The Work of the Sons of Kohath

4 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Number the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi. Number them by their families, by the fathers’ houses, ³ from thirty years old and older, even to fifty years old. Number all who are able to do the work in the meeting tent. ⁴ This is the work of the sons of Kohath in the meeting tent to do with the most holy things. ⁵ When the people leave to move on, Aaron and his sons will go in and take down the curtain in front of the special box with the Law inside. And they will cover the special box with it. ⁶ Then they will lay a covering of badgers’ skins on it, and spread a pure blue cloth over that. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it. ⁷ They will spread a blue cloth over the table of the bread before the Lord. They will put on it the plates, the dishes for special perfume, the pots, and the jars for the drink gift. And the bread will be on it always. ⁸ They will spread a red cloth over them, and cover that with badgers’ skins. And they will put in its long pieces of wood to carry it. ⁹ They will take a blue cloth and cover the lamp-stand for the light, with its lamps, its objects to put out the light, its dishes and all its pots of oil used for the light. ¹⁰ They will put the lamp-stand and all its objects in a covering of badgers’ skins. Then they will put it on the long pieces of wood used to carry it. ¹¹ They will spread a blue cloth over the altar of gold, and cover it with badgers’ skins. And they will put in the long pieces of wood to carry it. ¹² They will take all the things used for the work done in the meeting tent. They will put them in a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins. And they will put them on the long pieces of wood to carry them. ¹³ Then they will take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ They will put on it all the things used for the work done on the altar: the fire-holders, meat-hooks, objects for picking up the ashes, and the pots. Then they will spread a covering of badgers’ skins over it, and put in the long pieces of wood for carrying it. ¹⁵ Aaron and his sons will finish covering the holy objects and all the things of the meeting tent, as the people move on. After that the sons of Kohath will come to carry them. In this way they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the meeting tent which the sons of Kohath are to carry. ¹⁶ Eleazar the son of Aaron the religious leader will take care of the oil for the light, the special perfume, the grain gift which is always given, and the oil for holy use. He will watch over all the meeting tent and all that is in it, the holy place and its objects.”

¹⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ “Do not let the family group of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites. ¹⁹ But do this to them so they may live and not die when they come near the most holy objects. Aaron and his sons must go in and give each of them their work and what they are to carry. ²⁰ But they must not go in to see the holy objects even for a short time, or they will die.”

The Work of the Sons of Gershon

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, ²² “Number the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families. ²³ Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, all who go in to do the work in the meeting tent. ²⁴ These are the duties of the families of the Gershonites, in working and in carrying. ²⁵ They will carry the curtains of the meeting tent and the meeting tent with its covering and the covering of badgers’ skins that is over it. They will carry the curtain for the door of the meeting tent, ²⁶ the curtains of the open space, and the curtain for the gate of the open space which is around the meeting tent and the altar. And they will carry the ropes for the curtains, and all the things used for their work. They will do whatever needs to be done with them. ²⁷ All the work of the sons of the Gershonites will be what Aaron and his sons tell them to do. They will tell them what they are to carry and what work they are to do. You will tell them what things they have a duty to carry. ²⁸ This is the work to be done by the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties.

The Work of the Sons of Merari

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, number them by their families and by their fathers’ houses. ³⁰ Number those who are thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who goes in to do the work of the meeting tent. ³¹ This is what they are to carry for their work in the meeting tent: the wood pieces of the meeting tent, its cross pieces, pillars and its bases. ³² And they are to carry the pillars which are around the open space and their bases and their nails and ropes, with all the things used for their work. You will tell each man by name what he is to carry. ³³ This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, all their work in the meeting tent. Ithamar the son of Aaron the religious leader will watch over their duties.”

The Levites Are Numbered

³⁴ So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ houses. ³⁵ They numbered those who were thirty years old and older, to fifty years old, everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent. ³⁶ And their number by families was 2,750. ³⁷ These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who worked in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.

³⁸ The sons of Gershon were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses, ³⁹ from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered. ⁴⁰ And the number of their men by their families and by their fathers’ houses was 2,630. ⁴¹ These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who were working in the meeting tent. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do.

⁴² The men of the families of the sons of Merari were numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses, ⁴³ from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who went in to do the work in the meeting tent was numbered. ⁴⁴ And the number of their men by their families was 3,200. ⁴⁵ These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari. Moses and Aaron numbered them as the Lord told them to do through Moses.

⁴⁶ Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered all the men of the Levites by their families and their fathers’ houses, ⁴⁷ from thirty years old to fifty years old. Everyone who could go in to do the work and the carrying of the meeting tent was numbered. ⁴⁸ And the number of their men was 8,580. ⁴⁹ They were each given their work and load to carry, as the Lord told them to do through Moses. So these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had told Moses.

People with a Bad Skin Disease

5 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to send away from the tents every person with a bad skin disease, every one with a flow that is unclean, and every one who is unclean because of a dead person. ³ Send away both male and female. Send them away from the tents so they will not make the place sinful where I live among them.” ⁴ The people of Israel did so. They sent them away from the tents. The people of Israel did just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Paying Back for Wrongs Done

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When a man or woman sins the way that man sins by not acting in faith toward the Lord, and that person is guilty, ⁷ then he must tell about the sins he has done. He must pay in full for his wrong-doing, and add one-fifth part to it, and give it to the one he has sinned against. ⁸ But if the man has no brother to whom pay for the wrong can be made, then it must go to the Lord for the religious leader. He must also give a ram to pay for his sins. And his sins will be forgiven. ⁹ Every gift of all the holy things of the Israelites which they bring to the religious leader will become his. ¹⁰ So every man’s holy gifts will be his. Whatever any man gives to the religious leader will be his.’”

Wives Who Are Not Faithful

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘If a man’s wife turns away and is not faithful to him, ¹³ and another man has sex with her and it is hidden from her husband’s eyes, even if it is hidden, she will be unclean. And even if no one speaks against her, because she has not been caught in the act, ¹⁴ but a spirit of jealousy comes over her husband, he will be jealous of his wife when she has made herself unclean. Or if he becomes jealous of his wife when she has done nothing to make herself unclean, ¹⁵ then the man must bring his wife to the religious leader. He must bring one-tenth part of a basket of barley as the gift needed for her. He must not pour oil on it. He must not put special perfume on it. For it is a grain gift of jealousy. It is a grain gift to make the sin remembered.

¹⁶ ‘Then the religious leader will bring her near and have her stand before the Lord. ¹⁷ The religious leader will take holy water in a clay pot. He will take some of the dust on the floor of the meeting tent and put it into the water. ¹⁸ Then the religious leader will have the woman stand before the Lord and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose. He will put the grain gift of remembering into her hands. It is the grain gift of jealousy. In the religious leader’s hand will be the bitter water that can bring a curse to the woman. ¹⁹ Then the religious leader will have her make a promise. He will say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not turned away into sin, while under the power of your husband, this bitter water that brings punishment will not hurt you. ²⁰ If you have turned away, while under the power of your husband, and have made yourself unclean by having another man who is not your husband,” ²¹ then the religious leader will have the woman make a promise so she will be punished if she has sinned. He will say to the woman, “May the Lord make you a curse among your people. May the Lord make your leg waste away and your stomach grow bigger. ²² This water that brings a curse will go into your stomach and make it grow bigger and your leg to waste away.” And the woman will say, “Let it be so. Let it be so.”

²³ ‘Then the religious leader will write these curses in a book. And he will wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water that brings a curse will go into her and give her pain. ²⁵ The religious leader will take the grain gift of jealousy from the woman’s hand. He will wave the grain gift before the Lord and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The religious leader will fill his hand with the grain gift, as the part to be remembered. And he will burn it on the altar. Then he will make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ If she has not been faithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will go into her and give her pain. Her stomach will get larger and her leg will become as dead. A curse will come upon the woman among her people. ²⁸ But if the woman has not sinned and is clean, she will be free and able to have children.

²⁹ ‘This is the law of jealousy. If a wife who is under the power of her husband turns away and makes herself unclean, ³⁰ and a spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, making him jealous of his wife, then he must make the woman stand before the Lord. And the religious leader will do to her all the rules of this Law. ³¹ The husband will be free from guilt. But the woman will carry her guilt.’”

Rules for the Nazirites

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘A man or woman may make a special promise, the promise of a Nazirite, to set himself apart to the Lord. ³ Then he must keep away from wine and strong drink. He will drink no sour wine, made from wine or strong drink. He will not drink any grape drink. And he will not eat new or dried grapes. ⁴ All the days he is set apart, he must not eat anything made from the grape-field, not even the seeds or the skins.

⁵ ‘No hair of his head will be cut, all the days of his promise to be set apart. He must be holy until the time is finished for which he set himself apart to the Lord. He will let the hair on his head grow long.

⁶ ‘All the days he is set apart to the Lord, he must not go near a dead person. ⁷ He must not allow himself to be made unclean when his father, mother, brother or sister die. For he has made a promise to be set apart to God. ⁸ He is holy to the Lord all the days he is set apart.

⁹ ‘But if a man dies next to him, making his hair unclean which had been set apart to the Lord, then he must cut all the hair from his head on the day he is made clean. He will cut it off on the seventh day. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he must bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to the religious leader, to the door of the meeting tent. ¹¹ The religious leader will give one for a sin gift and the other for a burnt gift. He will pay for his sin because of the dead person. And he will make his head holy that same day. ¹² He will set apart to the Lord his days as a Nazirite. And he will bring a year old male lamb for a guilt gift. But the past days will be a loss, because he had become unclean during the time he was set apart.

¹³ ‘This is the Law of the Nazirite when the time he is set apart is finished. He must bring the gift to the door of the meeting tent. ¹⁴ He will give his gift to the Lord. It will be a perfect male lamb a year old for a burnt gift, one perfect female lamb a year old for a sin gift, and one perfect ram for a peace gift. ¹⁵ And he will give a basket of bread made of fine flour mixed with oil, made without yeast. He will give hard bread spread with oil and made without yeast. With them he will give their grain gift and drink gifts. ¹⁶ Then the religious leader will give all these to the Lord and his sin gift and his burnt gift. ¹⁷ He will also give the ram for peace gifts to the Lord, together with the basket of bread made without yeast. Then the religious leader will give its grain gift and drink gift. ¹⁸ Then at the door of the meeting tent the Nazirite will cut off the hair that has been set apart for holy use. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire under the peace gifts. ¹⁹ The religious leader will take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled and a loaf of bread and a piece of hard bread, both made without yeast and put them in the hands of the Nazirite. This is done after he has cut off the hair that has been set apart. ²⁰ The religious leader will wave them for a wave gift before the Lord. They are holy and belong to the religious leader, together with the breast given as a wave gift and the thigh given by lifting it up. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the Law of the Nazirite who makes a promise to give to the Lord what he promised as a Nazirite, and whatever else he is able to give. He must do what he has promised by the Law of being set apart as a Nazirite.”

Religious Leaders Bring Good to the People

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Say to Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you should bring good to the people of Israel. Say to them, ²⁴ “May the Lord bring good to you and keep you. ²⁵ May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be kind to you. ²⁶ May the Lord show favor toward you, and give you peace.”’ ²⁷ So they will put My name upon the people of Israel, and I will bring good to them.”