Numbers 4:1-20
New American Standard Bible
Duties of the Kohathites
4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a [a]census of the [b]descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 3 from (A)thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who can enter the service of ministry to do work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the work of the [c]descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.
5 “When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down (B)the veil of the curtain, and cover the (C)ark of the testimony with it; 6 and they shall place a (D)covering of [d]fine leather on it, and spread over it a cloth of pure [e]violet, and insert its carrying poles. 7 Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of violet and put on it the dishes, the pans, the sacrificial bowls, and the jugs for the drink offering; and (E)the continual bread shall be on it. 8 And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles. 9 Then they shall take a violet cloth and cover the (F)lampstand for the light, (G)along with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its oil containers, by which they attend to it; 10 and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying [f]bars. 11 Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles; 12 and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a violet cloth and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying [g]bars. 13 Then they shall clean away the [h]ashes from the (H)altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks, shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of fine leather over it and insert its carrying poles. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects (I)and die. These are the [i]things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 “Now the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is (J)the oil for the light, the (K)fragrant incense, (L)the continual grain offering, and (M)the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the [j]tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 “Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites. 19 Rather, do this for them so that they will live and (N)not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; 20 but (O)they shall not come in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 4:2 Lit sum
- Numbers 4:2 Lit sons
- Numbers 4:4 Lit sons
- Numbers 4:6 Meaning of the Heb uncertain, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 4:6 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 4:10 Or frame
- Numbers 4:12 Or frame
- Numbers 4:13 Or fatty ashes; i.e., soaked with fat
- Numbers 4:15 Lit burden...of the sons
- Numbers 4:16 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
Numbers 4:1-20
Christian Standard Bible
Duties of the Kohathites
4 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Among the Levites, take a census of the Kohathites(A) by their clans and their ancestral families,[a] 3 men from thirty years old to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified[b] to do work at the tent of meeting.
4 “The service of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting concerns the most holy objects.(B) 5 Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.(C) 6 They are to place over this a covering made of fine leather,[c](D) spread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles.(E)
7 “They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and place the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to be on it.(F) 8 They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with a covering made of fine leather, and insert the poles in the table.(G)
9 “They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand(H) used for light, with its lamps, snuffers, and firepans,(I) as well as its jars of oil by which they service it. 10 Then they are to place it with all its utensils inside a covering made of fine leather and put them on the carrying frame.
11 “They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar,(J) cover it with a covering made of fine leather, and insert its poles.(K) 12 They are to take all the serving utensils they use in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made of fine leather, and put them on a carrying frame.
13 “They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it, 14 and place all the equipment on it that they use in serving: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and basins—all the equipment of the altar.(L) They are to spread a covering made of fine leather over it and insert its poles.[d](M)
15 “Aaron and his sons are to finish covering the holy objects and all their equipment whenever the camp is to move on. The Kohathites will come and carry them, but they are not to touch the holy objects or they will die.(N) These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the tent of meeting.
16 “Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has oversight of the lamp oil,(O) the fragrant incense,(P) the daily grain offering,(Q) and the anointing oil.(R) He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, the holy objects and their utensils.”[e]
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 18 “Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be wiped out from the Levites. 19 Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects:(S) Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty. 20 The Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects as they are covered[f] or they will die.”
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- 4:2 Lit the house of their fathers, also in vv. 22,29,34,38,40,42,46
- 4:3 Lit everyone entering the service
- 4:6 Hb obscure, also in vv. 8,10,11,12,14,25
- 4:14 Sam, LXX add They are to take a purple cloth and cover the wash basin and its base. They are to place them in a covering made of fine leather and put them on the carrying frame.
- 4:16 Or the sanctuary and its furnishings
- 4:20 Or objects, even long enough to swallow,
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