Duties of the Kohathites

1Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Take a [a]census of the [b]descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 3from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who can enter the service of ministry to do work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the work of the [c]descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

5“When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it; 6and they shall place a covering of [d]fine leather on it, and spread over it a cloth of pure [e]violet, and insert its carrying poles. 7Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of violet and put on it the dishes, the pans, the sacrificial bowls, and the jugs for the drink offering; and the continual bread shall be on it. 8And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles. 9Then they shall take a violet cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its oil containers, by which they attend to it; 10and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying [f]bars. 11Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles; 12and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a violet cloth and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying [g]bars. 13Then they shall clean away the [h]ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks, shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of fine leather over it and insert its carrying poles. 15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the [i]things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16“Now the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the [j]tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

17Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites. 19Rather, do this for them so that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; 20but they shall not come in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

21Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22“Take a [k]census of the sons of Gershon [l]also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; 23from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall [m]count them: all who can enter to perform service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26and the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes and all the equipment for their service; and everything that is to be done [n]by them, [o]they shall perform. 27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, that is, all their loads and all their work, shall be performed at the [p]command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be [q]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; 30from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, you shall count them, everyone who can enter the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, 32and the pillars around the courtyard and their bases, their pegs, and their ropes, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign by names of the men the items [r]that each is to carry. 33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, [s]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, 35from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting. 36Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. 37These were the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [t]commandment of the LORD [u]through Moses.

38And the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, 39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 40their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. 41These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [v]commandment of the LORD.

42And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 44their numbered men by their families were 3,200. 45These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [w]commandment of the LORD [x]through Moses.

46All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ households, 47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting— 48their numbered men were 8,580. 49According to the [y]commandment of the LORD [z]through Moses, they were counted, everyone by his serving or carrying; so these were his numbered men, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

[a] 2 Lit sum
[b] 2 Lit sons
[c] 4 Lit sons
[d] 6 Meaning of the Heb uncertain, and so throughout the ch
[e] 6 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
[f] 10 Or frame
[g] 12 Or frame
[h] 13 Or fatty ashes; i.e., soaked with fat
[i] 15 Lit burden...of the sons
[j] 16 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
[k] 22 Lit sum
[l] 22 Lit also them
[m] 23 Lit muster, and so throughout the ch
[n] 26 Or to them
[o] 26 Lit so they shall serve
[p] 27 Lit mouth
[q] 28 Lit in the hand
[r] 32 Lit of the duty of their loads
[s] 33 Lit in the hand
[t] 37 Lit mouth
[u] 37 Lit by the hand of
[v] 41 Lit mouth
[w] 45 Lit mouth
[x] 45 Lit by the hand of
[y] 49 Lit mouth
[z] 49 Lit by the hand of