¹The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying ,

²“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from amongst the sons of Levi , by their families , by their fathers’ houses ,

³from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old , all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting .

⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting , regarding the most holy things .

⁵When the camp moves forward , Aaron shall go in with his sons ; and they shall take down the veil of the screen , cover the ark of the Testimony with it ,

⁶put a covering of sealskin on it , spread a blue cloth over it , and put in its poles.

⁷“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes , the spoons , the bowls , and the cups with which to pour out ; and the continual bread shall be on it .

⁸They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

⁹“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light , its lamps , its snuffers , its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels , with which they minister to it .

¹⁰They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame .

¹¹“On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

¹²“They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary , and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame .

¹³“They shall take away the ashes from the altar , and spread a purple cloth on it .

¹⁴They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it , the fire pans, the meat hooks , the shovels , and the basins —all the vessels of the altar ; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary , as the camp moves forward ; after that , the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it ; but they shall not touch the sanctuary , lest they die . The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting .

¹⁶“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light , the sweet incense , the continual meal offering , and the anointing oil , the requirements of all the tabernacle , and of all that is in it , the sanctuary , and its furnishings .”

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying ,

¹⁸“Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from amongst the Levites ;

¹⁹but do this to them , that they may live , and not die , when they approach the most holy things : Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden ;

²⁰but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment , lest they die .”

²¹The LORD spoke to Moses , saying ,

²²“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also , by their fathers’ houses , by their families ;

²³you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old : all who enter in to wait on the service , to do the work in the Tent of Meeting .

²⁴“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites , in serving and in bearing burdens :

²⁵they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting , its covering , the covering of sealskin that is on it , the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting ,

²⁶the hangings of the court , the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar , their cords , and all the instruments of their service , and whatever shall be done with them . They shall serve in there .

²⁷At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites , in all their burden and in all their service ; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities .

²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting . Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest .

²⁹“As for the sons of Merari , you shall count them by their families , by their fathers’ houses ;

³⁰you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old —everyone who enters on the service , to do the work of the Tent of Meeting .

³¹This is the duty of their burden , according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting : the tabernacle ’s boards , its bars , its pillars , its sockets,

³²the pillars of the court around it , their sockets, their pins , their cords , with all their instruments , and with all their service . You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name .

³³This 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 .”

³⁴Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families , and by their fathers’ houses ,

³⁵from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old , everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting .

³⁶Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand and seven hundred and fifty .

³⁷These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites , all who served in the Tent of Meeting , whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses .

³⁸Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon , by their families , and by their fathers’ houses ,

³⁹from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old —everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting ,

⁴⁰even those who were counted of them , by their families , by their fathers’ houses , were two thousand and six hundred and thirty .

⁴¹These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon , all who served in the Tent of Meeting , whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD .

⁴²Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari , by their families , by their fathers’ houses ,

⁴³from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old —everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting ,

⁴⁴even those who were counted of them by their families , were three thousand and two hundred .

⁴⁵These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari , whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses .

⁴⁶All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted , by their families and by their fathers’ houses ,

⁴⁷from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old , everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting ,

⁴⁸even those who were counted of them , were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty .

⁴⁹According to the commandment of the LORD they were counted by Moses , everyone according to his service and according to his burden . Thus they were counted by him , as the LORD commanded Moses .