BEMIḎBAR 4 (Numbers 4)

1 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 spoke to Mosheh, and to Aharon, saying,

2 “Take a census of the sons of Qehath from among the children of Lĕwi, by their clans, by their fathers’ house,

3 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the Tent of Appointment.

4 “This is the service of the sons of Qehath in the Tent of Appointment, the most qodesh matters:

5 “At the breaking of camp, Aharon and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Witness with it,

6 and shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that an all-blue wrapper, and shall insert its poles.

7 “And on the table of showbread they shall spread a blue wrapper, and shall put on it the dishes, and the ladles, and the bowls, and the jars for pouring, and the showbread on it.

8 “And they shall spread over them a scarlet wrapper, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles,

9 and shall take a blue wrapper and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays, and all its oil vessels, by which they serve it.

10 “And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a bar.

11 “And over the golden altar they shall spread a blue wrapper, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles,

12 and shall take all the utensils of service with which they serve in the qodesh place, and shall put them in a blue wrapper, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a bar,

13 and shall remove the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple wrapper over it,

14 and shall put on it all its utensils by which they serve there: the fire holders, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, and all the utensils of the altar, and shall spread on it a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles.

15 “And when Aharon and his sons have finished covering the qodesh objects and all the furnishings of the qodesh place at the breaking of camp, then the sons of Qehath shall come to lift them, but let them not touch that which is qodesh, lest they die. These are the burden of the sons of Qehath in the Tent of Appointment.

16 “And the oversight of El’azar, son of Aharon the kohĕn, is the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the Mishkan and all that is in it, with the qodesh place and its furnishings.”

17 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 spoke to Mosheh, and to Aharon, saying,

18 “Do not cut off the tribe of the clans of the Qehathites from among the Lĕwites,

19 but do this to them, and they shall live and not die when they approach the most qodesh objects: Aharon and his sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service and his burden.

20 “They are not, however, to go in to watch while the qodesh objects are being covered, lest they die.”

21 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 spoke to Mosheh, saying,

22 “Take a census also of the sons of Gĕreshon, by their fathers’ house, by their clans.

23 “Register them, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter to perform the service, to do the service in the Tent of Appointment.

24 “This is the service of the clans of the Gĕreshonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

25 “And they shall bear the curtains of the Mishkan and the Tent of Appointment with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is on it, the covering for the door of the Tent of Appointment,

26 and the screens of the courtyard and the covering for the door of the gate of the courtyard, which is around the Mishkan and altar, and their cords, all the equipment for their service and all that is made for them – so shall they serve.

27 “Aharon and his sons are to command all the service of the sons of the Gĕreshonites, all their burden and all their service. And you shall appoint to them all the duty of all their burden.

28 “This is the service of the clans of the sons of Gĕreshon in the Tent of Appointment. And let their duties be under the hand of Ithamar, son of Aharon the kohĕn.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, register them by their clans and by their fathers’ house.

30 “Register them, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work of the Tent of Appointment.

31 “And this is the duty of their burden, according to all their service for the Tent of Appointment: the boards of the Mishkan, and its bars, and its columns, and its sockets,

32 and the columns around the courtyard with their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords, with all their equipment and all their service. And assign by name the equipment of the duty of their burden.

33 “This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the Tent of Appointment, under the hand of Ithamar, son of Aharon the kohĕn.”

34 So Mosheh and Aharon and the leaders of the congregation registered the sons of the Qehathites by their clans and by their fathers’ house,

35 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Appointment.

36 And their registered ones, by their clans, were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 These were the registered ones of the clans of the Qehathites, all those serving in the Tent of Appointment, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 by the hand of Mosheh.

38 And those registered ones of the sons of Gĕreshon, by their clans and by their fathers’ house,

39 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Appointment,

40 the registered ones, by their clans, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41 These were the registered ones of the clans of the sons of Gĕreshon, of all who serve in the Tent of Appointment, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

42 And those of the clans of the sons of Merari who were registered, by their clans, by their fathers’ house,

43 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who entered the service for work in the Tent of Appointment,

44 the registered ones, by their clans were three thousand two hundred.

45 These were the registered ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Mosheh and Aharon registered according to the command of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 by the hand of Mosheh.

46 All the registered ones of the Lĕwites, whom Mosheh and Aharon and the leaders of Yisra’ĕl registered, by their clans and by their fathers’ houses,

47 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Appointment,

48 their registered ones were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

49 According to the command of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 they were registered by the hand of Mosheh, each according to his service and according to his burden, thus were they registered by him, as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 commanded Mosheh.