And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter upon the {Hebrew: warfare, or host (and so in verse 35, 39, 43).}service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
This is the {Or, work}service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy things:
when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it,
and shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.
And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls and the cups wherewith to pour out; and the continual bread shall be thereon:
and they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof.
And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:
and they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it upon {Or, a bar}the frame.
And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in the staves thereof:
and they shall take all the vessels of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.
And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
and they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, the firepans, the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of sealskin, and put in the staves thereof.
And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch the {Or, holy things}sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, the sanctuary, and the furniture thereof.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
but thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden;
but they shall not go in to see the {Or, holy things}sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Take the sum of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;
from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to {Hebrew: war the warfare.}wait upon the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above upon it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatsoever shall be done with them: therein shall they serve.
At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burden.
This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;
from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth upon the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.
And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof,
and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall {Or, number}appoint the instruments of the charge of their burden.
This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting:
and those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
These are they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah by Moses.
And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting,
even those that were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.
These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah.
And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for work in the tent of meeting,
even those that were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand and two hundred.
These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Jehovah by Moses.
All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,
even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore.
According to the commandment of Jehovah they were numbered by Moses, every one according to his service, and {Or, according to his burden and his duty, as &c.}according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Querverweise zu 4. Mose 4,15 4Mo 4,15
But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders.
And those that encamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary {Or, even}for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
And the prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the others did set up the tabernacle against their coming.
And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the screen, and all the service thereof.
And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and unto all the elders of Israel.
And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
For the priests that bare the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Jehovah commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen {Or, were restive Or, threw it down}stumbled.
And it was so, that, when they that bare the ark of Jehovah had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his {Or, rashness}error; and there he died by the ark of God.
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath Jehovah chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen {Or, were restive Or, threw it down}stumbled.
And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Jehovah.
And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died before God.
For ye are not come unto {Or, a palpable and kindled fire}a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;
for they could not endure that which was enjoined, {Exodus 19:12 f.}If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, {Deuteronomy 9:19.}I exceedingly fear and quake:
but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, {Or, and to innumerable hosts, the general assembly of angels, and the church &c.}and to {Greek: myriads of angels.}innumerable hosts of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better {Or, than Abel}than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him {Or, that is from heaven}that warneth from heaven:
whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, {Haggai 2:6.}Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have {Or, thankfulness Compare 1 Corinthians 10:30.}grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with {Or, godly fear Compare chapter 5:7.}reverence and awe:
for our God is a consuming fire.