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Numbers 4

New International Reader’s Version



1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 ‘Count the Levites who belong to the families of Kohath. Make a list of them family by family. 3 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting. 4 ‘Here is the work the men of Kohath must do at the tent of meeting. They must take care of the things that are very holy. 5 When the camp is ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent. They must take down the curtain that hides the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. They must cover the ark with the curtain. 6 Then they must cover that with strong leather. They must spread a solid blue cloth over the leather. And they must put the poles in place. 7 ‘They must spread a blue cloth over the table for the holy bread. They must put the plates, dishes and bowls on the cloth. They must also put the jars for drink offerings on it. The bread that is always kept there must remain on it. 8 They must spread a bright red cloth over everything. Then they must cover that with the strong leather. And they must put the poles of the table in place. 9 ‘They must get a blue cloth. With it they must cover the lampstand that gives light. They must also cover its lamps, trays and wick cutters. And they must cover all its jars. The jars are for the olive oil used in the lampstand. 10 Then Aaron and his sons must wrap the lampstand and all the things used with it. They must cover it with the strong leather. And they must put it on a frame to carry it. 11 ‘They must spread a blue cloth over the gold altar for burning incense. They must cover that with the strong leather. And they must put the poles of the altar in place. 12 ‘They must get all the things used for serving in the sacred tent. They must wrap them in a blue cloth. They must cover that with the strong leather. Then they must put those things on a frame to carry them. 13 ‘They must remove the ashes from the bronze altar for burnt offerings. They must spread a purple cloth over it. 14 Then they must place all the tools on it. The tools are used for serving at the altar. They include the pans for carrying ashes. They also include the meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Aaron and his sons must cover the altar with the strong leather. And they must put its poles in place. 15 ‘Aaron and his sons must cover all the holy things that belong to the holy tent. Only then are the men of Kohath to come and carry everything. They must do so only when the camp is ready to move. But they must not touch the holy things. If they do, they will die. The men of Kohath must carry everything in the tent of meeting. 16 ‘Eleazar the priest will be in charge of the olive oil for the light. He is the son of Aaron. Eleazar will be in charge of the sweet-smelling incense. He will be in charge of the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He will be in charge of the entire holy tent. He will also be in charge of everything in it. That includes all the things that belong to the tent.’ 17 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 18 ‘Make sure that the Kohath families are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 I want them to live and not die when they come near the very holy things. So here is what you must do for them. Aaron and his sons must go into the sacred tent and tell each man what to do. They must tell each man what to carry. 20 But the men of Kohath must not go in and look at the holy things. They must not look at them even for a moment. If they do, they will die.’ 



21 The LORD said to Moses, 22 ‘Count the families of Gershon. Make a list of them family by family. 23 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting. 24 ‘Here is how the families of Gershon must serve. They must carry things. 25 They must carry the curtains of the holy tent of meeting. They must carry its covering and the outside covering of strong leather. They must carry the curtains that cover the entrance to the tent of meeting. 26 They must carry the curtains of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent and altar. They must carry the curtain for the entrance. They must carry the ropes. They must also carry all the supplies used for any purpose in the tent. The families of Gershon must do everything that needs to be done with those things. 27 All their work must be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. That includes carrying and everything else they do. Aaron and his sons must tell them what to carry. And that will be their work. 28 It is what the families of Gershon must do at the tent of meeting. They must work under the direction of Ithamar the priest. He is the son of Aaron. 



29 ‘Count the families of Merari. Count them family by family. 30 Count all the men 30 to 50 years old. Those are the men who must come and serve at the tent of meeting. 31 Here is the work they must do at the tent of meeting. They must carry the frames of the holy tent. They must carry its crossbars, posts and bases. 32 They must also carry the posts of the courtyard. The courtyard is all around the holy tent. And they must carry the bases for the posts as well as their tent stakes and ropes. They must also carry all the supplies and everything connected with their use. Tell each man exactly what to carry. 33 That is the work the families of Merari must do at the tent of meeting. They must work under the direction of Ithamar the priest. He is the son of Aaron.’ 



34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the men of Kohath. They counted them family by family. 35 They counted all the men from 30 to 50 years old. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 36 There were 2,750 men. They were counted family by family. 37 That was the total of all the men in the families of Kohath who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the LORD had commanded through Moses. 38 The men of Gershon were counted family by family. 39 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 40 There were 2,630 men. They were counted family by family. 41 That was the total of the men in the families of Gershon who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the LORD had commanded. 42 The men of Merari were counted family by family. 43 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. 44 There were 3,200 men. They were counted family by family. 45 That was the total of the men in the families of Merari. Moses and Aaron counted them. They did just as the LORD had commanded through Moses. 46 So Moses and Aaron counted all the Levites. The leaders of Israel helped them. They counted the Levites family by family. 47 All the men from 30 to 50 years old were counted. They were the men who came and served at the tent of meeting. They were also supposed to carry it. 48 The total number of men was 8,580. 49 Everything was done as the LORD had commanded through Moses. Each man was given his work. And each one was told what to carry. So they were counted, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

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Numbers 4

English Standard Version



1 The 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, 3 from 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) 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. (Nu 4:19) 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. (Ex 25:10; Ex 25:16; Ex 26:31) 6 Then 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) 7 And 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) 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. (Ex 25:15; Ex 25:28) 9 And 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) 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 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. (Ex 30:1; Ex 30:3) 12 And 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) 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And 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. 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 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) 17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 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, (Nu 4:4) 20 but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” (Ex 19:21; 1Sa 6:19) 21 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans. 23 From 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) 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 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 entrance of the tent of meeting (Ex 26:1; Ex 36:8; Ex 36:14; Ex 36:19; Nu 3:25) 26 and 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. 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 This 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. 30 From 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) 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, (Nu 3:36) 32 and 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) 33 This 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) 34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; (Nu 4:23) 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 This 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) 38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 39 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— (Nu 4:23) 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41 This 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) 42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 43 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— (Nu 4:23) 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 This 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) 46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 47 from 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) 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According 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) 

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