14. They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: firepans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles.
15. When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The clan of Kohath must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die.These are the responsibilities of the clan of Kohath whenever the Tent is moved.
16. Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord.
17. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
18. “Do not let the clan of Kohath
19. be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry.
20. But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die.”
21. The Lord told Moses
22. to take a census of the Levite clan of Gershon by sub-clans and families,
23. and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.
24. They shall be responsible for carrying the following objects:
25. the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the fine leather cover on top of it, the curtain for the entrance,
26. the curtains and ropes for the court that is round the Tent and the altar, the curtains for the entrance of the court, and all the fittings used in setting up these objects. They shall perform all the tasks required for these things.
27. Moses and Aaron shall see to it that the Gershonites perform all the duties and carry everything that Aaron and his sons assign to them.