1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, and to Aaron, saying, 2 Take the summe of the sonnes of Kohath from among the sonnes of Leui, after their families, and houses of their fathers, 3 From thirtie yeere olde and aboue, euen vntill fiftie yeere olde, all that enter into the assemblie to do the worke in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 4 This shall be the office of the sonnes of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the Congregation about the Holiest of all. 5 When the hoste remoueth, then Aaron and his sonnes shall come and take downe the couering vaile, and shall couer the Arke of the Testimonie therewith. 6 And they shall put thereon a couering of badgers skinnes, and shall spread vpon it a cloth altogether of blewe silke, and put to the barres thereof: 7 And vpon ye table of shew bread they shall spread a cloth of blewe silke, and put thereon the dishes, and the incense cups, and goblets, and couerings to couer it with, and the bread shall be thereon continually: 8 And they shall spread vpon them a couering of skarlet, and couer the same with a couering of badgers skinnes, and put to the barres thereof. 9 Then they shall take a cloth of blewe silke, and couer the candlesticke of light with his lampes and his snuffers, and his snuffedishes, and al the oyle vessels thereof, which they occupie about it. 10 So they shall put it, and all the instruments thereof in a couering of badgers skinnes, and put it vpon the barres. 11 Also vpon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blewe silke, and couer it with a couering of badgers skinnes, and put to the barres thereof. 12 And they shall take all the instruments of the ministerie wherewith they minister in the Sanctuarie, and put them in a cloth of blew silke, and couer the with a couering of badgers skinnes, and put them on the barres. 13 Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth vpon it, 14 And shall put vpon it all the instruments thereof, which they occupie about it: the censers, the fleshhookes and the besomes, and the basens, euen al the instruments of the altar and they shall spread vpon it a couering of badgers skinnes, and put to the barres of it. 15 And when Aaron and his sonnes haue made an ende of couering the Sanctuarie, and al the instruments of the Sanctuarie, at the remouing of the host, afterward the sonnes of Kohath shall come to beare it, but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they dye. This is the charge of the sonnes of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 16 And to the office of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron the Priest pertaineth the oyle for the light, and the sweete incense and the dayly meat offring, and the anointing oyle, with the ouersight of all the Tabernacle, and of all that therein is, both in the Sanctuarie and in all the instruments thereof. 17 And the Lord spake vnto Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 Ye shall not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Leuites: 19 But thus do vnto them, that they may liue and not die, when they come neere to the most holy things: let Aaron and his sonnes come and appoynt them, euery one to his office, and to his charge. 20 But let them not goe in, to see when the Sanctuarie is folden vp, lest they die. 21 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying, 22 Take also ye summe of the sonnes of Gershon, euery one by the houses of their fathers throughout their families: 23 From thirtie yere old and aboue, vntil fiftie yere old shalt thou nomber them, al that enter into the assemblie for to do seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 24 This shall be the seruice of the families of the Gershonites, to serue and to beare. 25 They shall beare the curtaines of the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, his couering, and the couering of badgers skinnes, that is on hie vpon it, and the vayle of the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: 26 The curtaines also of the court, and the vaile of the entring in of the gate of the court, which is neere the Tabernacle and neere the altar round about, with their cordes, and all the instruments for their seruice, and all that is made for them: so shall they serue. 27 At the commandement of Aaron and his sonnes shall all the seruice of the sonnes of ye Gershonites bee done, in all their charges and in all their seruice, and ye shall appoynt them to keepe all their charges. 28 This is the seruice of the families of the sonnes of the Gershonites in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and their watch shall be vnder the hande of Ithamar the sonne of Aaron the Priest. 29 Thou shalt nomber the sonnes of Merari by their families, and by the houses of their fathers: 30 From thirty yere olde and aboue, euen vnto fiftie yere olde shalt thou nomber the, all that enter into the assemblie, to doe the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 31 And this is their office and charge according to all their seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation: the boardes of the Tabernacle with the barres thereof, and his pillars, and his sockets, 32 And the pillars rounde about the court, with their sockets and their pinnes, and their cords, with all their instruments, euen for all their seruice: and by name ye shall recken the instruments of their office and charge. 33 This is the seruice of the families of the sonnes of Merari, according to all their seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation vnder the hand of Ithamar the sonne of Aaron the Priest. 34 Then Moses and Aaron and the princes of the Congregation nombred the sonnes of the Kohathites, by their families and by the houses of their fathers, 35 From thirtie yeere olde and aboue, euen vnto fiftie yere olde, all that enter into the assemblie for the seruice of the Tabernacle of ye Congregation. 36 So the nombers of the throughout their families were two thousande, seuen hundreth and fiftie. 37 These are the nombers of the families of the Kohathites, al that serue in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, which Moses and Aaron did nomber according to the commandement of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 38 Also the nombers of the sonnes of Gershon throughout their families and houses of their fathers, 39 From thirtie yere olde and vpwarde, euen vnto fiftie yere olde: all that enter into the assemblie for the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Cogregation. 40 So the nombers of them by their families, and by the houses of their fathers were two thousand sixe hundreth and thirtie. 41 These are the nombers of the families of the sonnes of Gershon: of all that did seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did nomber according to the commandement of the Lord. 42 The nombers also of the families of the sonnes of Merari by their families, and by the houses of their fathers, 43 From thirtie yeere olde and vpwarde, euen vnto fiftie yeere olde: all that enter into the assemblie for the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 44 So the nombers of them by their families were three thousand, and two hundreth. 45 These are the summes of ye families of the sonnes of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron nombred according to the commandement of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. 46 So all the nombers of the Leuites, which Moses, and Aaron, and the princes of Israel nombred by their families and by the houses of their fathers, 47 From thirtie yere olde and vpward, euen to fiftie yeere olde, euery one that came to doe his duetie, office, seruice and charge in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 48 So the nombers of them were eight thousand, fiue hundreth and foure score. 49 According to the commandement of the Lord by the hand of Moses did Aaron nomber them, euery one according to his seruice, and according to his charge. Thus were they of that tribe nombred, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Duties of the Levite Clan of Kohath
1 The Lord told Moses 2 to take a census of the Levite clan of Kohath by subclans and families, 3 and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence. 4 Their service involves the most holy things.
5 The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it. 6 They shall put a fine leather cover over it, spread a cloth of solid blue on top, and then insert the carrying poles.
7 They shall spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread offered to the Lord and put on it the dishes, the incense bowls, the offering bowls, and the jars for the wine offering. There shall always be bread on the table. 8 They shall spread a red cloth over all of this, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles.
9 They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the olive oil containers. 10 They shall wrap it and all its equipment in a fine leather cover and place it on a carrying frame.
11 Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles. 12 They shall take all the utensils used in the Holy Place, wrap them in a blue cloth, put a fine leather cover over them, and place them on a carrying frame. 13 They shall remove the greasy ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: fire pans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles. 15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die.
These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved.
16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord.
17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “Do not let the clan of Kohath 19 be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry. 20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die.”
The Duties of the Levite Clan of Gershon
21 The Lord told Moses 22 to take a census of the Levite clan of Gershon by subclans and families, 23 and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence. 24 They shall be responsible for carrying the following objects: 25 the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the fine leather cover on top of it, the curtain for the entrance, 26 the curtains and ropes for the court that is around the Tent and the altar, the curtains for the entrance of the court, and all the fittings used in setting up these objects. They shall perform all the tasks required for these things. 27 Moses and Aaron shall see to it that the Gershonites perform all the duties and carry everything that Aaron and his sons assign to them. 28 These are the responsibilities of the Gershon clan in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The Duties of the Levite Clan of Merari
29 The Lord told Moses to take a census of the Levite clan of Merari by subclans and families, 30 and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence. 31 They shall be responsible for carrying the frames, bars, posts, and bases of the Tent, 32 and the posts, bases, pegs, and ropes of the court around the Tent, with all the fittings used in setting them up. Each man will be responsible for carrying specific items. 33 These are the responsibilities of the Merari clan in their service in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The Census of the Levites
34-48 Following the Lord's command, Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community took a census of the three Levite clans, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. They did this by subclans and families and registered all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence, as follows:
Clan NumberKohath 2,750Gershon 2,630Merari 3,200Total: 8,580
49 Each man was registered as the Lord had commanded Moses; and at the command of the Lord given through Moses, each man was assigned responsibility for his task of serving or carrying.