Numbers 4

1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2Count the heads of Kohath’s sons from among Levi’s sons, according to their clans and ancestral houses.

3From thirty years of age and upward until fifty years of age, everyone who enters service to perform the work in the tent of meeting.

4This is the duty of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, the most holy things.

5When the camp sets out, Aaron shall enter with his sons, and they shall take down the screen's veil and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

6They shall put a covering of badger skin on it, spread an all-blue cloth over it, and put its poles in place.

7They shall spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and place on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups for the drink offering, and the continual bread shall be on it.

8They shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover it with a badger-skin covering, and put its poles in place.

9They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, its lamps, its tongs, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels with which they serve it.

10They shall put it and all its utensils into a covering of badger skin and put it on the pole.

11They shall spread a blue cloth over the golden altar, cover it with a badger-skin covering, and put its poles.

12They shall take all the service vessels with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in blue cloth, cover them with a badger-skin covering, and set them on the pole.

13They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.

14They shall place on it all its vessels with which they minister at it—the firepans, the fleshhooks, the shovels, and the bowls, all the vessels of the altar—and spread a covering of badger skin over it, then insert its poles.

15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy place and all the vessels of the holy place as the camp sets out, afterward the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch the holy things, or they will die. These are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.

16Eleazar son of Aaron the priest oversees the lamp oil, the incense of sweet spices, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil, along with oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it—the sanctuary and its vessels.

17Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

18Do not cut off the tribe of the Kohathite families from among the Levites.

19Do this for them, so they live and do not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall enter and assign each man his service and his burden.

20But they must not enter to see the holy things even for an instant, or they will die.

21Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

22Take a census also of the sons of Gershon, by their fathers' houses, by their families.

23You shall number them from thirty years old upward until fifty years old, everyone who enters to perform service, to carry out the work in the tent of meeting.

24This is the service of the Gershonite families, to serve and bear burdens.

25They shall carry the tabernacle's curtains, the tent of meeting with its covering, the badgerskin covering over it from above, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting.

26and the hangings of the court, the curtain over the entrance to the court's gate—which hangs near the tabernacle and near the altar all around—together with their cords, all the utensils for their service, and everything made for them; thus they will serve.

28This is the service of the Gershonite families in the tent of meeting, and their charge under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

29Number the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers' houses.

30Number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who enters service to perform the work of the tent of meeting.

31This is their charge regarding the load they bear, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets.

32And the pillars around the courtyard, their bases, their tent pegs, and their cords, with all their utensils and all their duties; and by name you shall number the utensils of the charge of their burden.

33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari for all their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

34Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the assembly numbered the sons of the Kohathites according to their families and the houses of their fathers.

35from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service for the work in the tent of meeting.

36Two thousand seven hundred fifty were numbered of them by their families.

37These were those numbered from the Kohathite families, all serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at Yahweh's command by the hand of Moses.

38Those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers' houses,

39from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who enters service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

40Those numbered among them by their families and their fathers' houses were two thousand six hundred thirty.

41These were the ones counted from the families of Gershon's sons, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's command.

42Those numbered from the families of Merari's sons, by their families, by the houses of their fathers.

43from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service for the work in the tent of meeting.

44And those mustered of them by their families were three thousand two hundred.

45These are the ones numbered from the families of Merari's sons, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at Yahweh's word by Moses' hand.

46All those mustered from the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and Israel's chiefs mustered, according to their families and their fathers' houses.

47From thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of serving and the service of carrying burdens in the tent of meeting.

48Those numbered among them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

49According to Yahweh's command they were numbered by Moses' hand, every man according to his service and according to his burden; thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.