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.”