The Duties of the Kohathites
1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 2“Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, 3from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the service of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6They shall put over it a covering of fine leather, spread a cloth of pure blue over that, and insert its poles. 7Over the table of the presence they shall spread a blue cloth and put on it the dishes, the ladles, the bowls, and the jars for the drink offering. The regular bread shall remain on it. 8Over these they shall spread a scarlet cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. 9Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its vessels for oil, with which they minister to it. 10They shall put it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather, and put it on a carrying frame. 11Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. 12They shall take all the utensils used for ministering in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying frame. 13They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14They shall put on it all the utensils used for ministering at it — the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar — and spread over it a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. 15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp is about to set out, only then shall the descendants of Kohath come to carry them; but they must not touch the holy things, or they will die. These are the things the descendants of Kohath are to carry at the tent of meeting. 16Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is responsible for the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil — responsible for the whole tabernacle and everything in it, the sanctuary and its furnishings.” 17Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, 18“Do not let the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. 19Do this for them so 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 task and to what he is to carry. 20But they must not go in to look at the holy things even for a moment, or they will die.”
The Duties of the Gershonites and the Merarites
21Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, 22“Take a census of the descendants of Gershon as well, by their ancestral houses, by their clans. 23You shall number them from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who enters to serve in the work of the tent of meeting. 24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, their cords, and all the equipment for their service, and everything that is to be done with them — that is their service. 27All the service of the descendants of the Gershonites, all their carrying and all their work, shall be directed by Aaron and his sons. You shall assign to them, as their charge, everything they are to carry. 28This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Gershon at the tent of meeting; their charge is under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 29As for the descendants of Merari, you shall number them by their clans, by their ancestral houses. 30You shall number them from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31This is their charge, all their service at the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases, 32the posts of the surrounding courtyard, their bases, their pegs, and their cords, with all their equipment, and all their service. You shall assign by name the objects that are their charge to carry. 33This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Merari, all their service at the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
The Levites Counted for Service
34Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the descendants of the Kohathites, by their clans and by their ancestral houses, 35from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work at the tent of meeting. 36Those registered by their clans numbered two thousand, seven hundred and fifty. 37These are those registered from the clans of the Kohathites, everyone who served at the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at Yahweh’s command, through Moses. 38Those registered from the descendants of Gershon, by their clans and by their ancestral houses, 39from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work at the tent of meeting — 40those registered, by their clans and ancestral houses, numbered two thousand, six hundred and thirty. 41These are those registered from the clans of the descendants of Gershon, everyone who served at the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at Yahweh’s command. 42Those registered from the clans of the descendants of Merari, by their clans and by their ancestral houses, 43from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work at the tent of meeting — 44those registered, by their clans, numbered three thousand, two hundred. 45These are those registered from the clans of the descendants of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at Yahweh’s command, through Moses. 46All those registered, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered among the Levites, by their clans and by their ancestral houses, 47from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of carrying at the tent of meeting — 48those registered numbered eight thousand, five hundred and eighty. 49At Yahweh’s command, through Moses, each was numbered according to his service and his task of carrying — they were registered just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
