Numbers

Tells about the Israelites' 40 years in the desert, including their travels and the census of their tribes.

Chapter 4

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

2 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

*Add up the children of Kohath from the children of Levi, based on their family groups, according to their ancestral homes.

3 From 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.

*From 30 to 50 years old, everyone joining the group helps with tasks at the church building.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

*In the church's tent, Kohath's sons will take care of the very sacred items.

5 And 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:

*When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons will come. They will remove the cover, then put it on the witness box.

6 And 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.

*They will place badger skin coverings on it and cover it with a completely blue cloth, then insert the support poles.

7 And 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:

*On the display of bread, they will place a blue cloth. Then, they will add the dishes, spoons, bowls, and covers. The constant bread will also be on it.

8 And 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.

*They will place a red cloth on it and cover it with badger skins, then insert the poles.

9 And 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:

*They will use a blue cloth to cover the light's candlestick, lamps, tongs, snuff dishes, and all the oil containers used for its services.

10 And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

*They will place it and all its containers inside covers made from badger skins, then put it on a bar.

11 And 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:

*On the gold altar, they will place a blue cloth, then cover it with badger skins and attach the poles to it.

12 And 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:

*They will gather all the tools used in the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth. Then, they'll cover the cloth with badger skin covers and place everything on a bar.

13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:

*They will remove the ashes from the altar and place a purple cloth on it.

14 And 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.

*They will place all the tools used for serving on it, like the censers, fleshhooks, shovels, and basins. They will also cover it with badger skins and attach the poles to it.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

*When Aaron and his sons finish covering the sanctuary and all its items as the camp is ready to move, the sons of Kohath will help carry it. But they must not touch anything holy or they will die. This is what the sons of Kohath must do in the tabernacle of the congregation.

16 And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

*To Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, belong the oil for lighting, sweet incense, daily food offering, anointing oil, and responsibility for overseeing the entire tabernacle, including everything inside it, in the holy area, and its containers.

17 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

18 Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:

*Do not remove the Kohathite tribe from the Levites.

19 But 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:

*But in this way, you should treat them so they can live and not die when they come close to the very holy things. Aaron and his sons should enter and assign each person to their task and responsibilities.

20 But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

*But they can't enter when the sacred items are hidden, or else they might pass away.

21 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

*And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;

*Count also the children of Gershon's family, in their father's homes, based on their groups.

23 From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

*Count people aged 30 to 50 for temple tasks; include those who join to help in the church's tent.

24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

*This is the task of the Gershonite families: to help and carry heavy loads.

25 And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

*And they will carry the tent's curtains, the tent of the group's cover, and the cover made from badger skins on top, along with the door's hanging for the tent of the group.

26 And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve.

*The curtains of the courtyard, the doorway curtain for the gate, surrounding the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all their tools used for serving, and everything created for them - this is how they will serve.

27 At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

*At the time when Aaron and his sons have a meeting, the Gershonite's children will do all their tasks and carry all their heavy loads. You should give them specific jobs for these tasks.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

*This verse says that the Gershon family members have a job at the church. They will work under Ithamar, who is Aaron's son and a priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;

*Count the descendants of Merari according to their family groups, based on their ancestors' households.

30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

*Count people aged 30 to 50 who join the work at the church's tent place.

31 And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,

*This means that this is what they must do as part of their work at the church building. They are responsible for the wooden frames, the crossbars, the supporting columns, and the base plates of the structure.

32 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

*And the court's supporting columns, along with their base attachments and holding pins and ropes, plus all their tools and tasks - you must list each tool that helps carry their load.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

*This verse says that the Merari family members do their work, following all their tasks, at the congregation's tabernacle, under Ithamar's guidance, who is Aaron's son and a priest.

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

*Moses, Aaron, and the congregation leader counted the Kohathite family members according to their families and their ancestors' homes.

35 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:

*For those aged 30 to 50 who join the work at the church's meeting place.

36 And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

*The people counted in their families totaled 2,750.

37 These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

*These were the people from the Kohathite families who could help with tasks at the church tent. Moses and Aaron counted them based on God's order, as instructed by Moses.

38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,

*The people from the family of Gershon, when counted including all their relatives, according to their family groups.

39 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

*For those aged 30 to 50 who join the work at the church's meeting place.

40 Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

*In simpler terms, the total count of people in their families, based on their ancestral houses, was exactly 2,630.

41 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the LORD.

*These are the people from the families of Gershon's descendants who could help in the church building, counted by Moses and Aaron as per the Lord's order.

42 And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

*The number of people from the Merari family groups was counted, including all the members of each family and considering their ancestral lineage.

43 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

*For those aged 30 to 50, everyone joining the service at the church's tent place.

44 Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

*In simpler terms, the total count of people from their families was three thousand and two hundred.

45 These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

*These are the people from the Merari family groups counted by Moses and Aaron as instructed by God through Moses.

46 All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

*All the Levites counted by Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders, were recorded according to their family groups and their ancestral houses.

47 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,

*From age 30 to 50, anyone who joined to help with the work in the church, carrying heavy things and doing tasks.

48 Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.

*Even the ones counted from them totaled eight thousand, five hundred, and forty-eight.

49 According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

*According to the LORD's order, Moses counted each person based on their work and responsibilities, just as the LORD instructed him to do.

read summary

Back to Chapters

Back to Books

* work in progress, there will be mistakes