(Numbers 3:27–32; 1 Chronicles 23:12–20)
1
And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
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“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers;
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from a son of thirty years and upward, even until a son of fifty years, everyone going in to the host, to do work in the Tent of Meeting.
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This [is] the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting [for] the most holy things:
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when Aaron and his sons have come in, in the journeying of the camp, and have taken down the veil of the hanging, and have covered the Ark of the Testimony with it,
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then they have put a covering of tachash skin on it, and have spread a garment completely of blue above, and have placed its poles.
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And they spread a garment of blue over the table of the presence, and have put the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups of the drink-offering on it, and the bread of continuity is on it,
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and they have spread a garment of scarlet over them, and have covered it with a covering of tachash skin, and have placed its poles,
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and have taken a garment of blue, and have covered the lampstand of the lamp, and its lights, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, and all its oil vessels with which they minister to it;
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and they have put it and all its vessels into a covering of tachash skin, and have put [it] on the bar.
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And they spread a garment of blue over the golden altar, and have covered it with a covering of tachash skin, and have placed its poles,
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and have taken all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the holy place, and have put [them] into a garment of blue, and have covered them with a covering of tachash skin, and have put [them] on the bar,
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and have removed the ashes of the altar, and have spread a garment of purple over it,
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and have put on it all its vessels with which they minister on it—the censers, the hooks, and the shovels, and the bowls, all the vessels of the altar—and have spread a covering of tachash skin on it, and have placed its poles.
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And Aaron has finished—his sons also—covering the holy place, and all the vessels of the holy place, in the journeying of the camp, and afterward the sons of Kohath come in to carry [it], and they do not come to the holy thing, lest they have died; these [things are] the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
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And the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, [is] the oil of the lamp, and the spice-incense, and the present of continuity, and the anointing oil, the oversight of all the Dwelling Place and of all that [is] in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels.”
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And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
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“You do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathite from the midst of the Levites;
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but do this for them, and they have lived and do not die in their drawing near [to] the Holy of Holies: Aaron and his sons go in, and have set them, each man to his service, and to his burden,
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and they do not go in to see when the holy thing is swallowed, lest they have died.”
The Duties of the Gershonites
(Numbers 3:21–26; 1 Chronicles 23:7–11)
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And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
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“Also take a census of the sons of Gershon by the house of their fathers, by their families;
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from a son of thirty years and upward, until a son of fifty years, you number them—everyone who is going in to serve the host, to do the service in the Tent of Meeting.
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This [is] the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve and for burden:
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and they have carried the curtains of the Dwelling Place, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of the tachash [skin] which [is] on it above, and the veil at the opening of the Tent of Meeting,
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and the hangings of the court, and the veil at the opening of the gate of the court which [is] by the Dwelling Place, and by the altar all around, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is made for them—and they have served.
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By the command of Aaron and his sons is all the service of the sons of the Gershonite, in all their burden and in all their service; and you have laid a charge on them concerning the charge of all their burden.
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This [is] the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonite in the Tent of Meeting; and their charge [is] under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The Duties of the Merarites
(Numbers 3:33–37; 1 Chronicles 23:21–23)
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The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers—you number them;
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from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, you number them—everyone who is going in to the host, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.
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And this [is] the charge of their burden, of all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards of the Dwelling Place, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets,
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and the pillars of the court all around, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, of all their vessels, and of all their service; and you number the vessels of the charge of their burden by name.
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This [is] the service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, by the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
The Numbering of the Levite Clans
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And Moses numbers—Aaron also, and the princes of the congregation—the sons of the Kohathite, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,
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from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service in the Tent of Meeting,
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and their numbered ones, by their families, are two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
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These [are] those numbered of the families of the Kohathite, everyone who is serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH, by the hand of Moses.
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And those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,
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from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service in the Tent of Meeting,
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even their numbered ones, by their families, by the house of their fathers, are two thousand and six hundred and thirty.
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These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who is serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH.
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And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers,
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from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to the host, for service in the Tent of Meeting,
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even their numbered ones, by their families, are three thousand and two hundred.
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These [are] those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of YHWH, by the hand of Moses.
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All those numbered, whom Moses numbered—Aaron also, and the princes of Israel—of the Levites, by their families, and by the house of their fathers,
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from a son of thirty years and upward even to a son of fifty years, everyone who is going in to do the work of the service, even the service of burden in the Tent of Meeting,
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even their numbered ones are eight thousand and five hundred and eighty;
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he has numbered them by the command of YHWH, by the hand of Moses, each man by his service, and by his burden, with his numbered ones, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
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