Numbers 4
4
The Duties of the Families Descended from Levi’s Sons
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2“Take a census of the Levites who are descended from Kohath. List them by families and households. 3Register all the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who are qualified to work at the tent of meeting.
4“This is the work the Kohathites will do in the tent of meeting: They will take care of the most holy things. 5When the camp is supposed to move, Aaron and his sons will go in and take down the canopy that hangs over the ark containing the words of God’s promise. First they will cover the ark with the canopy. 6Over this they will put a covering of fine leather. On top of that they will spread a cloth made entirely of violet material. Then they will put the poles in place.
7“They will spread a violet cloth over the table of the presence and put on it the plates, dishes, bowls, and pitchers for the wine offerings. The bread that is always in the Lord’s presence will also be on it. 8They will spread a bright red cloth over everything on the table. They will cover all this with fine leather. Then they will put the poles in place.
9“They will take a violet cloth and cover the lamp stand, as well as the lamps, tongs, trays, and all the containers for the olive oil used in the lamps. 10Then they will put the lamp stand and all its utensils under a covering of fine leather and put them on a frame to carry them.
11“They will spread a violet cloth over the gold altar and cover the cloth with fine leather. Then they will put the poles in place.
12“They will take all the articles that are used in the holy place, put them in a violet cloth, cover that with fine leather, and put them on a frame to carry them.
13“After they take the ashes away, they will spread a purple cloth over the altar. 14Next, they will put all the accessories used at the altar on it. These are the trays, forks, shovels, and bowls—all the altar’s accessories. They will spread a covering of fine leather over all this. Then they will put the poles in place.
15“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites will come to carry all the holy articles. They must never touch the holy things, or they will die. The Kohathites will carry all the things from the tent of meeting.
16“Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron, will be in charge of the oil for the lamps, the sweet-smelling incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He is in charge of the whole tent and everything in it, the holy place and its contents.”
17The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18“Don’t let the Kohathite families from Levi’s tribe be destroyed. 19This is what you must do so that they won’t die when they come near the most holy things: Aaron and his sons will go into the holy place and tell each man what he will do and what he will carry. 20But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”
21The Lord said to Moses, 22“Also take a census of the Gershonites. List them by households and families. 23Register all the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who are qualified to serve at the tent of meeting.
24“This is what the Gershonite families will do and what they will carry: 25They will carry the sheets that are part of the inner tent and the tent of meeting. They will also carry the inner cover for the tent of meeting, the outer cover of fine leather that goes over it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26the curtains for the courtyard around the tent and the altar, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes, and all the equipment used to set up the curtains. The Gershonites will do everything that needs to be done with these things. 27All their work, whatever they carry and all their duties, will be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You are in charge of telling them everything they’re supposed to carry. 28This is the work of the Gershonite families in the tent of meeting. Ithamar, son of the priest Aaron, will be in charge of them.
29“Register the Merarites by families and households. 30Register all the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who are qualified to serve at the tent of meeting. 31These are their duties as they work at the tent of meeting: They will carry the framework for the inner tent, the crossbars, posts, and sockets, 32the posts for the surrounding courtyard, the bases, pegs, and ropes. They must take care of all this equipment. Tell each man by name the things he will carry. 33This is what the Merarite families will do as they work at the tent of meeting. Ithamar, son of the priest Aaron, will be in charge of them.”
34Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community registered the Kohathites by their families and households. 35They registered all the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who were qualified to work at the tent of meeting. 36The total of those who were registered was 2,750. They were listed by families. 37This was the total of all those in the Kohathite families who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses and registered the Kohathites.
38The Gershonites were registered by families and households. 39All the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who were qualified to serve at the tent of meeting were registered. 40The total of those who were registered was 2,630. They were listed by families and households. 41This was the total of all those in the Gershonite families who worked at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses and registered the Gershonites.
42The Merarites were registered by families and households. 43All the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who were qualified to serve at the tent of meeting were registered. 44The total of all those who were registered was 3,200. They were listed by families. 45This was the total of those registered in the Merarite families. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses and registered the Merarites.
46The grand total of all the Levites whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel registered was 8,580. They were listed by families and households. 47These were the men between the ages of 30 and 50 who were qualified to do the work of serving and who carried the tent of meeting.#4:47 Verse 48 (in Hebrew) has been placed in verse 46 to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English. 49At the Lord’s command through Moses each man was registered and told what to do and what to carry.
So they were registered as the Lord commanded Moses.
Currently Selected:
Numbers 4: GW
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
B'midbar (Num) 4
4
1(vii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 2“Take a census of the descendants of K’hat, who are among the descendants of Levi, by clans and families, 3all those from thirty to fifty years old; these will enter the corps doing the work in the tent of meeting.
4“Here is how the descendants of K’hat are to serve in the tent of meeting and deal with the especially holy things: 5when the time comes to break camp, Aharon is to go in with his sons, take down the curtain which serves as a screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6On that they are to place a covering of fine leather, and on top of that spread an all-blue cloth. Then they are to insert the carrying-poles. 7On the table of showbread they are to spread a blue cloth and place on it the dishes, incense pans, offering bowls and pitchers. The perpetual bread is to remain on the table. 8They are to spread on these things a scarlet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather and insert the poles. 9They are to take a blue cloth and cover the menorah for the light, its lamps, its tongs, its trays and the jars used to add oil to it. 10They are to wrap it and all its accessories in fine leather and place them on a carrying-frame. 11On the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather and insert its carrying-poles. 12They are to take all the utensils they use when serving in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather and place them on a carrying-frame. 13After removing the greasy ashes from the altar, they are to spread a purple cloth over it 14and place on it all the utensils required for their altar service — the fire pans, meat-hooks, shovels, basins and other utensils for the altar. Then they are to spread over it a fine leather covering and insert its carrying-poles. 15When Aharon and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy utensils, when the camp is about to move forward, then the descendants of K’hat are to come and carry them. But they are not to touch the holy things, so that they won’t die. These things are the responsibility of the descendants of K’hat in the tent of meeting.
16“El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen is to be responsible for the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continuing grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the sanctuary and its furnishings.”
(Maftir) 17Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 18“Do not cut off the clan of K’hat from among the L’vi’im; 19rather, do this for them, so that they will live and not die: when they approach the especially holy things, Aharon and his sons are to go in — and you are to assign each one his task; 20but the descendants of K’hat are not to go in and look at the holy things as they are being covered; if they do, they will die.”
Haftarah B’midbar: Hoshea (Hosea) 2:1(1:10)–2:22(20)
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B’midbar: Luke 2:1–7; 1 Corinthians 12:12–31
Parashah 35: Naso (Take) 4:21–7:89
21Adonai said to Moshe, 22“Take a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by clans and families; 23count all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will enter the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.
24“The Gershon families are to be responsible for serving and for transporting loads. 25They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the fine leather covering above it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26the tapestries for the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard by the tabernacle and around the altar, along with the ropes and all the utensils they need for their service; and they are to do the work connected with these things. 27Aharon and his sons are to supervise all the work of the Gershon clan in transporting loads and serving, and to assign them who is to carry what. 28This is how the Gershon families are to serve in the tent of meeting, and they are to be under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.
29“As for the descendants of M’rari, take a census by clans and families 30of all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will be in the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.
31“Their service for the tent of meeting will be to carry the frames, crossbars, posts and sockets of the tabernacle; 32also the posts for the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, tent pegs, ropes and other accessories, and everything having to do with their service. You are to assign particular loads to specific persons by name. 33This is how the M’rari families are to serve in the tent of meeting, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.”
(S: ii) 34Moshe, Aharon and the community leaders took a census of the descendants of K’hat by their clans and families, 35all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting. 36Registered by their families, they numbered 2,750. 37These are the ones counted from the K’hat families of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.
(A: ii) 38The census of the descendants of Gershon, by their clans and families, 39all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, 40yielded 2,630, registered by their clans and families. 41These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of Gershon of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai.
42The census of the families of the descendants of M’rari, by their clans and families, 43all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, 44yielded 3,200, registered by their families. 45These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of M’rari, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.
46The census of the L’vi’im, whom Moshe, Aharon and the leaders of Isra’el enumerated by their clans and families, 47all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of those working to serve and working to carry loads in the tent of meeting, 48yielded a total of 8,580 persons.
49According to Adonai’s order they were appointed by Moshe, each one to his specific service or work. They were also enumerated, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible