The Duties of the Kohathites (Numbers 3:27–32; 1 Chronicles 23:12–20)
2 DBY Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, BSB BSB: “Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,
3 DBY from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. BSB BSB: men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
4 DBY This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: it is most holy. BSB BSB: This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things.
5 DBY And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of separation and cover the ark of testimony with it; BSB BSB: Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.
6 DBY and shall put thereon a covering of badgers' skin, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put its staves to it . BSB BSB: They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.
7 DBY And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue; and put thereon the dishes, and the cups, and the bowls, and goblets of the drink-offering; and the continual bread shall be thereon. BSB BSB: Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it.
8 DBY And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it . BSB BSB: And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles.
9 DBY And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-trays, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they perform its service; BSB BSB: They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it.
10 DBY and they shall put it and all the utensils thereof within a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put it upon a pole. BSB BSB: Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame.
11 DBY And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put its staves to it . BSB BSB: Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.
12 DBY And they shall take all the instruments of service, wherewith they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skin, and shall put them upon a pole. BSB BSB: They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.
13 DBY And they shall cleanse the altar of the ashes, and spread a purple cloth thereon; BSB BSB: Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,
14 DBY and they shall put upon it all the utensils thereof, wherewith they perform service about it: the firepans, the forks, and the shovels, and the bowls, — all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skin, and put its staves to it . BSB BSB: and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.
16 DBY And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have the oversight of the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual oblation, and the anointing oil, — the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and of all that is therein, over the sanctuary, and over its furniture. BSB BSB: Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.”
17 DBY And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
18 DBY Ye shall not cut off the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites, BSB BSB: “Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.
19 DBY but this shall ye do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they draw near unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden; BSB BSB: In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.
20 DBY but they shall not go in and see for a moment the holy things, lest they die. BSB BSB: But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”
The Duties of the Gershonites (Numbers 3:21–26; 1 Chronicles 23:7–11)
21 DBY And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, BSB BSB: And the LORD said to Moses,
22 DBY Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, according to their fathers' houses, after their families. BSB BSB: “Take a census of the Gershonites as well, by their families and clans,
23 DBY From thirty years old and upward to fifty years old shalt thou number them; every one that cometh to labour in the work, to perform the service in the tent of meeting. BSB BSB: from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
24 DBY This shall be the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving, and in carrying: BSB BSB: This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport:
25 DBY they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of badgers' skin that is above upon it, and the curtain of the entrance to the tent of meeting, BSB BSB: They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,
26 DBY and the hangings of the court, and the curtain of the entrance, of the gate of the court, which surroundeth the tabernacle and the altar, and the cords thereof, and all the instruments of their service; and all that is to be done for these things shall they perform. BSB BSB: the curtains of the courtyard, and the curtains for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. The Gershonites will do all that needs to be done with these items.
27 DBY At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their carrying, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their carrying. BSB BSB: All the service of the Gershonites—all their transport duties and other work—is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.
28 DBY This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting, and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. BSB BSB: This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The Duties of the Merarites (Numbers 3:33–37; 1 Chronicles 23:21–23)
29 DBY The sons of Merari: after their families, according to their fathers' houses shalt thou number them; BSB BSB: As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their clans and families,
30 DBY from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the labour, to perform the service of the tent of meeting. BSB BSB: from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting.
31 DBY And this shall be the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and bases thereof, BSB BSB: This is the duty for all their service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and bases,
32 DBY and the pillars of the court round about, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, all their instruments, according to all their service; and by name ye shall number to them the materials which are their charge to carry. BSB BSB: and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry.
33 DBY This 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. BSB BSB: This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
The Numbering of the Levite Clans 34 DBY And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the assembly numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, BSB BSB: So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their clans and families,
35 DBY from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting. BSB BSB: everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
36 DBY And those that were numbered of them according to their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. BSB BSB: And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.
37 DBY These are they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, every one that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. BSB BSB: These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses.
38 DBY And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, after their families, and according to their fathers' houses, BSB BSB: Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,
39 DBY from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, BSB BSB: everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
40 DBY even those that were numbered of them, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. BSB BSB: And those numbered by their clans and families totaled 2,630.
41 DBY These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah. BSB BSB: These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command.
42 DBY And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, BSB BSB: And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,
43 DBY from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that entered into the labour, for service in the tent of meeting, BSB BSB: everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
44 DBY even those that were numbered of them according to their families, were three thousand two hundred. BSB BSB: The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.
45 DBY These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses. BSB BSB: These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses.
46 DBY All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, after their families and according to their fathers' houses, BSB BSB: So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their clans and families all the Levites
47 DBY from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, every one that came to serve in the work of the service, and in the work of carrying, in the tent of meeting, BSB BSB: from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.
48 DBY even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. BSB BSB: And the number of men was 8,580.
49 DBY According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one for his service, and for his burden, and numbered by him, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. BSB BSB: At the LORD’s command through Moses they were numbered, and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.