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/Chapter 4
4 / 36

Numbers

ESV

Chapter 4

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 enter the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 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, 6and over that they shall put a covering of goatskin, and spread over that a single cloth of blue, and put in its poles. 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. 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. 9And 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. 10And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on a carrying frame. 11Over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 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 a carrying frame. 13They 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. 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 all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.” 17The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18“Do not cut off the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites 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, 20but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” 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 enter for service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: 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, 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 whatever is made for their use, and they shall serve in these things. 27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all that they are to carry and all that they are to do, shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons. And you shall assign to them as a duty all that they are to carry. 28This is the service of the clans of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 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 everyone who can enter the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31And this is the charge of their burden, in full accordance with all their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, its pillars, and its bases, 32and the pillars of the court all around, with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the items that they are to carry. 33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, in full accordance with all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” 34Moses 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 enter service, for work in the tent of meeting; 36and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37These were the men listed 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 through Moses. 38The men 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 enter service, for work in the tent of meeting— 40those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41These were the men listed 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. 42The men 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 enter service, for work in the tent of meeting— 44those listed by their clans were 3,200. 45These are the men listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses. 46All the men 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 enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 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.