1 Y ahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

2 “ Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

“Number the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi. Number them by their families, by the fathers’ houses,

3 f rom thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

from thirty years old and older, even to fifty years old. Number all who are able to do the work in the meeting tent.

4 “ This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things.

This is the work of the sons of Kohath in the meeting tent to do with the most holy things.

5 W hen the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,

When the people leave to move on, Aaron and his sons will go in and take down the curtain in front of the special box with the Law inside. And they will cover the special box with it.

6 a nd shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

Then they will lay a covering of badgers’ skins on it, and spread a pure blue cloth over that. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it.

7 “ On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.

They will spread a blue cloth over the table of the bread before the Lord. They will put on it the plates, the dishes for special perfume, the pots, and the jars for the drink gift. And the bread will be on it always.

8 T hey shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

They will spread a red cloth over them, and cover that with badgers’ skins. And they will put in its long pieces of wood to carry it.

9 “ They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lamp stand of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.

They will take a blue cloth and cover the lamp-stand for the light, with its lamps, its objects to put out the light, its dishes and all its pots of oil used for the light.

10 T hey shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

They will put the lamp-stand and all its objects in a covering of badgers’ skins. Then they will put it on the long pieces of wood used to carry it.

11 “ On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

They will spread a blue cloth over the altar of gold, and cover it with badgers’ skins. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it.

12 “ They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

They will take all the things used for the work done in the meeting tent. They will put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins. And they will put them on the long pieces of wood to carry them.

13 “ They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.

Then they will take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it.

14 T hey shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

They will put on it all the things used for the work done on the altar: the fire-holders, meat-hooks, objects for picking up the ashes, and the pots. Then they will spread a covering of badgers’ skins over it, and put in the long pieces of wood for carrying it.

15 “ When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

Aaron and his sons will finish covering the holy objects and all the things of the meeting tent, as the people move on. After that the sons of Kohath will come to carry them. In this way they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the meeting tent which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 “ The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

Eleazar the son of Aaron the religious leader will take care of the oil for the light, the special perfume, the grain gift which is always given, and the oil for holy use. He will watch over all the meeting tent and all that is in it, the holy place and its objects.”

17 Y ahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

18 “ Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

“Do not let the family group of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites.

19 b ut thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;

But do this to them so they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects. Aaron and his sons must go in and give each of them their work and what they are to carry.

20 b ut they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

But they must not go in to see the holy objects even for a short time, or they will die.” The Work of the Sons of Gershon

21 Y ahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord said to Moses,

22 “ Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;

“Number the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families.

23 y ou shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, all who go in to do the work in the meeting tent.

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

These are the duties of the families of the Gershonites, in working and in carrying.

25 t hey shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

They will carry the curtains of the meeting tent and the meeting tent with its covering and the covering of badgers’ skins that is over it. They will carry the curtain for the door of the meeting tent,

26 a nd the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there.

the curtains of the open space, and the curtain for the gate of the open space which is around the meeting tent and the altar. And they will carry the ropes for the curtains, and all the things used for their work. They will do whatever needs to be done with them.

27 A t the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

All the work of the sons of the Gershonites will be what Aaron and his sons tell them to do. They will tell them what they are to carry and what work they are to do. You will tell them what things they have a duty to carry.

28 T his is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

This is the work to be done by the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties. The Work of the Sons of Merari

29 “ As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers’ houses;

“As for the sons of Merari, number them by their families and by their fathers’ houses.

30 y ou shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who goes in to do the work of the meeting tent.

31 T his is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

This is what they are to carry for their work in the meeting tent: the wood pieces of the meeting tent, its cross pieces, pillars and its bases.

32 a nd the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden.

And they are to carry the pillars which are around the open space and their bases and their nails and ropes, with all the things used for their work. You will tell each man by name what he is to carry.

33 T his is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, all their work in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties.” The Levites Are Numbered

34 M oses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ houses.

35 f rom thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.

They numbered those who were thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent.

36 T hose who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.

And their number by families was 2, 750.

37 T hese are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who worked in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.

38 T hose who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

The sons of Gershon were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses,

39 f rom thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered.

40 e ven those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.

And the number of their men by their families and by their fathers’ houses was 2, 630.

41 T hese are those who were numbered 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 Yahweh.

These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who were working in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do.

42 T hose who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,

The men of the families of the sons of Merari were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses,

43 f rom thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered.

44 e ven those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.

And the number of their men by their families was 3, 200.

45 T hese are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.

46 A ll those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,

Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered all the men of the Levites by their families and their fathers’ houses,

47 f rom thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who could go in to do the work and the carrying of the meeting tent was numbered.

48 e ven those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.

And the number of their men was 8, 580.

49 A ccording to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

They were each given their work and load to carry, as the Lord told them to do through Moses. So these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had told Moses.