Numbers 4-6

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 4

Duties Further Defined. ¹ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² Take a census among the Levites of the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses, ³ all between thirty^[a] and fifty years of age, who will join the personnel for doing tasks in the tent of meeting.^(A)

⁴ This is the task of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting: the most sacred objects. ⁵ In breaking camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain^[b] and cover the ark of the covenant with it. ⁶ Over these they shall put a cover of yellow-orange skin, and on top of this spread an all-violet cloth and put the poles in place. ⁷ On the table of the Presence they shall spread a violet cloth and put on it the plates and cups, as well as the bowls and pitchers for libations; the established bread offering shall remain on the table. ⁸ Over these they shall spread a scarlet cloth and cover it with a covering of yellow-orange skin, and put the poles in place. ⁹ They shall use a violet cloth to cover the menorah of the light with its lamps, tongs, and trays, as well as the various containers of oil from which it is supplied. ¹⁰ The menorah with all its utensils they shall then put in a covering of yellow-orange skin, and place on a litter. ¹¹ Over the golden altar^[c] they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover this also with a covering of yellow-orange skin, and put the poles in place. ¹² Taking the utensils of the sanctuary service, they shall put them all in violet cloth and cover them with a covering of yellow-orange skin. They shall then place them on a litter. ¹³ After cleansing the altar^[d] of its ashes, they shall spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ On this they shall put all the utensils with which it is served: the fire pans, forks,^[e] shovels, basins, and all the utensils of the altar. They shall then spread a covering of yellow-orange skin over this, and put the poles in place.

¹⁵ Only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all their utensils on breaking camp, can the Kohathites enter to carry them. But they shall not touch the sacred objects; if they do they will die.^(B) These, then, are the objects in the tent of meeting that the Kohathites shall carry.

¹⁶ Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, shall be in charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the established grain offering, and the anointing oil. He shall be in charge of the whole tabernacle with all the sacred objects and utensils that are in it.

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ¹⁸ Do not let the group of Kohathite clans perish from among the Levites. ¹⁹ That they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects, this is what you shall do for them: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign to each of them his task and what he must carry; ²⁰ but the Kohathites shall not go in to look upon the sacred objects even for an instant, or they will die.^(C)

²¹ The Lord said to Moses: ²² Take a census of the Gershonites also, by ancestral houses and clans, ²³ enrolling all between thirty and fifty years of age who will join the personnel to do the work in the tent of meeting. ²⁴ This is the task of the clans of the Gershonites, what they must do and what they must carry: ²⁵ they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting with its covering and the outer wrapping of yellow-orange skin, the curtain at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the hangings of the court, the curtain at the entrance to the gate of the court that encloses both the tabernacle and the altar, together with their ropes and all other objects necessary for their use. Whatever is to be done to maintain these things, they shall do. ²⁷ The service of the Gershonites shall be entirely under the direction of Aaron and his sons, with regard to what they must carry and what they must do; you shall list for them by name what they are to carry. ²⁸ This, then, is the task of the clans of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and they shall be under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ The Merarites, too, you shall enroll by clans and ancestral houses, ³⁰ enrolling all between thirty and fifty years of age who will join the personnel to maintain the tent of meeting. ^31 (D)This is what they shall be responsible for carrying, with respect to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle with its bars, columns and pedestals, ³² and the columns of the surrounding court with their pedestals, pegs and ropes, including all their accessories and everything for their maintenance. You shall list by name the objects they shall be responsible for carrying. ³³ This, then, is the task of the clans of the Merarites with respect to all their service in the tent of meeting under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

Number of Adult Levites. ³⁴ So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community enrolled the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses, ³⁵ all between thirty and fifty years of age who will join the personnel to work in the tent of meeting; ³⁶ their enrollment by clans was two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷ Such was the enrollment of the clans of the Kohathites, everyone who was to serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses enrolled, together with Aaron, as the Lord directed through Moses.

³⁸ As for the enrollment of the Gershonites, by clans and ancestral houses, ³⁹ all between thirty and fifty years of age who will join the personnel to work in the tent of meeting— ⁴⁰ their enrollment by clans and ancestral houses was two thousand six hundred and thirty. ⁴¹ Such was the enrollment of the clans of the Gershonites, everyone who was to serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses enrolled, together with Aaron, as the Lord directed.

⁴² As for the enrollment of the clans of the Merarites, by clans and ancestral houses, ⁴³ all from thirty up to fifty years of age who will join the personnel to work in the tent of meeting— ⁴⁴ their enrollment by clans was three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵ Such was the enrollment of the clans of the Merarites, whom Moses enrolled, together with Aaron, as the Lord directed through Moses.

⁴⁶ As for the total enrollment of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron and the Israelite leaders had made, by clans and ancestral houses, ⁴⁷ all between thirty and fifty years of age who were to undertake tasks of service or transport for the tent of meeting— ⁴⁸ their total enrollment was eight thousand five hundred and eighty. ⁴⁹ As the Lord directed through Moses, they gave each of them their assignments for service and for transport; just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Chapter 5

The Unclean Expelled. ¹ The Lord said to Moses: ² Order the Israelites to expel from camp everyone with a scaly infection, and everyone suffering from a discharge, and everyone who has become unclean by contact with a corpse.^{[f](E) 3} Male and female alike, you shall expel them. You shall expel them from the camp so that they do not defile their camp, where I dwell in their midst.^{(F) 4} This the Israelites did, expelling them from the camp; just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

Unjust Possession.^{[g] 5} The Lord said to Moses: ^6 (G)Tell the Israelites: If a man or a woman commits any offense against another person, thus breaking faith with the Lord, and thereby becomes guilty, ⁷ that person shall confess the wrong that has been done, make restitution in full, and in addition give one fifth of its value to the one that has been wronged. ⁸ However, if there is no next of kin,^[h] one to whom restitution can be made, the restitution shall be made to the Lord and shall fall to the priest; this is apart from the ram of atonement with which the priest makes atonement for the guilty individual. ⁹ Likewise, every contribution among the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to him.^{(H) 10} Each shall possess his own sacred offerings; what is given to a priest shall be his.^(I)

Ordeal for Suspected Adultery. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses: ¹² Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If a man’s wife goes astray and becomes unfaithful to him ¹³ by virtue of a man having intercourse with her^(J) in secret from her husband and she is able to conceal the fact that she has defiled herself for lack of a witness who might have caught her in the act; ¹⁴ or if a man is overcome by a feeling of jealousy that makes him suspect his wife, and she has defiled herself; or if a man is overcome by a feeling of jealousy that makes him suspect his wife and she has not defiled herself— ¹⁵ then the man shall bring his wife to the priest as well as an offering on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah^[i] of barley meal. However, he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense over it, since it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.

¹⁶ The priest shall first have the woman come forward and stand before the Lord. ¹⁷ In an earthen vessel he shall take holy water,^[j] as well as some dust from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.^{(K) 18} Making the woman stand before the Lord, the priest shall uncover her head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, that is, the grain offering of jealousy, while he himself shall hold the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹ Then the priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, “If no other man has had intercourse with you, and you have not gone astray by defiling yourself while under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you”— ²¹ so shall the priest adjure the woman with this imprecation—“may the Lord make you a curse and malediction^[k] among your people by causing your uterus to fall and your belly to swell! ²² May this water, then, that brings a curse, enter your bowels to make your belly swell and your uterus fall!”^(L) And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”^{[l] 23} The priest shall put these curses in writing and shall then wash them off into the water of bitterness, ²⁴ and he will have the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water that brings a curse may enter into her to her bitter hurt. ²⁵ But first the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and having elevated the grain offering before the Lord, shall bring it to the altar, ²⁶ where he shall take a handful of the grain offering as a token offering and burn it on the altar.^(M) Only then shall he have the woman drink the water. ²⁷ Once he has had her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter into her to her bitter hurt, and her belly will swell and her uterus will fall, so that she will become a curse among her people. ²⁸ If, however, the woman has not defiled herself, but is still pure, she will be immune and will still be fertile.

²⁹ This, then, is the ritual for jealousy when a woman goes astray while under the authority of her husband and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when such a feeling of jealousy comes over a man that he becomes suspicious of his wife; he shall have her stand before the Lord, and the priest shall perform this entire ritual for her. ³¹ The man shall be free from punishment,^[m] but the woman shall bear her punishment.

Chapter 6

Laws Concerning Nazirites. ¹ The Lord said to Moses: ² Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When men or women solemnly take the nazirite^[n] vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, ³ they shall abstain from wine and strong drink;^(N) they may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes. ⁴ As long as they are nazirites they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine; not even the seeds or the skins. ⁵ While they are under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch their hair.^(O) Until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their heads grow freely. ⁶ As long as they are dedicated to the Lord, they shall not come near a dead person.^{(P) 7} Not even for their father or mother, sister or brother, should they defile themselves, when these die, since their heads bear their dedication to God. ⁸ As long as they are nazirites they are holy to the Lord.

⁹ If someone dies very suddenly in their presence, defiling their dedicated heads, they shall shave their heads on the day of their purification, that is, on the seventh day. ¹⁰ On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ The priest shall offer up the one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for them for the sin they committed with respect to the corpse. On the same day they shall reconsecrate their heads ¹² and rededicate themselves to the Lord for the period of their dedication, bringing a yearling lamb as a reparation offering. The previous period is not valid, because they defiled their dedicated heads.

¹³ This is the ritual for the nazirites:^(Q) When the period of their dedication is complete they shall go to the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹⁴ bringing their offerings to the Lord, one unblemished yearling lamb for a burnt offering, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a purification offering, one unblemished ram as a communion offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened cakes of bran flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offerings and libations. ¹⁶ The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer up the purification offering and the burnt offering for them. ¹⁷ He shall then offer up the ram as a communion sacrifice to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened cakes, and the priest will offer the grain offering and libation. ¹⁸ Then at the entrance of the tent of meeting the nazirite shall shave his or her dedicated head, take the hair of the dedicated head, and put it in the fire under the communion sacrifice. ¹⁹ After the nazirite has shaved off the dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them in the hands of the nazirite. ²⁰ The priest shall then elevate them as an elevated offering before the Lord. They are an offering belonging to the priest, along with the brisket of the elevated offering and the leg of the contribution. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.

²¹ This, then, is the law for the nazirites, that is, what they vow as their offering to the Lord in accord with their dedication, apart from anything else which their means may allow. In keeping with the vow they take so shall they do, according to the law of their dedication.

The Priestly Blessing. ²² The Lord said to Moses: ²³ Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁷ So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.