Numbers 4:21-32

New American Standard Bible

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²² “Take a ^[a]census of the sons of Gershon ^[b]also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; ²³ from ^(A)thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall ^[c]count them: all who can enter to perform service, to do the work 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 ^(B)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and ^(C)the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ and ^(D)the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes and all the equipment for their service; and everything that is to be done ^[d]by them, ^[e]they shall perform. ²⁷ All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, that is, all their loads and all their work, shall be performed at the ^[f]command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. ²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be ^[g]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; ³⁰ from ^(E)thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, you shall count them, everyone who can enter the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. ³¹ Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, ³² and the pillars around the courtyard and their bases, their pegs, and their ropes, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign by names of the men the items ^[h]that each is to carry.