Scrutatio

Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Numbers 4


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1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:2'Take a census by clans and families of the Levites descended from Kohath:3al the men between thirty and fifty years of age and eligible for military service, who will have theirduties in the Tent of Meeting.4'These are the duties of the Kohathites: looking after those things that are especial y holy.5'When camp is broken, Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain, and coverthe ark of the Testimony with it.6Over this, they will put a covering of fine leather, over which they wil spread a cloth entirely of violet-purple. They wil then fix the poles to the ark.7'Over the offertory table they wil spread a violet cloth, and on it put the dishes, cups, bowls and libationjars; the bread of permanent offering will also be on it.8Over these they will spread a scarlet cloth and cover the whole with a covering of fine leather. They willthen fix the poles to the table.9'They wil then take a violet cloth and cover the lamp-stand, its lamps, snuffers, trays and al the oil jars used for it,10and wil lay it and al its accessories in a covering of fine leather and put it on the litter.11'Over the golden altar they wil spread a violet cloth, and cover that with a covering of fine leather.They wil then fix the poles to it.12'They wil then take al the other objects used in the service of the sanctuary, put them in a violetcloth, with a covering of fine leather, and put it al on the litter.13'When they have removed the ashes from the altar, they wil spread a scarlet cloth over it,14and on this place all the objects used in the liturgy, the fire pans, hooks, scoops, sprinkling basins andal the altar accessories. Over this they will spread a covering of fine leather. They wil then fix the poles to it.15'Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and all their accessories at thebreaking of camp, the Kohathites wil come and carry them, but without touching any of the holy things on pain ofdeath. Such is the load for the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting.16But Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is responsible for looking after the oil for the light, the fragrantincense, the daily cereal offering and the anointing oil, and for supervising the entire Dwel ing and everything init, the holy things and their accessories.'17Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:18'You must not let the group of Kohathite clans be lost to the rest of the Levites.19But deal with them in this way, so that they may survive and not incur death by approaching thosethings that are especial y holy. Aaron and his sons wil go in and assign to each of them his task and load,20in such a way that they have no need to incur the death penalty by going in and setting eyes on theholy things, even for an instant.'21Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:22'Take a census of the Gershonites by families and clans, too:23al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, who will have their dutiesin the Tent of Meeting.24'These are the duties of the Gershonite clans, their functions and their loads.25They wil carry the curtaining of the Dwel ing, the Tent of Meeting with its covering and the covering offine leather that goes over it, the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,26the curtaining of the court, the screen for the entrance to the court surrounding the Dwel ing and thealtar, the cords, al the accessories for worship, and al the necessary equipment. 'They wil be responsible forthese things.27Al the duties of the Gershonites, their functions and their loads, will be carried out under the directionof Aaron and his sons: you wil see that they fulfil their charge.28Such are the duties of the Gershonite clans in the Tent of Meeting. Their work wil be supervised byIthamar, son of Aaron the priest.29'You will take a census of the Merarites by clans and families.30You will take a census of al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service,who wil have their duties in the Tent of Meeting.31'The load they carry and the duties incumbent on them in the Tent of Meeting will be as fol ows: theframework of the Dwel ing, its cross-bars, poles and sockets,32the poles round the court with their sockets, pegs, cords and al their tackle. You wil draw up a list oftheir names with the loads for which each is responsible.33'Such are the duties of the Merarite clans. Al their duties in the Tent of Meeting wil be supervised byIthamar, son of Aaron the priest.'34Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community took a census of the Kohathites by clans andfamilies:35al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent ofMeeting.36The number of men counted in their clans came to two thousand seven hundred and fifty.37Such was the total number of men in the Kohathite clans who were eligible for duties in the Tent ofMeeting and whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's bidding through Moses.38A census was taken of the Gershonites by clans and families:39al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent ofMeeting.40The number of men counted in their clans and families came to two thousand six hundred and thirty.41Such was the total number of men in the Gershonite clans who were eligible for duties in the Tent ofMeeting, and whom Moses and Aaron counted at Yahweh's bidding.42A census was taken of the Merarite clans by clans and families:43al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent of Meeting.44The number of men counted in their clans came to three thousand two hundred.45Such was the total number of men in the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron counted atYahweh's bidding through Moses.46The total number of Levites whom Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted in their clans andfamilies,47al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for religious duties and for those oftransporting the Tent of Meeting48came to eight thousand five hundred and eighty.49At Yahweh's bidding through Moses, a census was taken of them and each man was assigned hisduty and load. And so the census was conducted by Moses as Yahweh had ordered him.