Numbers 4

4 ¹ Our Father spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

Holy Burdens, Holy Care

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 to fifty years old, all who come to do the work, to do service in the tent of meeting.

⁴ This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the inner curtain, and they shall cover the ark of the testimony with it. ⁶ Then they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, spread over that a solid blue cloth, and set its poles in place.

⁷ Over the table of the Presence they shall spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, the dishes, the bowls, and the pitchers for the drink offering; and the regular bread shall remain on it. ⁸ They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather, and set its poles in place.

⁹ They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for its oil with which they tend it. ¹⁰ Then they shall wrap it and all its vessels in a covering of fine leather and place it on the carrying frame.

¹¹ Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather, and set its poles in place. ¹² They shall take all the vessels of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and place them on the carrying frame.

¹³ They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ On it they shall place all the vessels with which they minister there: the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins — all the vessels of the altar. They shall spread over it a covering of fine leather and set its poles in place.

¹⁵ When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and all the vessels of the holy place, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them as the camp sets out; but they must not touch the holy things, or they will die. These are the burdens of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.

¹⁶ Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is in charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil; he has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy place and its vessels.

¹⁷ Our Father spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ¹⁸ Do not let the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. ¹⁹ Do this for them, so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his task and to his burden. ²⁰ But they must not go in to watch the holy things being covered, even for a moment, or they will die.

The Gershonites' Assignment

²¹ Our Father spoke to Moses, saying:

Curtains and Courts

²² Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses and their clans. ²³ From thirty to fifty years old you shall count them, all who come to perform the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

²⁴ This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: ²⁵ They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of fine leather that is over it, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the curtains of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the courtyard gate that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, their cords, and all the equipment for their service; whatever is to be done with these, they shall do. ²⁷ All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all their carrying and in all their service; you shall assign to them 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 duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Sons of Merari

²⁹ As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their clans and their fathers' houses.

Frames, Bars, and Pillars

³⁰ From thirty to fifty years old you shall count them, everyone who comes to the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.

³¹ This is what they are charged to carry, all their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, ³² the pillars of the court all around with their bases, pegs, and cords, and all their equipment for all their service; and you shall assign by name the objects they are charged to carry. ³³ This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Everyone Counted by Name

³⁴ So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their clans and their fathers' houses,

The Full Muster of the Levites

³⁵ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service for work in the tent of meeting. ³⁶ Those counted by their clans were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷ These were those counted of the clans of the Kohathites, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the command of our Father through Moses.

³⁸ Those counted of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers' houses, ³⁹ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service for work in the tent of meeting — ⁴⁰ those counted by their clans and their fathers' houses were two thousand six hundred and thirty. ⁴¹ These were those counted of the clans of the sons of Gershon, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the command of our Father.

⁴² Those counted of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers' houses, ⁴³ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service for work in the tent of meeting — ⁴⁴ those counted by their clans were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵ These were those counted of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the command of our Father through Moses.

⁴⁶ All those counted, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted — the Levites by their clans and their fathers' houses, ⁴⁷ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who came to do service and carry loads in the tent of meeting — ⁴⁸ those counted were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. ⁴⁹ At the command of our Father they were appointed through Moses, each one to his service and his burden; and they were counted, as our Father had commanded Moses.