1And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,2Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,3From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.4This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:6And shall put thereon the covering of badgers'skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.7And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:8And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers'skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.9And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:10And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers'skins, and shall put it upon a bar.11And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers'skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:12And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers'skins, and shall put them on a bar:13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:14And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers'skins, and put to the staves of it.15And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it : but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.16And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is , in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.17And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,18Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:19But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:20But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.21And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,22Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;23From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.24This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:25And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers'skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,26And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve.27At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.28This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.29As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;30From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.31And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,32And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.34And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,35From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:36And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.37These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.38And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,39From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,40Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.41These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD.42And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,43From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,44Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.45These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.46All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,47From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,48Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.49According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Numbers 4
English Standard Version
Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites
1The 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,3from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. (Nu 4:23; Nu 4:30; Nu 4:35; Nu 4:39; Nu 4:43; Nu 4:47; Nu 8:24; 1Ch 23:3; 1Ch 23:24; 1Ch 23:27)4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. (Nu 4:19)5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. (Ex 25:10; Ex 25:16; Ex 26:31)6Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin[1] and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. (Ex 25:13)7And over the 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; the regular showbread also shall be on it. (Ex 25:23; Ex 25:29; Ex 37:16; Le 24:6; Le 24:8; 2Ch 2:4)8Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. (Ex 25:15; Ex 25:28)9And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. (Ex 25:31)10And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame.11And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. (Ex 30:1; Ex 30:3)12And they shall take all 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. (1Ch 9:28)13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.14And 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.15And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, 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. (Nu 7:9; Nu 10:21; De 31:9; 2Sa 6:6; 1Ch 13:9)16“And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.” (Ex 25:6; Ex 27:20; Ex 29:40; Ex 30:23; Ex 31:11; Le 24:2)17The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,18“Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites,19but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, (Nu 4:4)20but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” (Ex 19:21; 1Sa 6:19)21The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans.23From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. (Ex 38:8; Nu 4:3; Nu 8:24; 1Sa 2:22)24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens:25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting (Ex 26:1; Ex 36:8; Ex 36:14; Ex 36:19; Nu 3:25)26and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them.27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry.28This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. (Nu 4:33)29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses.30From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. (Nu 4:23)31And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, (Nu 3:36)32and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the objects that they are required to carry. (Ex 38:21)33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” (Nu 4:28)34And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,35from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; (Nu 4:23)36and those listed by clans were 2,750.37This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses. (Nu 4:2)38Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,39from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— (Nu 4:23)40those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630.41This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord. (Nu 4:22)42Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,43from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— (Nu 4:23)44those listed by clans were 3,200.45This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses. (Nu 4:29)46All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses,47from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, (Nu 4:23)48those listed were 8,580.49According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, as the Lord commanded Moses. (Nu 4:1; Nu 4:15; Nu 4:21; Nu 4:24; Nu 4:29; Nu 4:31)