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Then Yehowah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said,
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Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
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between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who comes to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting.
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This shall be the responsibility of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the Holy of Holies.
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When the camp sets out, Aaron shall come with his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it;
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then they shall put a covering of badgers' skins on it, and spread over it a cloth all of violet, and put in its poles.
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And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a violet cloth, and put on it the dishes, the cups, the bowls, and the jars for the drink-offering; the continual bread shall also be on it;
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and they shall spread over them a double-dyed scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and put in its poles.
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And they shall take a violet cloth, and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its snuffers, its ashpans, and all the vessels for its oil with which they attend to it;
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and they shall put it with all its vessels into a covering of badgers' skin, and put it on its carrying-frame.
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And over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skin, and put in its poles;
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and they shall take all the vessels for ministering, by which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them into a violet cloth, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skin, and put them on the carrying-frame.
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And they shall remove the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it;
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and they shall put on it all its utensils by which they attend to it, the ashpans, the flesh-hooks, the shovels, and the basins-all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread over it a covering of badgers' skin, and put in its poles.
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So Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the sanctuary, and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is going to set out; and after this the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, or else they will die. These things from the tent of meeting are to be carried by the sons of Kohath.
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And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have the oversight of the oil for the light, the incense made from spices, the continual grain-offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.
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And Yehowah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said,
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Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be destroyed from among the Levites;
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but do this for them, so that they may live and not die when they approach the Holy of Holies: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each man to his service and to his burden,
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but they shall not go in to see the holy things even for a moment, or else they will die.
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And Yehowah spoke to Moses, and said,
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Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;
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number those between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who comes to perform service, to work at the tent of meeting.
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This is the work of the families of the Gershonites in serving and carrying;
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for they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting with its covering, and the covering of badgers' skin which is over it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
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and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the articles for the work there, and all that is made for them; this is their work.
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All the work of the sons of the Gershonites shall be performed at the word of Aaron and his sons, in all their burdens and their service; and you shall assign to them everything which they have to carry.
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This is the work of the families of the sons of the Gershonites at the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be under the oversight of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
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As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;
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you shall number those between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who comes to perform service, to work at the tent of meeting.
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And these are the things they shall carry, in all their work at the tent of meeting: the supports of the tabernacle, with its bars, its pillars, and its bases,
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and the pillars of the surrounding court, with their bases, their pegs, and their cords, with all their articles and all their accessories; and you shall assign to them by name the articles which they have to carry.
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This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, in all their service at the tent of meeting, under the oversight of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
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And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
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those who were between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who came to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting;
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and their number by their families was two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
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These were the who ones were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served at the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of Yehowah through Moses.
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And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
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between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who came to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting,
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their number by their families, by their fathers' houses, was two thousand six hundred and thirty.
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These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served at the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of Yehowah.
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And those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
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between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who came to perform service, to do work at the tent of meeting,
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their number by their families was three thousand two hundred.
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These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of Yehowah through Moses.
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All who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered of the Levites, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
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between the ages of thirty and fifty years, everyone who came to do the work of service, and the work of carrying at the tent of meeting,
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their number was eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
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According to the word of Yehowah he numbered them by the hand of Moses, each man according to his service and according to his burden; so they were numbered by him, as Yehowah commanded Moses.
