Numbers 4
The Scriptures (ISR 1998)

1And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, and to Aharon, saying,

2“Take a census of the sons of Qehath from among the children of Lĕwi, by their clans, by their fathers’ house,

3from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

4“This is the service of the sons of Qehath in the Tent of Meeting, the most set-apart matters:

5“At the breaking of camp, Aharon and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Witness with it,

6and shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that an all-blue wrapper, and shall insert its poles.

7“And on the table of showbread they shall spread a blue wrapper, and shall put on it the dishes, and the ladles, and the bowls, and the jars for pouring, and the showbread on it.

8“And they shall spread over them a scarlet wrapper, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles,

9and shall take a blue wrapper and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays, and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it.

10“And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a bar.

11“And over the golden altar they shall spread a blue wrapper, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles,

12and shall take all the utensils of service with which they serve in the set-apart place, and shall put them in a blue wrapper, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a bar,

13and shall remove the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple wrapper over it,

14and shall put on it all its utensils by which they serve there: the fire holders, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, and all the utensils of the altar, and shall spread on it a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles.

15“And when Aharon and his sons have finished covering the set-apart objects and all the furnishings of the Set-apart Place at the breaking of camp, then the sons of Qehath shall come to lift them, but let them not touch that which is set-apart, lest they die. These matters are the burden of the sons of Qehath in the Tent of Meeting.

16“And the oversight of El‛azar, son of Aharon the priest, is the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the Dwelling Place and all that is in it, with the set-apart place and its furnishings.”

17And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, and to Aharon, saying,

18“Do not cut off the tribe of the clans of the Qehathites from among the Lĕwites,

19but do this to them, and they shall live and not die when they approach the most set-apart objects: Aharon and his sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service and his burden.

20“They are not, however, to go in to watch while the set-apart objects are being covered, lest they die.”

21And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

22“Take a census also of the sons of Gĕreshon, by their fathers’ house, by their clans.

23“Register them, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter to perform the service, to do the service in the Tent of Meeting.

24“This is the service of the clans of the Gĕreshonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

25“And they shall bear the curtains of the Dwelling Place and the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is on it, the covering for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

26and the screens of the courtyard and the covering for the door of the gate of the courtyard, which is around the Dwelling Place and altar, and their cords, all the equipment for their service and all that is made for them – so shall they serve.

27“Aharon and his sons are to command all the service of the sons of the Gĕreshonites, all their burden and all their service. And you shall appoint to them all the duty of all their burden.

28“This is the service of the clans of the sons of Gĕreshon in the Tent of Meeting. And let their duties be under the hand of Ithamar, son of Aharon the priest.

29“As for the sons of Merari, register them by their clans and by their fathers’ house.

30“Register them, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

31“And this is the duty of their burden, according to all their service for the Tent of Meeting: the boards of the Dwelling Place, and its bars, and its columns, and its sockets,

32and the columns around the courtyard with their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords, with all their equipment and all their service. And assign to each by name the equipment of the duty of their burden.

33“This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar, son of Aharon the priest.”

34So Mosheh and Aharon and the leaders of the congregation registered the sons of the Qehathites by their clans and by their fathers’ house,

35from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting.

36And their registered ones, by their clans, were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37These were the registered ones of the clans of the Qehathites, all those serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of יהוה by the hand of Mosheh.

38And those registered ones of the sons of Gĕreshon, by their clans and by their fathers’ house,

39from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

40the registered ones, by their clans, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41These were the registered ones of the clans of the sons of Gĕreshon, of all who serve in the Tent of Meeting, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of יהוה.

42And those of the clans of the sons of Merari who were registered, by their clans, by their fathers’ house,

43from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,

44the registered ones, by their clans were three thousand two hundred.

45These were the registered ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of יהוה by the hand of Mosheh.

46All the registered ones of the Lĕwites, whom Mosheh and Aharon and the leaders of Yisra’ĕl registered, by their clans and by their fathers’ houses,

47from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

48their registered ones were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

49According to the command of יהוה they were registered by the hand of Mosheh, each according to his service and according to his burden, thus were they registered by him, as יהוה commanded Mosheh.

Numbers 3
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