Numbers 4-6

Numbers 4

¹Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

²“Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,

³men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

⁴This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things.

⁵Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.

⁶They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.

⁷Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it.

⁸And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles.

⁹They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it.

¹⁰Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame.

¹¹Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.

¹²They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.

¹³Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,

¹⁴and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.”

¹⁷Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

¹⁸“Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.

¹⁹In order 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 in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.

²⁰But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.”

²¹And the LORD said to Moses,

²²“Take a census of the Gershonites as well, by their families and clans,

²³from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport:

²⁵They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

²⁶the curtains of the courtyard, and the curtains for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. The Gershonites will do all that needs to be done with these items.

²⁷All the service of the Gershonites—all their transport duties and other work—is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.

²⁸This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their clans and families,

³⁰from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting.

³¹This is the duty for all their service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and bases,

³²and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry.

³³This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their clans and families,

³⁵everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

³⁶And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750.

³⁷These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

³⁸Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families,

³⁹everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁰And those numbered by their clans and families totaled 2,630.

⁴¹These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command.

⁴²And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

⁴³everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200.

⁴⁵These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses.

⁴⁶So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their clans and families all the Levites

⁴⁷from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁸And the number of men was 8,580.

⁴⁹At the LORD’s command they were numbered through Moses and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Numbers 5

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.

³You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

⁴So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

⁵And the LORD said to Moses,

⁶“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

⁷and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged.

⁸But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.

⁹Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

¹⁰Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

¹³by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

¹⁴and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself—

¹⁵then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.

¹⁶The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

¹⁷Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

¹⁸After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

¹⁹And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.

²⁰But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—

²¹and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

²²May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

²³And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

²⁴He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.

²⁵The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

²⁶Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water.

²⁷When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

²⁸But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.

²⁹This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

³⁰or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

³¹The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

Numbers 6

¹And the LORD said to Moses,

²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,

³he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

⁴All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

⁵For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long.

⁶Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body.

⁷Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the crown of consecration to his God is upon his head.

⁸Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.

⁹If someone suddenly dies in his presence and defiles his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day.

¹⁰On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

¹¹And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him, because he has sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. On that day he must consecrate his head again.

¹²He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled.

¹³Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

¹⁴and he is to present an offering to the LORD of an unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, and an unblemished ram as a peace offering—

¹⁵together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers coated with oil.

¹⁶The priest is to present all these before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.

¹⁷He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

¹⁸Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the hair, and put it on the fire under the peace offering.

¹⁹And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration.

²⁰The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

²²Then the LORD said to Moses,

²³“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;

²⁵may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

²⁶may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’

²⁷So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”