1    2   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Among the Levites, 3   make a count of the descendants of Kohath between the ages of thirty and fifty, by families in the father's line, comprising everyone who comes to take duty in the service of the Tent of the Presence.

4   ‘This is the service to be rendered by the Kohathites in the Tent of the Presence; it is most sacred. 5   When the camp is due to move, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the Veil of the screen and cover the Ark of the Tokens with it; 6   over this they shall put a covering of porpoise-hide ^note and over that again a violet cloth all of one piece; they shall then put its poles in place. 7   Over the Table of the Presence they shall spread a violet cloth and lay on it the dishes, saucers, and flagons, and the bowls for drink-offerings; the Bread regularly presented shall also lie upon it; 8   then they shall spread over them a scarlet cloth and over that a covering of porpoise-hide, and put the poles in place. 9   They shall take a violet cloth and cover the lamp-stand, its lamps, tongs, firepans, and all the containers for the oil used in its service; 10   they shall put it with all its equipment in a sheet of porpoise-hide slung from a pole. 11   Over the gold altar they shall spread a violet cloth, cover it with a porpoise-hide covering, and put its poles in place. 12   They shall take all the articles used for the service of the sanctuary, put them on a violet cloth, cover them with a porpoise-hide covering, and sling them from a pole. 13   They shall clear the altar of the fat and ashes, spread a purple cloth over it, 14   and then lay on it all the equipment used in its service, the firepans, forks, shovels, tossing-bowls, and all the equipment of the altar, spread a covering of porpoise-hide over it and put the poles in place. 15   Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred equipment, when the camp is due to move, the Kohathites shall come to carry it; they must not touch it on pain of death. All these things are the load to be carried by the Kohathites, the things connected with the Tent of the Presence. 16   Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the lamp-oil, the fragrant incense, the regular grain-offering, and the anointing oil, with the general oversight of the whole Tabernacle and its contents, the sanctuary and its equipment.’

17    18   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said, ‘You must not let the families of Kohath be extirpated, and lost to the tribe of Levi.

Israel in the wilderness of Sinai 19   If they are to live and not die when they approach the most holy things, this is what you must do: Aaron and his sons shall come and set each man to his appointed task and to his load, 20   and the Kohathites themselves shall not enter to cast even a passing glance ^note on the sanctuary, on pain of death.’

21    22   The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Number the Gershonites by families in the father's line. 23   Make a detailed list of all those between the ages of thirty and fifty who come on duty to perform service in the Tent of the Presence.

24   ‘This is the service to be rendered by the Gershonite families, comprising their general duty and their loads. 25   They shall carry the hangings of the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Presence, its covering, that is the covering of porpoise-hide which is over it, the screen at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence, 26   the hangings of the court, the screen at the entrance to the court surrounding the Tabernacle and the altar, their cords and all the equipment for their service; and they shall perform all the tasks connected with them. These are the acts of service they shall render. 27   All the service of the Gershonites, their loads and their other duties, shall be directed by Aaron and his sons; you shall assign them the loads for which they shall be responsible. 28   This is the service assigned to the Gershonite families in connection with the Tent of the Presence; Ithamar son of Aaron shall be in charge of them.

29   ‘You shall make a detailed list of the Merarites by families in the father's line, 30   all those between the ages of thirty and fifty, who come on duty to perform service in the Tent of the Presence.

31   ‘These are the loads for which they shall be responsible in virtue of their service in the Tent of the Presence: the planks of the Tabernacle with its bars, 32   posts, and sockets, the posts of the surrounding court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, and all that is needed for the maintenance of them; you shall assign to each man by name the load for which he is responsible. 33   These are the duties of the Merarite families in virtue of their service in the Tent of the Presence. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest shall be in charge of them.’

34   Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the community made a detailed list of the Kohathites by families in the father's line, 35   taking all between the ages of thirty and fifty who came on duty to perform service in the Tent of the Presence. 36   The number recorded by families in the detailed lists was two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37   This was the total number in the detailed lists of the Kohathite families who did duty in the Tent of the Presence; they were recorded by Moses and Aaron as the Lord had told them to do through Moses.

38    39   The Gershonites between the ages of thirty and fifty, who came on

Israel in the wilderness of Sinai duty for service in the Tent of the Presence, were recorded in detailed lists by families in the father's line. 40   Their number, by families in the father's line, was two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41   This was the total recorded in the lists of the Gershonite families who came on duty in the Tent of the Presence, and were recorded by Moses and Aaron as the Lord had told them to do.

42    43   The families of Merari, between the ages of thirty and fifty, who came on duty to perform service in the Tent of the Presence, were recorded in detailed lists by families in the father's line. 44   Their number by families was three thousand two hundred. 45   These were recorded in the Merarite families by Moses and Aaron as the Lord had told them to do through Moses.

46   Thus Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel made a detailed list of all the Levites by families in the father's line, 47   between the ages of thirty and fifty years; these were all who came to perform their various duties and carry their loads in the service of the Tent of the Presence. 48    49   Their number was eight thousand five hundred and eighty. They were recorded one by one by Moses at the command of the Lord, according to their general duty and the loads they carried. ^noteFor so the Lord had told Moses to do.

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