The duties of the 3 families of the Levites
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And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 📚“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, according to their families, by the households of their fathers, 3 📚from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.4 📚“This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, concerning the most holy things. 5 📚When the camp sets out Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the covering veil and cover the ark of testimony with it, 6 📚and put on it the covering of badgers’ skins 📖, and spread over it a cloth all of blue, and insert its poles.
7 📚“And they shall spread a blue cloth on the table of Showbread, and put on it the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and jars for drink offerings; and the continual bread is to be on it. 8 📚And they shall spread over them a scarlet cloth and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and insert its poles.
9 📚“And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays, and all its utensils for oil with which they serve it. 10 📚And they shall put it and all its utensils inside a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it on carrying bars.
11 📚“And they shall spread a blue cloth on the gold altar and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and insert its poles.
12 📚“And they shall take all the service utensils with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them inside a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and put them on carrying bars.
13 📚“And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it, 14 📚and put on it all its utensils with which they serve at it, the fire-pans, the forks and the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar, and spread over it a covering of badgers’ skins, and insert its poles.
15 📚“And when the camp is about to set out and after Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they must not touch any holy thing, or they will die. These are the things in the tabernacle of the congregation which the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 📚“And the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil, the responsibility of the whole tabernacle and everything in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings”.
17 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 📚“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites, 19 📚but do this to them, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each one of them to his work and to his load. 20 📚But they must not go in to see while the holy things are being covered, so that they do not die”.
21 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22 📚“Take a census also of the sons of Gershon, by the houses of their fathers, by their families. 23 📚Count those who are between thirty years old and fifty years old, all who go in to serve and to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
24 📚“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, their work and loads: 25 📚They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the congregation, its covering and the covering of the badgers’ skins that covers it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 26 📚And the hangings of the courtyard, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the courtyard which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service, and everything that was made for them. They are to serve in this way. 27 📚All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their loads and all their work shall be under the orders of Aaron and his sons, and you shall assign them the duty of all their loads. 28 📚This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation, and their duties shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29 📚“And you shall count the sons of Merari according to their families, by the households of their fathers. 30 📚Count those between thirty years old and fifty years, each one who enters service to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. 31 📚And this is the responsibility of their loads in all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation: the boards of the tabernacle, and its crossbars, and its pillars, and its sockets, 32 📚and the pillars of the surrounding courtyard, and their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service. And you shall assign by name the duty of the equipment they are to carry. 33 📚This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest”.
Numbering the 3 families of the Levites
34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites according to their families and according to the households of their fathers, 35 📚each one between thirty years old and fifty years old, who entered service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation; 36 and those of them who were counted by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37 These were the ones of the families of the Kohathites who were counted, all who could do work in the tabernacle of the congregation. Moses and Aaron counted them in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.
38 And those of the sons of Gershon who were counted by their families, and by the households of their fathers, 39 between thirty years old and fifty years old, each one who entered service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 40 📚those among them who were counted by their families, by the households of their fathers, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41 These are the ones of the families of the sons of Gershon who were counted, all who could serve in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron counted in accordance with the command of the LORD.
42 And those of the families of the sons of Merari who were counted by their families, by the households of their fathers, 43 between thirty years old and fifty years old, each one who entered service for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation, 44 📚those among them who were counted according to their families were three thousand and two hundred. 45 📚These are those of the families of the sons of Merari who were counted. Moses and Aaron counted them in accordance with the word of the LORD through Moses.
46 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted according to their families and according to the households of their fathers, 47 📚between thirty years old and fifty years old, each one who came to do the work of the service, and the work of carrying the loads of the tabernacle of the congregation, 48 📚those among them who were counted were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. 49 📚They were counted in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses, each one according to his service, and according to his load. So Moses counted them just as the LORD commanded him.