| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, | 1Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 2“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, | 2“Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi. |
| 3from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. | 3List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle. |
| 4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. | 4“The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects. |
| 5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. | 5When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons must enter the Tabernacle first to take down the inner curtain and cover the Ark of the Covenant with it. |
| 6Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. | 6Then they must cover the inner curtain with fine goatskin leather and spread over that a single piece of blue cloth. Finally, they must put the carrying poles of the Ark in place. |
| 7And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular showbread also shall be on it. | 7“Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and on the cloth they will place the bowls, ladles, jars, pitchers, and the special bread. |
| 8Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. | 8They must spread a scarlet cloth over all of this, and finally a covering of fine goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they must insert the carrying poles into the table. |
| 9And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. | 9“Next they must cover the lampstand with a blue cloth, along with its lamps, lamp snuffers, trays, and special jars of olive oil. |
| 10And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. | 10Then they must cover the lampstand and its accessories with fine goatskin leather and place the bundle on a carrying frame. |
| 11And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. | 11“Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar. |
| 12And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. | 12They must take all the remaining furnishings of the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine goatskin leather, and place them on the carrying frame. |
| 13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. | 13“They must remove the ashes from the altar for sacrifices and cover the altar with a purple cloth. |
| 14And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. | 14All the altar utensils—the firepans, meat forks, shovels, basins, and all the containers—must be placed on the cloth, and a covering of fine goatskin leather must be spread over them. Finally, they must put the carrying poles in place. |
| 15And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry. | 15The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry. |
| 16“And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.” | 16“Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will be responsible for the oil of the lampstand, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. In fact, Eleazar will be responsible for the entire Tabernacle and everything in it, including the sanctuary and its furnishings.” |
| 17The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, | 17Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 18“Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, | 18“Do not let the Kohathite clans be destroyed from among the Levites! |
| 19but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, | 19This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person. |
| 20but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” | 20The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.” Duties of the Gershonite Clan |
| 21The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 21And the LORD said to Moses, |
| 22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans. | 22“Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Gershonite division of the tribe of Levi. |
| 23From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. | 23List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle. |
| 24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: | 24“These Gershonite clans will be responsible for general service and carrying loads. |
| 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting | 25They must carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the outer covering of fine goatskin leather, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance. |
| 26and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. | 26They are also to carry the curtains for the courtyard walls that surround the Tabernacle and altar, the curtain across the courtyard entrance, the ropes, and all the equipment related to their use. The Gershonites are responsible for all these items. |
| 27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. | 27Aaron and his sons will direct the Gershonites regarding all their duties, whether it involves moving the equipment or doing other work. They must assign the Gershonites responsibility for the loads they are to carry. |
| 28This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. | 28So these are the duties assigned to the Gershonite clans at the Tabernacle. They will be directly responsible to Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. Duties of the Merarite Clan |
| 29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses. | 29“Now record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Merarite division of the tribe of Levi. |
| 30From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. | 30List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle. |
| 31And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, | 31“Their only duty at the Tabernacle will be to carry loads. They will carry the frames of the Tabernacle, the crossbars, the posts, and the bases; |
| 32and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the objects that they are required to carry. | 32also the posts for the courtyard walls with their bases, pegs, and ropes; and all the accessories and everything else related to their use. Assign the various loads to each man by name. |
| 33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” | 33So these are the duties of the Merarite clans at the Tabernacle. They are directly responsible to Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.” Summary of the Registration |
| 34And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, | 34So Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders of the community listed the members of the Kohathite division by their clans and families. |
| 35from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; | 35The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, |
| 36and those listed by clans were 2,750. | 36and the total number came to 2,750. |
| 37This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. | 37So this was the total of all those from the Kohathite clans who were eligible to serve at the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses. |
| 38Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, | 38The Gershonite division was also listed by its clans and families. |
| 39from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— | 39The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, |
| 40those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. | 40and the total number came to 2,630. |
| 41This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD. | 41So this was the total of all those from the Gershonite clans who were eligible to serve at the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the LORD had commanded. |
| 42Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, | 42The Merarite division was also listed by its clans and families. |
| 43from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— | 43The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, |
| 44those listed by clans were 3,200. | 44and the total number came to 3,200. |
| 45This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. | 45So this was the total of all those from the Merarite clans who were eligible for service. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses. |
| 46All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, | 46So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel listed all the Levites by their clans and families. |
| 47from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, | 47All the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle and for its transportation |
| 48those listed were 8,580. | 48numbered 8,580. |
| 49According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were listed, each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, as the LORD commanded Moses. | 49When their names were recorded, as the LORD had commanded through Moses, each man was assigned his task and told what to carry. And so the registration was completed, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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