Numbers 4

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
2 'Take a census by clans and families of the Levites descended from Kohath:	2 "Among the Levites take a total of the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses, all the men of the Kohathites
3 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age and eligible for military service, who will have theirduties in the Tent of Meeting.	3 between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.
4 'These are the duties of the Kohathites: looking after those things that are especial y holy.	4 "The service of the Kohathites in the meeting tent concerns the most sacred objects.
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.	5 In breaking camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the commandments with it.
6 Over 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.	6 Over these they shall put a cover of tahash skin, and on top of this spread an all-violet cloth. They shall then put the poles in place.
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.	7 On the table of the Presence they shall spread a violet cloth and put on it the plates and cups, as well as the bowls and pitchers for libations; the established bread offering shall remain on the table.
8 Over 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.	8 Over these they shall spread a scarlet cloth and cover all this with tahash skin. They shall then put the poles in place.
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,	9 They shall use a violet cloth to cover the lampstand with its lamps, trimming shears, and trays, as well as the various containers of oil from which it is supplied.
10 and wil lay it and al its accessories in a covering of fine leather and put it on the litter.	10 The lampstand with all its utensils they shall then enclose in a covering of tahash skin, and place on a 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.	11 Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover this also with a covering of tahash skin. They shall then put the poles in place.
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.	12 Taking the utensils of the sanctuary service, they shall wrap them all in violet cloth and cover them with tahash skin. They shall then place them on a litter.
13 'When they have removed the ashes from the altar, they wil spread a scarlet cloth over it,	13 After cleansing the altar of its ashes, they shall spread a purple cloth over it.
14 and 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.	14 On this they shall put all the utensils with which it is served: the fire pans, forks, shovels, basins, and all the utensils of the altar. They shall then spread a covering of tahash skin over this, and put the poles in place.
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.	15 "Only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all their utensils on breaking camp, shall the Kohathites enter to carry them. But they shall not touch the sacred objects; if they do they will die. These, then, are the objects in the meeting tent that the Kohathites shall carry.
16 But 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.'	16 "Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, shall be in charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the established cereal offering, and the anointing oil. He shall be in charge of the whole Dwelling with all the sacred objects and utensils that are in it."
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	17 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
18 'You must not let the group of Kohathite clans be lost to the rest of the Levites.	18 "Do not let the group of Kohathite clans perish from the body of the Levites.
19 But 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,	19 That they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects, this is what you shall do for them: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign to each of them his task and what he must carry;
20 in 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.'	20 but the Kohathites shall not go in to look upon the sacred objects, even for an instant; if they do, they will die."
21 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	21 The LORD said to Moses,
22 'Take a census of the Gershonites by families and clans, too:	22 "Take a total among the Gershonites also, by ancestral houses and clans,
23 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, who will have their dutiesin the Tent of Meeting.	23 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.
24 'These are the duties of the Gershonite clans, their functions and their loads.	24 This is the task of the clans of the Gershonites, what they must do and what they must carry:
25 They 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,	25 they shall carry the sheets of the Dwelling, the meeting tent with its covering and the outer wrapping of tahash skin, the curtain at the entrance of the meeting tent,
26 the 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.	26 the hangings of the court, the curtain at the entrance of the court that encloses both the Dwelling and the altar, together with their ropes and all other objects necessary in their use. Whatever is to be done with these things shall be their task.
27 Al 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.	27 The service of the Gershonites shall be entirely under the direction of Aaron and his sons, with regard to what they must do and what they must carry; you shall make each man of them responsible for what he is to carry.
28 Such are the duties of the Gershonite clans in the Tent of Meeting. Their work wil be supervised byIthamar, son of Aaron the priest.	28 This, then, is the task of the Gershonites in the meeting tent; and they shall be under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.
29 'You will take a census of the Merarites by clans and families.	29 "Among the Merarites, too, you shall enroll by clans and ancestral houses
30 You 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.	30 all their men between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.
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,	31 This is what they shall be responsible for carrying, all the years of their service in the meeting tent: the boards of the Dwelling with its bars, columns and pedestals,
32 the 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.	32 and the columns of the surrounding court with their pedestals, pegs and ropes. You shall designate for each man of them all the objects connected with his service, which he shall be responsible for carrying.
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.'	33 This, then, is the task of the clans of the Merarites during all their service in the meeting tent under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest."
34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community took a census of the Kohathites by clans andfamilies:	34 So Moses and Aaron and the princes of the community made a registration among the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses,
35 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent ofMeeting.	35 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age. These were to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent;
36 The number of men counted in their clans came to two thousand seven hundred and fifty.	36 as registered by clans, they numbered two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
37 Such 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.	37 Such was the census of all the men of the Kohathite clans who were to serve in the meeting tent, which Moses took, together with Aaron, as the LORD bade him.
38 A census was taken of the Gershonites by clans and families:	38 The registration was then made among the Gershonites, by clans and ancestral houses,
39 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent ofMeeting.	39 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age. These were to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent;
40 The number of men counted in their clans and families came to two thousand six hundred and thirty.	40 as registered by clans and ancestral houses, they numbered two thousand six hundred and thirty.
41 Such 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.	41 Such was the census of all the men of the Gershonite clans who were to serve in the meeting tent, which Moses took, together with Aaron, at the LORD'S bidding.
42 A census was taken of the Merarite clans by clans and families:	42 Then the registration was made among the Merarites, by clans and ancestral houses,
43 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for military service, for duties in the Tent of Meeting.	43 of all the men from thirty up to fifty years of age. These were to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent;
44 The number of men counted in their clans came to three thousand two hundred.	44 as registered by clans, they numbered three thousand two hundred.
45 Such was the total number of men in the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron counted atYahweh's bidding through Moses.	45 Such was the census of the men of the Merarite clans which Moses took, together with Aaron, as the LORD bade him.
46 The total number of Levites whom Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted in their clans andfamilies,	46 Therefore, when Moses and Aaron and the Israelites princes had completed the registration among the Levites, by clans and ancestral houses,
47 al the men between thirty and fifty years of age, eligible for religious duties and for those oftransporting the Tent of Meeting	47 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were to undertake tasks of service or transport of the meeting tent,
48 came to eight thousand five hundred and eighty.	48 the total number registered was eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
49 At 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.	49 According to the LORD'S bidding to Moses, they gave them their individual assignments for service and for transport; so the LORD had commanded Moses.