Numbers 4:21-7:89

New King James Version

Duties of the Sons of Gershon

²¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²² “Also take a census of the sons of ^(A)Gershon, by their fathers’ house, by their families. ^23 (B)From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. ²⁴ This is the ^(C)service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: ^25 (D)They shall carry the ^(E)curtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its covering, the covering of ^(F)badger skins that is on it, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ²⁶ the screen for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and altar, and their cords, all the furnishings for their service and all that is made for these things: so shall they serve.

²⁷ “Aaron and his sons shall ^[a]assign all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their tasks and all their service. And you shall ^[b]appoint to them all their tasks as their duty. ²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting. And their duties shall be ^(G)under the ^[c]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Sons of Merari

²⁹ “As for the sons of ^(H)Merari, you shall number them by their families and by their fathers’ house. ^30 (I)From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ³¹ And ^(J)this is ^(K)what they must carry as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting: ^(L)the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³² and the pillars around the court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, with all their furnishings and all their service; and you shall ^(M)assign to each man by name the items he must carry. ³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting, under the ^[d]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

Census of the Levites

^34 (N)And Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁵ from thirty ^(O)years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting; ³⁶ and those who were numbered by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷ These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

³⁸ And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁹ from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁰ those who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. ^41 (P)These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴² Those of the families of the sons of Merari who were numbered, by their families, by their fathers’ ^[e]house, ⁴³ from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁴ those who were numbered by their families were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵ These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered ^(Q)according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶ All who were ^(R)numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, ^47 (S)from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁸ those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

⁴⁹ According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, ^(T)each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, ^(U)as the Lord commanded Moses.

Ceremonially Unclean Persons Isolated^(V)

5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every ^(W)leper, everyone who has a ^(X)discharge, and whoever becomes ^(Y)defiled ^[f]by a corpse. ³ You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps ^(Z)in the midst of which I dwell.” ⁴ And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Confession and Restitution^(AA)

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Speak to the children of Israel: ^(AB)‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the Lord, and that person is guilty, ^7 (AC)then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass ^(AD)in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged. ⁸ But if the man has no ^[g]relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to ^(AE)the ram of the atonement with which atonement is made for him. ⁹ Every ^(AF)offering^[h] of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be ^(AG)his. ¹⁰ And every man’s ^[i]holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest shall be ^(AH)his.’ ”

Concerning Unfaithful Wives

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, ¹³ and a man ^(AI)lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she ^(AJ)caught— ¹⁴ if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes ^(AK)jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself— ¹⁵ then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall ^(AL)bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for ^(AM)bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶ ‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. ¹⁷ The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸ Then the priest shall stand the woman before the ^(AN)Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you”— ²¹ then the priest shall ^(AO)put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—^(AP)“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh ^[j]rot and your belly swell; ²² and may this water that causes the curse ^(AQ)go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.”

‘^(AR)Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”

²³ ‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter. ^25 (AS)Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, shall ^(AT)wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar; ²⁶ and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, ^(AU)as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a ^(AV)curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman ^(AW)will become a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children.

²⁹ ‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, ^(AX)goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her. ³¹ Then the man shall be free from ^[k]iniquity, but that woman ^(AY)shall bear her ^[l]guilt.’ ”

The Law of the Nazirite

6 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman ^[m]consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, ^(AZ)to separate himself to the Lord, ^3 (BA)he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ All the days of his ^[n]separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

⁵ ‘All the days of the vow of his separation no ^(BB)razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. ⁶ All the days that he separates himself to the Lord ^(BC)he shall not go near a dead body. ^7 (BD)He shall not ^[o]make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. ^8 (BE)All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.

⁹ ‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall ^(BF)shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. ¹⁰ Then ^(BG)on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; ¹¹ and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day. ¹² He shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year ^(BH)as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be ^[p]lost, because his separation was defiled.

¹³ ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: ^(BI)When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁴ And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish ^(BJ)as a sin offering, one ram without blemish ^(BK)as a peace offering, ¹⁵ a basket of unleavened bread, ^(BL)cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers ^(BM)anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their ^(BN)drink offerings.

¹⁶ ‘Then the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; ¹⁷ and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ^18 (BO)Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.

¹⁹ ‘And the priest shall take the ^(BP)boiled shoulder of the ram, one ^(BQ)unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and ^(BR)put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair, ²⁰ and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; ^(BS)they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”

The Priestly Blessing

²² And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²³ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

^27 (BZ)“So they shall ^[r]put My name on the children of Israel, and ^(CA)I will bless them.”

Offerings of the Leaders

7 Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished ^(CB)setting up the tabernacle, that he ^(CC)anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them. ² Then ^(CD)the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, who were the leaders of the tribes ^[s]and over those who were numbered, made an offering. ³ And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle.

⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵ “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.” ⁶ So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ Two carts and four oxen ^(CE)he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; ^8 (CF)and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the ^[t]authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was ^(CG)the service of the holy things, ^(CH)which they carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰ Now the leaders offered ^(CI)the dedication offering for the altar when it was anointed; so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. ¹¹ For the Lord said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² And the one who offered his offering on the first day was ^(CJ)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. ¹³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to ^(CK)the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a ^(CL)grain offering; ¹⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(CM)incense; ^15 (CN)one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb ^(CO)in its first year, as a burnt offering; ¹⁶ one kid of the goats as a ^(CP)sin offering; ¹⁷ and for ^(CQ)the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering. ¹⁹ For his offering he offered one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ²² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ²³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the children of Zebulun, presented an offering. ²⁵ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²⁷ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ²⁸ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ²⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day ^(CR)Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben, presented an offering. ³¹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³³ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ³⁴ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ³⁵ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day ^(CS)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of Simeon, presented an offering. ³⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³⁹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁴⁰ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁴¹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day ^(CT)Eliasaph the son of ^[u]Deuel, leader of the children of Gad, presented an offering. ⁴³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁴⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁴⁵ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as ^(CU)a burnt offering; ⁴⁶ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁴⁷ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day ^(CV)Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the children of Ephraim, presented an offering. ⁴⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁵¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁵² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁵³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day ^(CW)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the children of Manasseh, presented an offering. ⁵⁵ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁵⁷ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁵⁸ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁵⁹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day ^(CX)Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the children of Benjamin, presented an offering. ⁶¹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁶³ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁶⁴ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁶⁵ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day ^(CY)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the children of Dan, presented an offering. ⁶⁷ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁶⁹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁰ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁷¹ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day ^(CZ)Pagiel the son of Ocran, leader of the children of Asher, presented an offering. ⁷³ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁷⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁷⁵ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day ^(DA)Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the children of Naphtali, presented an offering. ⁷⁹ His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁸⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁸¹ one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; ⁸² one kid of the goats as a sin offering; ⁸³ and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was ^(DB)the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel, when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans. ⁸⁵ Each silver platter weighed one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy shekels. All the silver of the vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁸⁶ The twelve gold pans full of incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans weighed one hundred and twenty shekels. ⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering, and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve. ⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was ^(DC)anointed.

⁸⁹ Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting ^(DD)to speak with Him, he heard ^(DE)the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from ^(DF)between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.