Numbers, 4

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

1. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2. 'Take a census by clans and families of the Levites descended from Kohath:

2. "Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and their fathers' houses,

3. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age and eligible for military service, who will have their duties in the Tent of Meeting.

3. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can enter the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

4. 'These are the duties of the Kohathites: looking after those things that are especially holy.

4. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.

5. 'When camp is broken, Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.

5. When 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;

6. Over this, they will put a covering of fine leather, over which they will spread a cloth entirely of violet-purple. They will then fix the poles to the ark.

6. then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

7. 'Over the offertory table they will spread a violet cloth, and on it put the dishes, cups, bowls and libation jars; the bread of permanent offering will also be on it.

7. And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put upon it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the continual bread also shall be on it;

8. Over these they will spread a scarlet cloth and cover the whole with a covering of fine leather. They will then fix the poles to the table.

8. then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.

9. 'They will then take a violet cloth and cover the lamp-stand, its lamps, snuffers, trays and all the oil jars used for it,

9. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its snuffers, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied:

10. and will lay it and all its accessories in a covering of fine leather and put it on the litter.

10. and they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it upon the carrying frame.

11. 'Over the golden altar they will spread a violet cloth, and cover that with a covering of fine leather. They will then fix the poles to it.

11. And 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;

12. 'They will then take all the other objects used in the service of the sanctuary, put them in a violet cloth, with a covering of fine leather, and put it all on the litter.

12. and they shall take all the vessels of the service which 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. 'When they have removed the ashes from the altar, they will spread a scarlet cloth over it,

13. And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it;

14. and on this place all the objects used in the liturgy, the fire pans, hooks, scoops, sprinkling basins and all the altar accessories. Over this they will spread a covering of fine leather. They will then fix the poles to it.

14. and they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.

15. 'Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and all their accessories at the breaking of camp, the Kohathites will come and carry them, but without touching any of the holy things on pain of death. Such is the load for the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting.

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 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 which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16. But Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is responsible for looking after the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily cereal offering and the anointing oil, and for supervising the entire Dwelling and everything in it, the holy things and their accessories.'

16. "And Elea'zar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels."

17. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

17. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

18. 'You must not let the group of Kohathite clans be lost to the rest of the Levites.

18. "Let not the tribe of the families of the Ko'hathites be destroyed from among the Levites;

19. But deal with them in this way, so that they may survive and not incur death by approaching those things that are especially holy. Aaron and his sons will go in and assign to each of them his task and load,

19. but 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,

20. in such a way that they have no need to incur the death penalty by going in and setting eyes on the holy things, even for an instant.'

20. but they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die."

21. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

21. The LORD said to Moses,

22. 'Take a census of the Gershonites by families and clans, too:

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

23. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, who will have their duties in the Tent of Meeting.

23. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who can enter for service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

24. 'These are the duties of the Gershonite clans, their functions and their loads.

24. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens:

25. They will carry the curtaining of the Dwelling, 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,

25. they 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 door of the tent of meeting,

26. the curtaining of the court, the screen for the entrance to the court surrounding the Dwelling and the altar, the cords, all the accessories for worship, and all the necessary equipment. 'They will be responsible for these things.

26. and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which 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.

27. All the duties of the Gershonites, their functions and their loads, will be carried out under the direction of Aaron and his sons: you will see that they fulfil their charge.

27. All 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.

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

28. This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their work is to be under the oversight of Ith'amar the son of Aaron the priest.

29. 'You will take a census of the Merarites by clans and families.

29. "As for the sons of Merar'i, you shall number them by their families and their fathers' houses;

30. You will take a census of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, who will have their duties in the Tent of Meeting.

30. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, every one that can enter the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.

31. 'The load they carry and the duties incumbent on them in the Tent of Meeting will be as follows: the framework of the Dwelling, its cross-bars, poles and sockets,

31. And 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,

32. the poles round the court with their sockets, pegs, cords and all their tackle. You will draw up a list of their names with the loads for which each is responsible.

32. and the pillars of the court round about with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories; and you shall assign by name the objects which they are required to carry.

33. 'Such 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.'

33. This is the service of the families of the sons of Merar'i, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ith'amar the son of Aaron the priest."

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

34. And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Ko'hathites, by their families and their fathers' houses,

35. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent of Meeting.

35. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting;

36. The number of men counted in their clans came to two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

36. and their number by families was two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37. Such was the total number of men in the Kohathite clans who were eligible for duties in the Tent of Meeting and whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's bidding through Moses.

37. This was the number of the families of the Ko'hathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

38. A census was taken of the Gershonites by clans and families:

38. The number of the sons of Gershon, by their families and their fathers' houses,

39. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent of Meeting.

39. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting --

40. The number of men counted in their clans and families came to two thousand six hundred and thirty.

40. their number by their families and their fathers' houses was two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41. Such was the total number of men in the Gershonite clans who were eligible for duties in the Tent of Meeting, and whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's bidding.

41. This was the number of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.

42. A census was taken of the Merarite clans by clans and families:

42. The number of the families of the sons of Merar'i, by their families and their fathers' houses,

43. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent of Meeting.

43. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting --

44. The number of men counted in their clans came to three thousand two hundred.

44. their number by families was three thousand two hundred.

45. Such was the total number of men in the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's bidding through Moses.

45. These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merar'i, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

46. The total number of Levites whom Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted in their clans and families,

46. All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and their fathers' houses,

47. all the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for religious duties and for those of transporting the Tent of Meeting

47. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,

48. came to eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

48. those who were numbered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

49. At Yahweh's bidding through Moses, a census was taken of them and each man was assigned his duty and load. And so the census was conducted by Moses as Yahweh had ordered him.

49. According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.