The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
1
The Lord told Moses
2 Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;
2
to take a census of the Levite clan of Kohath by subclans and families,
3 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
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and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.
4 And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things.
4
Their service involves the most holy things.
5 When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it;
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The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it.
6 And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place.
6
They shall put a fine leather cover over it, spread a cloth of solid blue on top, and then insert the carrying poles.
7 And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them;
7
They shall spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread offered to the Lord and put on it the dishes, the incense bowls, the offering bowls, and the jars for the wine offering. There shall always be bread on the table.
8 And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places.
8
They shall spread a red cloth over all of this, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles.
9 And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it:
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They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the olive oil containers.
10 All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame.
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They shall wrap it and all its equipment in a fine leather cover and place it on a carrying frame.
11 On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places.
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Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles.
12 All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame.
12
They shall take all the utensils used in the Holy Place, wrap them in a blue cloth, put a fine leather cover over them, and place them on a carrying frame.
13 And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;
13
They shall remove the greasy ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.
14 Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.
14
They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: fire pans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles.
15 And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.
15
When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved.
16 And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care.
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Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord.
17 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
18 Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites;
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"Do not let the clan of Kohath
19 But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up;
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be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry.
20 But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death.
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But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."
21 And the Lord said to Moses,
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The Lord told Moses
22 Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;
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to take a census of the Levite clan of Gershon by subclans and families,
23 All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
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and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.
24 This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up.
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They shall be responsible for carrying the following objects:
25 They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting;
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the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the fine leather cover on top of it, the curtain for the entrance,
26 And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.
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the curtains and ropes for the court that is around the Tent and the altar, the curtains for the entrance of the court, and all the fittings used in setting up these objects. They shall perform all the tasks required for these things.
27 From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders.
27
Moses and Aaron shall see to it that the Gershonites perform all the duties and carry everything that Aaron and his sons assign to them.
28 This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
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These are the responsibilities of the Gershon clan in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
29 The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;
29
The Lord told Moses to take a census of the Levite clan of Merari by subclans and families,
30 Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
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and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.
31 And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases;
31
They shall be responsible for carrying the frames, bars, posts, and bases of the Tent,
32 And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name.
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and the posts, bases, pegs, and ropes of the court around the Tent, with all the fittings used in setting them up. Each man will be responsible for carrying specific items.
33 This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
33
These are the responsibilities of the Merari clan in their service in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
34 So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;
34
Following the Lord's command, Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community took a census of the three Levite clans, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. They did this by subclans and families and registered all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence, as follows:
35 Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting;
36 And the number of all these was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
37 This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.
38 And those of the sons of Gershon who were numbered by families,
39 All those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting,
40 Who were numbered by families in the order of their fathers' houses, were two thousand, six hundred and thirty.
41 This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.
42 And those of the sons of Merari who were numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,
43 All those from thirty to fifty years old who did the work in the Tent of meeting,
44 Who were numbered by families, were three thousand, two hundred.
45 This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.
46 And all the Levites who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses,
47 Those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work of the Tent of meeting and of its transport,
48 Came to eight thousand, five hundred and eighty.
49 At the order of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, every one in relation to his work and to his part in the transport; so they were numbered by Moses at the order of the Lord.
49
Each man was registered as the Lord had commanded Moses; and at the command of the Lord given through Moses, each man was assigned responsibility for his task of serving or carrying.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.