1And 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 clans, by their fathers’ houses,
3from thirty years old and upward, up to fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.
5When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the veil of the screen, and cover with it the ark of the testimony.
6They shall place over it a covering of fine leather, and spread over it a cloth entirely of blue, and put its poles in place.
7Over the table of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put on it the plates and the dishes and the bowls and the pitchers for the drink offering; and the regular bread shall be on it.
8They shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
9They shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand of the light and its lamps and its tongs and its firepans and all its oil vessels with which they minister to it,
10and they shall put it and all its vessels into a covering of fine leather, and set it on the carrying frame.
11Over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
12They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them into a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and set them on the carrying frame.
13They shall clear the ashes from the altar and spread a cloth of purple over it.
14They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister at it — the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar — and they shall spread over it a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and all the vessels of the holy place as the camp sets out, then afterward the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
16The oversight of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil — the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”
17And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
18“Do not let the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites.
19But do this for them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his service and to his burden,
20but they shall not go in to look at the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”
21And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon as well, by their fathers’ houses, by their clans.
23From thirty years old and upward, up to fifty years old, you shall enroll them, everyone who comes to serve in the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
25They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting, its covering and the covering of fine leather that is over it above, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,
26and the hangings of the courtyard and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard, which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and whatever is to be done with them, they shall do.
27By the command of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall assign to them as their charge all their burden.
28This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their charge is under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
29As for the sons of Merari, you shall enroll them by their clans, by their fathers’ houses.
30From thirty years old and upward, up to fifty years old, you shall enroll them, everyone who comes to the service, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
31This is the charge of their burden, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its pillars, and its bases,
32and the pillars of the surrounding court, with their bases, their pegs, and their cords, along with all their equipment and all their service. By name you shall assign the items of the charge of their burden.
33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, for all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
34So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their clans and by their fathers’ houses,
35from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.
36Their numbered ones by their clans were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
37These were the numbered ones of the clans of the Kohathites, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Yahweh through Moses.
38The numbered ones of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and by their fathers’ houses,
39from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service to do the work in the tent of meeting—
40their numbered ones by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.
41These were the numbered ones of the clans of the sons of Gershon, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Yahweh.
42The numbered ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses,
43from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who came to the service to do the work in the tent of meeting—
44their numbered ones by their clans were three thousand two hundred.
45These were the numbered ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Yahweh through Moses.
46All the numbered ones, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted—the Levites, by their clans and by their fathers’ houses,
47from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting—
48their numbered ones were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49According to the command of Yahweh they were assigned through Moses, each one to his service and to his burden; and they were counted, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
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