Numbers 4
New King James Version
Duties of the Sons of Kohath
4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “Take a census of the sons of (A)Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, 3 (B)from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.
4 (C)“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to (D)the most holy things: 5 When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down (E)the covering veil and cover the (F)ark of the Testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of (G)blue; and they shall insert (H)its poles.
7 “On the (I)table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the [a]pitchers for pouring; and the (J)showbread[b] shall be on it. 8 They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. 9 And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the (K)lampstand of the light, (L)with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it. 10 Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam.
11 “Over (M)the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. 12 Then they shall take all the (N)utensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam. 13 Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the [c]basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then (O)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; (P)but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.
“(Q)These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 “The appointed duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is (R)the oil for the light, the (S)sweet incense, (T)the daily grain offering, the (U)anointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, of all 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 the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; 19 but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach (V)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and [d]appoint each of them to his service and his task. 20 (W)But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”
Duties of the Sons of Gershon
21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 22 “Also take a census of the sons of (X)Gershon, by their fathers’ house, by their families. 23 (Y)From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. 24 This is the (Z)service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: 25 (AA)They shall carry the (AB)curtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its covering, the covering of (AC)badger skins that is on it, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26 the screen for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and altar, and their cords, all the furnishings for their service and all that is made for these things: so shall they serve.
27 “Aaron and his sons shall [e]assign all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their tasks and all their service. And you shall [f]appoint to them all their tasks as their duty. 28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting. And their duties shall be (AD)under the [g]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Duties of the Sons of Merari
29 “As for the sons of (AE)Merari, you shall number them by their families and by their fathers’ house. 30 (AF)From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 31 And (AG)this is (AH)what they must carry as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting: (AI)the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, 32 and the pillars around the court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, with all their furnishings and all their service; and you shall (AJ)assign to each man by name the items he must carry. 33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting, under the [h]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
Census of the Levites
34 (AK)And Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ house, 35 from thirty (AL)years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting; 36 and those who were numbered by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37 These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
38 And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ house, 39 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— 40 those who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41 (AM)These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.
42 Those of the families of the sons of Merari who were numbered, by their families, by their fathers’ [i]house, 43 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— 44 those who were numbered by their families were three thousand two hundred. 45 These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered (AN)according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
46 All who were (AO)numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, 47 (AP)from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting— 48 those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49 According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, (AQ)each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, (AR)as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 4:7 jars for the drink offering
- Numbers 4:7 Lit. continual bread
- Numbers 4:14 bowls
- Numbers 4:19 assign
- Numbers 4:27 command
- Numbers 4:27 assign
- Numbers 4:28 Lit. hand
- Numbers 4:33 Lit. hand
- Numbers 4:42 household
Numbers 4
New International Reader's Version
The Families of Kohath
4 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Count the Levites who belong to the families of Kohath. Make a list of them family by family. 3 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting.
4 “Here is the work the men of Kohath must do at the tent of meeting. They must take care of the things that are very holy. 5 When the camp is ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent. They must take down the curtain that hides the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. They must cover the ark with the curtain. 6 Then they must cover that with strong leather. They must spread a solid blue cloth over the leather. And they must put the poles in place.
7 “They must spread a blue cloth over the table for the holy bread. They must put the plates, dishes and bowls on the cloth. They must also put the jars for drink offerings on it. The bread that is always kept there must remain on it. 8 They must spread a bright red cloth over everything. Then they must cover that with the strong leather. And they must put the poles of the table in place.
9 “They must get a blue cloth. With it they must cover the lampstand that gives light. They must also cover its lamps, trays and wick cutters. And they must cover all its jars. The jars are for the olive oil used in the lampstand. 10 Then Aaron and his sons must wrap the lampstand and all the things used with it. They must cover it with the strong leather. And they must put it on a frame to carry it.
11 “They must spread a blue cloth over the gold altar for burning incense. They must cover that with the strong leather. And they must put the poles of the altar in place.
12 “They must get all the things used for serving in the sacred tent. They must wrap them in a blue cloth. They must cover that with the strong leather. Then they must put those things on a frame to carry them.
13 “They must remove the ashes from the bronze altar for burnt offerings. They must spread a purple cloth over it. 14 Then they must place all the tools on it. The tools are used for serving at the altar. They include the pans for carrying ashes. They also include the meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Aaron and his sons must cover the altar with the strong leather. And they must put its poles in place.
15 “Aaron and his sons must cover all the holy things that belong to the holy tent. Only then are the men of Kohath to come and carry everything. They must do so only when the camp is ready to move. But they must not touch the holy things. If they do, they will die. The men of Kohath must carry everything in the tent of meeting.
16 “Eleazar the priest will be in charge of the olive oil for the light. He is the son of Aaron. Eleazar will be in charge of the sweet-smelling incense. He will be in charge of the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He will be in charge of the entire holy tent. He will also be in charge of everything in it. That includes all the things that belong to the tent.”
17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 18 “Make sure that the Kohath families are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 I want them to live and not die when they come near the very holy things. So here is what you must do for them. Aaron and his sons must go into the sacred tent and tell each man what to do. They must tell each man what to carry. 20 But the men of Kohath must not go in and look at the holy things. They must not look at them even for a moment. If they do, they will die.”
The Families of Gershon
21 The Lord said to Moses, 22 “Count the families of Gershon. Make a list of them family by family. 23 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting.
24 “Here is how the families of Gershon must serve. They must carry things. 25 They must carry the curtains of the holy tent of meeting. They must carry its covering and the outside covering of strong leather. They must carry the curtains that cover the entrance to the tent of meeting. 26 They must carry the curtains of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent and altar. They must carry the curtain for the entrance. They must carry the ropes. They must also carry all the supplies used for any purpose in the tent. The families of Gershon must do everything that needs to be done with those things. 27 All their work must be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. That includes carrying and everything else they do. Aaron and his sons must tell them what to carry. And that will be their work. 28 It is what the families of Gershon must do at the tent of meeting. They must work under the direction of Ithamar the priest. He is the son of Aaron.
The Families of Merari
29 “Count the families of Merari. Count them family by family. 30 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting. 31 Here is the work they must do at the tent of meeting. They must carry the frames of the holy tent. They must carry its crossbars, posts and bases. 32 They must also carry the posts of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent. And they must carry the bases for the posts as well as their tent stakes and ropes. They must also carry all the supplies and everything connected with their use. Tell each man exactly what to carry. 33 That is the work the families of Merari must do at the tent of meeting. They must work under the direction of Ithamar the priest. He is the son of Aaron.”
Counting the Families of the Levites
34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the men of Kohath. They counted them family by family.
35 They counted all the men from 30 to 50 years old. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 36 There were 2,750 men. They were counted family by family. 37 That was the total of all the men in the families of Kohath who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
38 The men of Gershon were counted family by family.
39 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 40 There were 2,630 men. They were counted family by family. 41 That was the total of the men in the families of Gershon who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded.
42 The men of Merari were counted family by family.
43 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 44 There were 3,200 men. They were counted family by family. 45 That was the total of the men in the families of Merari. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
46 So Moses and Aaron counted all the Levites. The leaders of Israel helped them. They counted the Levites family by family. 47 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. They were also supposed to carry it. 48 The total number of men was 8,580. 49 Everything was done as the Lord had commanded through Moses. Each man was given his work. And each one was told what to carry.
So they were counted, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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