Numbers 4
4
1And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, 3from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy. 5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it; 6and shall put thereon a covering of badgers' skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves to it. 7And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue; and put thereon the dishes, and the cups, and the bowls, and goblets of the drink-offering; and the continual bread shall be thereon. 8And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it. 9And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-trays, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they perform its service; 10and they shall put it and all the utensils thereof within a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put it upon a pole. 11And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it. 12And they shall take all the instruments of service, wherewith they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put them upon a pole. 13And they shall cleanse the altar of the ashes, and spread a purple cloth thereon; 14and they shall put upon it all the utensils thereof, wherewith they perform service about it: the firepans, the forks, and the shovels, and the bowls, — all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skin, and put its staves to it. 15And when Aaron and his sons have ended covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp setteth forward, then afterwards the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. This is what the sons of Kohath have to carry in the tent of meeting. 16And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have the oversight of the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual oblation, and the anointing oil, — the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its furniture. 17And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18Ye shall not cut off the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites, 19but this shall ye do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they draw near unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden; 20but they shall not go in and see for a moment the holy things, lest they die.
21And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 22Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, according to their fathers' houses, after their families. 23From thirty years old and upward to fifty years old shalt thou number them; every one that cometh to labour in the work, to perform the service in the tent of meeting. 24This shall be the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving, and in carrying: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of badgers' skin that is above upon it, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26and the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance, of the gate of the court, which surroundeth the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof, and all the instruments of their service; and all that is to be done for these things shall they perform. 27At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their carrying, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their carrying. 28This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 29The sons of Merari: after their families, according to their fathers' houses shalt thou number them; 30from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the labour, to perform the service of the tent of meeting. 31And this shall be the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and bases thereof, 32and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, all their instruments, according to all their service; and by name ye shall number to them the materials which are their charge to carry. 33This 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.
34And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the assembly numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, 35from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting. 36And those that were numbered of them according to their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37These are they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, every one that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. 38And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, 39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, 40even those that were numbered of them, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah. 42And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, 44even those that were numbered of them according to their families, were three thousand two hundred. 45These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. 46All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, after their families and according to their fathers' houses, 47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that came to serve in the work of the service, and in the work of carrying, in the tent of meeting, 48even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. 49According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one for his service, and for his burden, and numbered by him, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
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Numbers 4: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Numbers 4
4
Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites
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, 3#ver. 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, 47; [ch. 8:24; 1 Chr. 23:3, 24, 27]from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: #ver. 19the most holy things. 5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down #See Ex. 26:31 the veil of the screen and cover #Ex. 25:10, 16the ark of the testimony with it. 6Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin#4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5 and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its #Ex. 25:13poles. 7And over the #Ex. 25:23, 29, 30; 37:16; Lev. 24:6, 8 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; #2 Chr. 2:4the 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 #[Ex. 25:15, 28]put in its poles. 9And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover #See Ex. 25:31-39the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, 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 the carrying frame. 11And over #Ex. 30:1, 3the 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 #[1 Chr. 9:28, 29]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. 13And they 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 #ch. 7:9; 10:21; Deut. 31:9 the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, #2 Sam. 6:6, 7; 1 Chr. 13:9, 10but 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 #Ex. 25:6; 27:20; Lev. 24:2 the oil for the light, the #Ex. 25:6; 31:11 fragrant incense, #Ex. 29:40, 41 the regular grain offering, and #Ex. 31:11; See Ex. 30:23-33the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”
17The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18“Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to #ver. 4the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20#[Ex. 19:21; 1 Sam. 6:19]but 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. 23#ver. 3 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can #ch. 8:24; [Ex. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22]come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25#[ch. 3:25, 26] they shall carry #See Ex. 26:1-6; 36:8-13 the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with #Ex. 36:14, 19its 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 they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27All 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. 28This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be #ver. 33under 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. 30#[See ver. 23 above]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. 31And #ch. 3:36, 37this 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, 32and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall #Ex. 38:21list by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, #ver. 28under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
34And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35#[See ver. 23 above]from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37#ver. 2This 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.
38Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 39#[See ver. 23 above]from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41#ver. 22This 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.
42Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 43#[See ver. 23 above]from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44those listed by clans were 3,200. 45#ver. 29This 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.
46All 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#[See ver. 23 above]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, 48those listed were 8,580. 49According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, #ver. 15, 24, 31 each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, #ver. 1, 21, 29as the Lord commanded Moses.
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