The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Numbers 04
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron,
saying,
2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath
from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
3 from 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.
4 “This is the service ofthe sons of Kohath
in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most
holy things.
5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron
shall go in with his sons; and they shall
take down the veil of the screen, cover the
ark of the Testimony with it,
6 put a covering of sealskin on it, spread
a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.
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.
8 They shall spread on them a scarlet
cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
9 “They shall take a blue cloth and cover
the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its
snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil
vessels, with which they minister to it.
10 They shall put it and all its vessels
within a covering of sealskin, and shall put
it on the frame.
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.
12 “They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the
sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover
them with a covering of sealskin, and shall
put them on the frame.
13 “They shall take away the ashes from
the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.
14 They shall put on it all its vessels
with which they minister about it, the fire
pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the
basins—allthe vessels ofthe altar; and they
shall spread on it a covering of sealskin,
and put in its poles.
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. The
sons of Kohath shall carry these things
belonging to the Tent of Meeting.
16 “The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron
the priest shall be the oil for the light, the
sweetincense,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.”
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron,
saying,
18 “Don’t cut off the tribe of the families
of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
19 but do this to them, that they may live,
and not die, when they approach the most
holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in
and appoint everyone to his service and to
his burden;
20 but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”
21 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon
also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;
23 you shall countthem 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.
24 “This is the service of the families of
the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing
burdens:
25 they shall carry the curtains of the
tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its
covering, the covering of sealskin that is
on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of
Meeting,
26 the hangings of the court, the screen
for the door of the gate of the court which
is by the tabernacle and around the altar,
their cords, and allthe instruments oftheir
service, and whatever shall be done with
them. They shall serve in there.
27 Atthe commandment of Aaronandhis
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.
28 This is the service ofthe families ofthe
sons ofthe Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall
be under the hand of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall
count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses;
30 you shall countthem 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.
31 This 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,
32 the pillars of the court around it, their
sockets, their pins, their cords, with all
their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of
the duty of their burden to them by name.
33 This is the service ofthe families ofthe
sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand
of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
34 Moses and Aaron and the princes of
the congregation counted the sons of the
Kohathites by their families, and by their
fathers’ houses,
35 fromthirty years oldandupwardeven
to fifty years old, everyone who entered
into the service for work in the Tent of
Meeting.
36 Those who were counted of them by
their families were two thousand seven
hundred fifty.
37 These are those who were counted
of the families of the Kohathites, all who
servedintheTent ofMeeting, whomMoses
and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
38 Those who were counted of the sons
of Gershon, by their families, and by their
fathers’ houses,
39 fromthirty years oldandupwardeven
to fifty years old—everyone who entered
into the service for work in the Tent of
Meeting,
40 even those who were counted ofthem,
by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
were two thousand six hundred thirty.
41 These are those who were counted
of the families of the sons of Gershon, all
who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom
Moses and Aaron counted according to the
commandment of Yahweh.
42 Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families,
by their fathers’ houses,
43 fromthirty years oldandupwardeven
to fifty years old—everyone who entered
into the service for work in the Tent of
Meeting,
44 even those who were counted of them
by their families, were three thousand two
hundred.
45 These are those who were counted of
the families of the sons of Merari, whom
Moses and Aaron counted according to the
commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
46 All those who were counted of the
Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the
princes of Israel counted, by their families
and by their fathers’ houses,
47 fromthirty years oldandupwardeven
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,
48 even those who were counted ofthem,
were eight thousand five hundred eighty.
49 According to the commandment of
Yahweh they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were
counted by him, as Yahweh commanded
Moses.