Dual Panel1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2“Among the Levites, make a count of the descendants of Kohath between the ages of thirty and fifty, by families in the father's line, comprising everyone who comes to take duty in the service of the Tent of Meeting.
3(4:2)
4“This is the service to be rendered by the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting; it is most holy.
5When the camp is due to move, let Aaron and his sons come and take down the curtain of the screen, and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it;
6over this they are to put a covering of dugong-hide and over that again a violet cloth all of one piece; they will then put its poles in place.
7Over the table of the Bread of the Presence they are to spread a violet cloth and lay on it the dishes, saucers, and flagons, and the bowls for drink-offerings; the Bread regularly presented will also lie on it;
8then they are to spread over them a scarlet cloth and over that a covering of dugong-hide, and put the poles in place.
9They are to take a violet cloth and cover the lampstand, its lamps, tongs, firepans, and all the containers for the oil used in its service;
10they are to put it with all its equipment in a sheet of dugong-hide slung from a pole.
11Over the gold altar let them spread a violet cloth, cover it with a dugong-hide covering, and put its poles in place.
12They are to take all the articles used for the service of the sanctuary, put them on a violet cloth, cover them with a dugong-hide covering, and sling them from a pole.
13They are to clear the altar of the fat and ashes, spread a purple cloth over it,
14and then lay on it all the equipment used in its service, the firepans, forks, shovels, tossing-bowls, and all the equipment of the altar, spread a covering of dugong-hide over it, and put the poles in place.
15Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred equipment, when the camp is due to move, the Kohathites are to do the carrying; they must not touch the sacred objects, on pain of death. Those things are the load to be carried by the Kohathites, the things connected with the Tent of Meeting.
16“Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is to have charge of the lamp oil, the fragrant incense, the regular grain-offering, and the anointing oil, with the general oversight of the whole Tabernacle and its contents, the sanctuary and its equipment.”
17The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
18“You must not let the families of Kohath be wiped out and lost to the tribe of Levi.
19If they are to live and not die when they approach the most holy things, this is what you must do: let Aaron and his sons come and set each man to his appointed task and to his load,
20but the Kohathites themselves must not enter to cast even a passing glance at the sanctuary, on pain of death.”
21The LORD said to Moses,
22“Number the Gershonites by families in the father's line.
23Make a list of all those between the ages of thirty and fifty who come on duty to perform service in the Tent of Meeting.
24“This is the service to be rendered by the Gershonite families, comprising their general duty and their loads.
25They are to transport the hangings of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, its covering, that is the covering of dugong-hide which is over it, the screen at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,
26the hangings of the court, the screen at the entrance to the court surrounding the Tabernacle and the altar, their cords, and all the equipment for their service; and they are to perform all the tasks connected with them. These are the acts of service they have to render.
27All the service of the Gershonites, their loads and their other duties, will be directed by Aaron and his sons; you will assign them the loads for which they will be responsible.
28That is the service assigned to the Gershonite families in connection with the Tent of Meeting; Ithamar son of Aaron the priest is to be in charge of them.
29“Make a list of the Merarites by families in the father's line,
30all those between the ages of thirty and fifty, who come on duty to perform service in the Tent of Meeting.
31“These are the loads for which they are to be responsible in virtue of their service in the Tent of Meeting: the planks of the Tabernacle with its bars, posts, and sockets,
32the posts of the surrounding court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, and all that is needed for the maintenance of them; you should assign to each man by name the load for which he is responsible.
33Those are the duties of the Merarite families in virtue of their service in the Tent of Meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest shall be in charge of them.”
34Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the community made a list of the Kohathites by families in the father's line,
35taking all between the ages of thirty and fifty who came on duty to perform service in the Tent of Meeting.
36The number recorded by families in the lists was two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
37This was the total number in the lists of the Kohathite families who did duty in the Tent of Meeting; they were recorded by Moses and Aaron as the LORD had commanded them through Moses.
38The Gershonites between the ages of thirty and fifty, who came on duty for service in the Tent of Meeting, were recorded in lists by families in the father's line.
39(4:38)
40Their number, by families in the father's line, was two thousand six hundred and thirty.
41This was the total recorded in the lists of the Gershonite families who came on duty in the Tent of Meeting and were recorded by Moses and Aaron as the LORD had commanded them.
42The families of Merari, between the ages of thirty and fifty, who came on duty to perform service in the Tent of Meeting, were recorded in lists by families in the father's line.
43(4:42)
44Their number by families was three thousand two hundred.
45These were recorded in the Merarite families by Moses and Aaron as the LORD had commanded them through Moses.
46Thus Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel made a list of all the Levites by families in the father's line,
47between the ages of thirty and fifty years; these were all who came to perform their various duties and carry their loads in the service of the Tent of Meeting.
48Their number was eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49They were recorded one by one by Moses at the command of the LORD, according to their general duty and the loads they carried. For so the LORD had commanded Moses.