Numbers 4

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:

² ‘Take a census of those Levites who are sons of Kohath, by clans and families:

³ count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those fit to bear arms, who are liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴ ‘These are the duties of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting: they are to have charge of the most holy things.

⁵ ‘When camp is broken, Aaron and his sons are to come and take down the veil of the screen. With it they must cover up the ark of the Testimony.

⁶ On top of this they must put a covering of fine leather, and spread over the whole a cloth all of violet. Then they are to fix the poles to the ark.

⁷ ‘Over the offertory table they are to spread a violet cloth, and put on it the dishes, cups, bowls and libation jars; the bread of perpetual offering is also to be on it.

⁸ Over these they must spread a cloth of scarlet and cover the whole with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to the table.

⁹ ‘They are then to take a cloth of violet and cover the light-bearing lamp-stand, together with the lamps, snuffers, trays and all the oil jars that belong to it.

¹⁰ They are to put it, with all its accessories, on a covering of fine leather and place it on the litter.

¹¹ ‘Over the golden altar they must spread a violet cloth, and cover that with a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.

¹² ‘They are also to take all the other objects used in the service of the sanctuary. They must put them all on a violet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and place them together on the litter.

¹³ ‘When they have removed the ashes from the altar,[*a] they must spread a scarlet cloth over it,

¹⁴ and place on this all the objects used in the liturgical service, the fire pans, hooks, scoops, sprinkling basins and all the altar vessels. Over the whole they must spread a covering of fine leather. Then they are to fix the poles to it.

¹⁵ ‘When Aaron and his sons have finished covering all the sacred objects and all their accessories at the breaking of camp, the sons of Kohath are to come to take up the burden, but without touching any of the sacred things; otherwise they would die. This is the charge entrusted to the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶ It is to fall to Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to watch over the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the perpetual oblation and the chrism; he must watch over the whole tabernacle and everything in it: the sacred objects and their accessories.’

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:

¹⁸ ‘Do not cut off the tribe of the clans of Kohath from the number of the Levites.

¹⁹ But deal with them in this way, so that they may live on and not incur death when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons must go in and assign to each of them his task and his burden.

²⁰ In this way they can go in and yet cast not their eyes, even for a moment, on any of the holy things; if they did, they would die.’

²¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said to him:

²² ‘Take a census also of the sons of Gershon, by families and clans:

²³ count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those fit to bear arms, who are liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴ ‘These are the duties of the Gershonite clans, their functions and their burdens.

²⁵ They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering and the covering of fine leather that goes over it, the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

²⁶ the hangings of the court, the screen for the entrance to the court that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, the cords and all the accessories, and all the necessary equipment. ‘They are to be responsible for these things.

²⁷ All the duties of the sons of Gershon – their functions and their tasks – are to be carried out under the direction of Aaron and his sons: you must see that they fulfil their charge.

²⁸ Such shall be the duties of the Gershonite clans in the Tent of Meeting. Their work will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ ‘You are to count the sons of Merari, by clans and families.

³⁰ Count all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, those fit to bear arms, who are liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

³¹ ‘The burden they are to carry and the duties that are to fall to them in the Tent of Meeting shall be as follows: the framework of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts and sockets,

³² the posts around the court with their sockets, pegs, cords and all their tackle. You are to draw up a list of their names with the burden that each man must carry.

³³ ‘These are the duties of the Merarite clans. All their duties in the Tent of Meeting will be supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.’

³⁴ Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community took a census of the sons of Kohath, by clans and families:

³⁵ of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, fit to bear arms and liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

³⁶ The total of their clans was two thousand seven hundred and fifty men.

³⁷ This was the number of the Kohathite clans, of all those who were liable for service in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the bidding of Yahweh given through Moses.

³⁸ A census was taken of the sons of Gershon, by clans and families:

³⁹ of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, fit to bear arms and liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁰ By clans and families the total was two thousand six hundred and thirty men.

⁴¹ This was the number of the Gershonite clans, of all those who were liable for service in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the bidding of Yahweh.

⁴² A census was taken of the clans of the sons of Merari, by clans and families:

⁴³ of every man between thirty and fifty years of age, fit to bear arms and liable for service in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴ The total of their clans was three thousand two hundred men.

⁴⁵ This was the number of the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the bidding of Yahweh through Moses.

⁴⁶ The total number of Levites, counted according to clans and families by Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel-

⁴⁷ all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, fit to bear arms and liable for serving or carrying in the Tent of Meeting-

⁴⁸ amounted to eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

⁴⁹ At the bidding of Yahweh through Moses, the census was taken to assign to every man his duty and his task; they were numbered as Yahweh had ordered Moses.