes of the descendants of Gershon, everyone who would be serving at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the Lord had said.
42 The tribes and ancestral house of Merari were numbered 43 from 30 to 50 years old; that is, everyone who entered the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting. 44 The total according to their tribes numbered 3,200 45 from the tribes of the descendants of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the Lord had said, under the supervision of Moses.
46 The total of those who were numbered from the descendants of Levi by Moses and Aaron; that is, from the leaders of Israel counted according to their tribes and ancestral houses 47 from 30 to 50 years old, who entered the service for work at the Tent of Meeting 48 was 8,580. 49 They were numbered under the supervision of Moses according to what the Lord had said. Each person was assigned a responsibility to carry out, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 4:2 Lit. Lift the head
- Numbers 4:6 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:7 Or libation
- Numbers 4:8 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:10 The Heb. lacks other
- Numbers 4:10 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:10 Or poles for carrying stuff
- Numbers 4:11 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:12 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:14 Or porpoise; or fine leather
- Numbers 4:16 The Heb. lacks to maintain
- Numbers 4:19 Lit. responsibilities according to his service and to his burden
- Numbers 4:20 I.e. in preparation for travel
- Numbers 4:22 Lit. Lift the head
- Numbers 4:28 Lit. the hand of
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