Numbers 4-6

Legacy Standard Bible

Duties of the Kohathites

4 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “Take ^[a]a census of the ^[b]descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, ³ from ^(A)thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the duty of doing the work in the tent of meeting. 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 ^(B)the veil of the screen and cover the ^(C)ark of the testimony with it; ⁶ and they shall put a ^(D)covering of porpoise skin on it and shall spread over it a cloth of pure ^[c]blue and shall insert its poles. ⁷ Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of ^[d]blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the offering bowls and the jars for the drink offering, and ^(E)the 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 ^[e]blue cloth and cover the ^(F)lampstand for the light, ^(G)along with its lamps and its tongs, and its ^[f]trays and all its oil vessels, by which they minister in connection to it; ¹⁰ and 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 ^[g]blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin and shall insert its poles; ¹² and they shall take all the utensils of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a ^[h]blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin and put them on the carrying bars. ¹³ Then they shall take away the ^[i]ashes from the ^(H)altar 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 ^(I)and die. These are the ^[j]things 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 ^(J)the oil for the light and the ^(K)fragrant incense and ^(L)the continual grain offering and ^(M)the anointing oil—the assignment of all the ^[k]tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷ Then 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 ^(N)not 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; ²⁰ but ^(O)they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²² “Take ^[l]a census of the sons of Gershon ^[m]also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; ²³ from ^(P)thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall ^[n]number them; all who enter to perform the duty of performing the service in the tent of meeting. ²⁴ This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: ²⁵ they shall carry ^(Q)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and ^(R)the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ and ^(S)the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, ^[o]they shall perform. ²⁷ All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their service, shall be performed at the ^[p]command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a responsibility all their loads. ²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their responsibilities shall be ^[q]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers’ households; ³⁰ from ^(T)thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the duty of performing the service of the tent of meeting. ³¹ Now this is the responsibility of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its bases, ³² and the pillars around the court and their bases and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items of the responsibility of ^[r]his load. ³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, ^[s]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴ So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁵ from ^(U)thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting. ³⁶ Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. ³⁷ These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ^[t]commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

³⁸ The numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁹ from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁰ their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. ⁴¹ These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ^[u]commandment of Yahweh.

⁴² The numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, ⁴³ from ^(V)thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ their numbered men by their families were 3,200. ⁴⁵ These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ^[v]commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶ All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ households, ⁴⁷ from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to perform the work of service and the service of carrying in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁸ their numbered men were ^(W)8,580. ⁴⁹ According to the ^[w]word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses, they ^(X)were numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Unclean Sent Outside the Camp

5 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they ^(Y)send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a ^(Z)discharge and everyone who is ^[x](AA)unclean because of a dead person. ³ You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell ^(AB)in their midst.” ⁴ And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did.

Restitution for Sins

⁵ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘^(AC)When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, and that person is guilty, ⁷ then ^[y]he shall ^(AD)confess ^[z]his sins which ^[aa]he has committed, and he ^(AE)shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it and give it to him whom he has ^[ab]wronged. ⁸ But if the man has no kinsman redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to Yahweh for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. ^9 (AF)Also every ^[ac]contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰ So every man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it ^(AG)becomes his.’”

The Statutes of Jealousy

¹¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife ^(AH)goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man lies ^(AI)sexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is ^[ad]undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act, ^14 [ae]if a spirit of ^(AJ)jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵ the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as ^[af]an offering for her one-tenth of an ^[ag]ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, ^(AK)a reminder of iniquity.

¹⁶ ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh, ¹⁷ and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸ The priest shall then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance ^[ah]in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses. ¹⁹ Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not ^(AL)gone astray into ^[ai]defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses; ²⁰ if you, however, have ^(AM)gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you” ²¹ (then the priest shall have the woman ^(AN)swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell; ²² and this water that brings curses shall go into your ^[aj]stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And the woman ^(AO)shall say, “Amen. Amen.”

²³ ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall ^[ak]wash them off into the water of bitterness. ²⁴ Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness. ²⁵ And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar; ²⁶ and ^(AP)the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become ^(AQ)a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed.

²⁹ ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, ^(AR)goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. ³¹ Moreover, the man will be free from ^[al]guilt, but that woman shall ^(AS)bear her ^[am]guilt.’”

The Nazirite Vow

6 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a ^[an]special vow, the vow of ^(AT)a ^[ao]Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, ³ he shall ^(AU)abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴ All the days of his ^[ap]Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵ ‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite ^(AV)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

⁶ ‘^(AW)All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. ⁷ He ^(AX)shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. ⁸ All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.

⁹ ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then ^(AY)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; ^(AZ)he shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰ Then on the eighth day he shall bring ^(BA)two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ And the priest shall offer ^(BB)one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him ^[aq]concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, ¹² and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his ^[ar]Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.

¹³ ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite ^(BC)when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring ^[as]the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one ^(BD)ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of ^(BE)unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with ^(BF)their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ^18 (BG)The Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ^19 (BH)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the ^[at]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. ²⁰ Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by ^[au]raising up; and ^(BI)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else ^[av]he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”

Yahweh Blesses the Sons of Israel

²² Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus ^(BJ)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

²⁷ So they shall ^[ax](BQ)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”