The Duties of the Kohathites

1YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, 3from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

4“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things. 5When the camp moves forward, Aaron and his sons to are go in and take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it, 6put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

7“They are to spread a blue cloth on the table of the Presence, and put on it the dishes, spoons, bowls, and cups for pouring out. The continual bread is to be on it. 8They are to spread on them a scarlet cloth, cover it with a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

9“They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. 10They are to put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin and put it on the frame.

11“On the golden altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

12“They are to take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and put them on the frame.

13“They are to take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. 14They are to put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar. They are to spread on it a covering of sealskin and put in its poles.

15“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, and when the camp moves forward, then the sons of Kohath are to come to carry it. But they must not touch the sanctuary or they till they die. The sons of Kohath are to carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

16“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is to the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

17YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18“Y’all must allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off from among the Levites. 19Y’all are to do this to them so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons are to go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden, 20but the Kohathites must not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment or they will die.”

The Duties of the Gershonites

21YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families; 23you are to count the men from thirty to fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

24“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: 25they are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, 26the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever needs to be done with them. They are to serve in there. 27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in their service, is to be done by the command of Aaron and his sons. And y’all are to appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. 28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty will be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

The Duties of the Merarites

29“As for the sons of Merari, you are to count them by their clans and their ancestral families. 30You are to count the men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. 31This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, 32the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. Y’all are to appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name. 33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

The Census of the Levite Clans

34Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, 35from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting. 36Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. 37These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of YHWH by Moses.

38Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, 39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, 40even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty. 41These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of YHWH.

42Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, 44even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. 45These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of YHWH by Moses.

46All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, 47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting, 48even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. 49According to the commandment of YHWH they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as YHWH commanded Moses.