The Duties of the Kohathites
And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
“Lift the head count of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old — everyone who enters the service, to do work in the Tent of Meeting.
This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting: the holy of holies.
When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall come in and take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
And they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread a cloth all of blue over that, and put its poles in place.
And over the table of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put on it the dishes, and the pans, and the bowls, and the pitchers for the drink offering; and the continual bread shall stay on it.
And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its trays, and all its oil vessels with which they minister to it.
And they shall put it and all its vessels into a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying frame.
And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
And they shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the holy place, and put them into a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.
And they shall clear the ashes from the altar, and spread over it a cloth of purple.
And they shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister on it — the fire pans, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread over it a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place.
And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy things and all the vessels of the holy place, when the camp sets out — after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch the holy things, or they will die. These are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil — the oversight of all the Dwelling and of all that is in it, in the holy place and in its vessels.”
And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites.
But do this for them, so that they live and do not die when they approach the holy of holies: Aaron and his sons shall come in and set them each man to his service and to his burden.
But they shall not come in to see the holy things even for a moment, or they will die.”
The Duties of the Gershonites
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Lift the head count of the sons of Gershon, them also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families;
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall muster them — everyone who enters to serve in the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying:
they shall carry the curtains of the Dwelling, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering and the covering of fine leather that is over it above, and the screen of the door of the Tent of Meeting,
and the hangings of the court, and the screen of the door of the gate of the court that is around the Dwelling and the altar, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service; and all that is to be done with them — so they shall serve.
At the mouth 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 to them in charge all their burden.
This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting; and their charge shall be in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
The Duties of the Merarites
The sons of Merari — by their families, by their fathers’ houses you shall muster them;
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall muster them — everyone who enters the service, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.
And this is the charge of their burden, for all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards of the Dwelling, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases,
and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, with all their vessels and with all their service; and by name you shall assign the vessels of the charge of their burden.
This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service in the Tent of Meeting, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
The Numbering of the Levite Clans
And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation mustered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ houses,
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old — everyone who enters the service, for the service in the Tent of Meeting.
And those mustered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
These are those mustered of the families of the Kohathites, everyone serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron mustered at the mouth of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
And those mustered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old — everyone who enters the service, for the service in the Tent of Meeting —
those mustered of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.
These are those mustered of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone serving in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron mustered at the mouth of the LORD.
And those mustered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old — everyone who enters the service, for the service in the Tent of Meeting —
those mustered of them by their families were three thousand two hundred.
These are those mustered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron mustered at the mouth of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
All those mustered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel mustered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,
from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old — everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the Tent of Meeting —
those mustered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
At the mouth of the LORD they were mustered by the hand of Moses, each man to his service and to his burden; so they were mustered by him, as the LORD had commanded Moses.