Numbers 4:4-20 — Legacy Standard Bible

⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

⁵“And when the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down ^athe veil of the screen and cover the ^bark of the testimony with it; ⁶and they shall put a ^acovering of porpoise skin on it and shall spread over it a cloth of pure ¹blue and shall insert its poles. ⁷“Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of ¹blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the offering bowls and the jars for the drink offering, and ^athe continual bread shall be on it. ⁸“And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its poles. ⁹“Then they shall take a ¹blue cloth and cover the ^alampstand for the light, ^balong with its lamps and its tongs, and its ²trays and all its oil vessels, by which they minister in connection to it; ¹⁰and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin and shall put it on the carrying bars. ¹¹“And over the golden altar they shall spread a ¹blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin and shall insert its poles; ¹²and they shall take all the utensils of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a ¹blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin and put them on the carrying bars. ¹³“Then they shall take away the ¹ashes from the ^aaltar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴“They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they minister in connection with it: the firepans, the flesh hooks and shovels and the bowls, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert its poles. ¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects ^aand die. These are the ¹things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶“And the assignment of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is ^athe oil for the light and the ^bfragrant incense and ^cthe continual grain offering and ^dthe anointing oil—the assignment of all the ¹tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. ¹⁹“But do this to them that they may live and ^anot die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and set each of them to his service and to his load; ²⁰but ^athey shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”