Numbers 4:3-22
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 4
3from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who can enter the service of ministry to do work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.
5When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;
6and they shall place a covering of fine leather on it, and spread over it a cloth of pure violet, and insert its carrying poles.
7Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of violet and put on it the dishes, the pans, the sacrificial bowls, and the jugs for the drink offering; and the continual bread shall be on it.
8And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles.
9Then they shall take a violet cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its oil containers, by which they attend to it;
10and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying bars.
11Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles;
12and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a violet cloth and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying bars.
13Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it.
14They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks, shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of fine leather over it and insert its carrying poles.
15When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
17Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
18Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites.
19Rather, do this for them so that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load;
20but they shall not come in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.'
King James Version
Chapter 4
3From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. 4This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: 5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: 6And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.
7And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:
8And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.
9And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:
10And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.
11And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:
12And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar:
13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
14And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it.
17And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
18Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
19But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
20But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
21And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
22Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;
Christian Standard Bible
4"The service of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting concerns the most holy objects.
5Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
6They are to place over this a covering made of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles.
7"They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence and place the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to be on it.
8They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with a covering made of fine leather, and insert the poles in the table.
9"They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, with its lamps, snuffers, and firepans, as well as its jars of oil by which they service it.
10Then they are to place it with all its utensils inside a covering made of fine leather and put them on the carrying frame.
11"They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with a covering made of fine leather, and insert its poles.
12They are to take all the serving utensils they use in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made of fine leather, and put them on a carrying frame.
13"They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,
14and place all the equipment on it that they use in serving: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and basins—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread a covering made of fine leather over it and insert its poles.
17Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
18"Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be wiped out from the Levites.
19Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty.
20The Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects as they are covered or they will die."
New Living Translation
Chapter 4
3List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.
4The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects.
5When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons must enter the Tabernacle first to take down the inner curtain and cover the Ark of the Covenant with it.
6Then they must cover the inner curtain with fine goatskin leather and spread over that a single piece of blue cloth. Finally, they must put the carrying poles of the Ark in place.
7Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and on the cloth they will place the bowls, ladles, jars, pitchers, and the special bread.
8They must spread a scarlet cloth over all of this, and finally a covering of fine goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they must insert the carrying poles into the table.
9Next they must cover the lampstand with a blue cloth, along with its lamps, lamp snuffers, trays, and special jars of olive oil.
10Then they must cover the lampstand and its accessories with fine goatskin leather and place the bundle on a carrying frame.
11Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar.
12They must take all the remaining furnishings of the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine goatskin leather, and place them on the carrying frame.
13They must remove the ashes from the altar for sacrifices and cover the altar with a purple cloth.
14All the altar utensils — the firepans, meat forks, shovels, basins, and all the containers — must be placed on the cloth, and a covering of fine goatskin leather must be spread over them. Finally, they must put the carrying poles in place.
15The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry.
17Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
18Do not let the Kohathite clans be destroyed from among the Levites!
19This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person.
20The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.'
English Standard Version
Chapter 4
3from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. 7And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular showbread also shall be on it. 8Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 9And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
17The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
18"Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites,
19but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden,
20but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die."
New International Version
4"This is the work of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things.
5When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law.
6Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.
7"Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it.
8They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.
9"They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick trimmers and trays, and all its jars for the olive oil used to supply it.
10Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of the durable leather and put it on a carrying frame.
13"They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it.
14Then they are to place on it all the utensils used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans, meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Over it they are to spread a covering of the durable leather and put the poles in place.
17The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
18"See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites.
19So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry.
20But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die."
New King James Version
4“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to the most holy things:
5When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.
6Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue; and they shall insert its poles.
7“On the table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring; and the showbread shall be on it.
8They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles.
9And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it.
10Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam.
11“Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles.
12Then they shall take all the utensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam.
13Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it.
14They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles.
17Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
18“Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
19but do this in regard 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 each of them to his service and his task.
20But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”
