¹Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ²“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, ³from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. ⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to the most holy things: ⁵When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Testimony with it. ⁶Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue; and they shall insert its poles. ⁷On the table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring; and the showbread shall be on it. ⁸They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ⁹And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it. ¹⁰Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam. ¹¹Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. ¹²Then they shall take all the utensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam. ¹³Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles. ¹⁵And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry. ¹⁶The appointed duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering, the anointing oil, the oversight of all the tabernacle, of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.” ¹⁷Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ¹⁸“Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service and his task. ²⁰But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.” ²¹Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses, saying: ²²“Also take a census of the sons of Gershon, by their fathers’ house, by their families. ²³From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. ²⁴This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: ²⁵They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its covering, the covering of badger skins that is on it, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ²⁶the screen for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and altar, and their cords, all the furnishings for their service and all that is made for these things: so shall they serve. ²⁷Aaron and his sons shall assign all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their tasks and all their service. And you shall appoint to them all their tasks as their duty. ²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting. And their duties shall be under the authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ²⁹“As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families and by their fathers’ house. ³⁰From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ³¹And this is what they must carry as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³²and the pillars around the court with their sockets, pegs, and cords, with all their furnishings and all their service; and you shall assign to each man by name the items he must carry. ³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, as all their service for the tabernacle of meeting, under the authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” ³⁴And Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁵from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting; ³⁶and those who were numbered by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ by the hand of Moses. ³⁸And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ house, ³⁹from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁰those who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. ⁴¹These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴²Those of the families of the sons of Merari who were numbered, by their families, by their fathers’ house, ⁴³from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁴those who were numbered by their families were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ by the hand of Moses. ⁴⁶All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, ⁴⁷from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting— ⁴⁸those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. ⁴⁹According to the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, as the Lᴏʀᴅ commanded Moses.

¹A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance. O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! ²For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. ³There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. ⁴For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. ⁵My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. ⁶I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. ⁷For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh. ⁸I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. ⁹Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. ¹⁰My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me. ¹¹My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off. ¹²Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, And plan deception all the day long. ¹³But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. ¹⁴Thus I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth is no response. ¹⁵For in You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, I hope; You will hear, O Lᴏʀᴅ my God. ¹⁶For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.” ¹⁷For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me. ¹⁸For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. ¹⁹But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong; And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied. ²⁰Those also who render evil for good, They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good. ²¹Do not forsake me, O Lᴏʀᴅ; O my God, be not far from me! ²²Make haste to help me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, my salvation!

¹I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys. ²The Beloved Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. ³The Shulamite Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste. ⁴The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love. ⁵Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick. ⁶His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me. ⁷I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases. ⁸The Shulamite The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills. ⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice. ¹⁰My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away. ¹¹For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. ¹²The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. ¹³The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away! ¹⁴“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” ¹⁵Her Brothers Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes. ¹⁶The Shulamite My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. ¹⁷(To Her Beloved) Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag Upon the mountains of Bether.

¹Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ²For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, ⁴God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? ⁵For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. ⁶But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? ⁷You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. ⁸You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. ⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. ¹⁰For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹²saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” ¹³And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” ¹⁴Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.