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Tuesday, April 21st, 2026
the Third Week after Easter
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Numbers 4:2

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Levites;   Tabernacle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Kohath, Kohathites;   Moses;   Numbers, Book of;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Table;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Koliath;   Tabernacle;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Priesthood, the;   Hebrew Monarchy, the;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Ark of the Covenant;   Gems;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"Take a census of the sons of Kehat from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
King James Version
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
Lexham English Bible
"Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from the midst of the descendants of Levi, according to their clans and their families,
New Century Version
"Count the Kohathites among the Levites by family groups and families.
New English Translation
"Take a census of the Kohathites from among the Levites, by their families and by their clans,
Amplified Bible
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families (clans), by their fathers' households,
New American Standard Bible
"Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' households,
Geneva Bible (1587)
Take the summe of the sonnes of Kohath fro among the sonnes of Leui, after their families, and houses of their fathers,
Legacy Standard Bible
"Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' households,
Contemporary English Version
Find out how many men between the ages of thirty and fifty are in the four Levite clans of Kohath. Count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Take a census of the descendants of K'hat, who are among the descendants of Levi, by clans and families,
Darby Translation
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, according to their fathers' houses,
Easy-to-Read Version
"Count the men in the families of the Kohath family group. (The Kohath family group is a part of Levi's family group.)
English Standard Version
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses,
George Lamsa Translation
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
Good News Translation
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Christian Standard Bible®
“Among the Levites, take a census of the Kohathites by their clans and their ancestral families,
Literal Translation
Lift the heads of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& sayde: Take ye summe of the childre of Rahath from amonge the childre of Leui, after their kynreds & fathers houses
American Standard Version
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
Bible in Basic English
Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Take the summe of the chyldren of Caath fro among the sonnes of Leui, after their kinredes and houses of their fathers:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
King James Version (1611)
Take the summe of the sonnes of Kohath, from among the sonnes of Leui, after their families, by the house of their fathers.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers’ households;
English Revised Version
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
Berean Standard Bible
"Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seide, Take thou the summe of the sones of Caath, fro the myddis of Leuytis,
Young's Literal Translation
`Take up the sum of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers;
Update Bible Version
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
Webster's Bible Translation
Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers;
World English Bible
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
New King James Version
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' house,
New Living Translation
"Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi.
New Life Bible
"Number the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi. Number them by their families, by the fathers' houses,
New Revised Standard
Take a census of the Kohathites separate from the other Levites, by their clans and their ancestral houses,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Reckon up the sum of the sons of Kohath, out of the midst of the sons of Levi, - by their families by their ancestral house:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Take the sum of the sons of Caath from the midst of the Levites, by their houses and families.
Revised Standard Version
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and their fathers' houses,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' households,

Contextual Overview

1 God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, "Number the Kohathite line of Levites by clan and family. Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age, all who enter the ministry to work in the Tent of Meeting. 4 "This is the assigned work of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting: care of the most holy things. 5"When the camp is ready to set out, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the covering curtain and cover the Chest of The Testimony with it. Then they are to cover this with a dolphin skin, spread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert the poles. 7"Then they are to spread a blue cloth on the Table of the Presence and set the Table with plates, incense dishes, bowls, and jugs for drink offerings. The bread that is always there stays on the Table. They are to cover these with a scarlet cloth, and on top of that spread the dolphin skin, and insert the poles. 9"They are to use a blue cloth to cover the light-giving Lampstand and the lamps, snuffers, trays, and the oil jars that go with it. Then they are to wrap it all in a covering of dolphin skin and place it on a carrying frame. 11 "They are to spread a blue cloth over the Gold Altar and cover it with dolphin skins and place it on a carrying frame. 12 "They are to take all the articles used in ministering in the Sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with dolphin skins, and place them on a carrying frame. 13"They are to remove the ashes from the Altar and spread a purple cloth over it. They are to place on it all the articles used in ministering at the Altar—firepans, forks, shovels, bowls; everything used at the Altar—place them on the Altar, cover it with the dolphin skins, and insert the poles. 15 "When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and the camp is ready to set out, the Kohathites are to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are in charge of carrying all the things that are in the Tent of Meeting. 16 "Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, is to be in charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular Grain-Offering, and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire Dwelling and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 3:19, Numbers 3:27

Reciprocal: Numbers 4:34 - General Joshua 21:10 - General 1 Chronicles 15:2 - None ought to 1 Chronicles 23:3 - the Levites 2 Chronicles 29:12 - Kohathites

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
Genesis 4:25
Adam slept with his wife again. She had a son whom she named Seth. She said, "God has given me another child in place of Abel whom Cain killed." And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. That's when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of God .
Genesis 9:20
Noah, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank from its wine, got drunk and passed out, naked in his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and told his two brothers who were outside the tent. Shem and Japheth took a cloak, held it between them from their shoulders, walked backward and covered their father's nakedness, keeping their faces turned away so they did not see their father's exposed body.
Exodus 3:1
Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up.
Psalms 127:3
Don't you see that children are God 's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.
1 John 3:12
We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi,.... They were to begin with them first, and number them:

after their families, by the house of their fathers; as many as were of the age after mentioned; and the reason why they began with Kohath, and not Gershon, the eldest son, as in the former numbering, was; not as Aben Ezra suggests, because of Moses and Aaron, who sprung from him, for that, if it had any strength in it, would have held good before; but rather, as Chaskuni and others, because the Kohathites carried the ark and other holy things; though the true reason seems to be, because of the order observed in taking down the tabernacle, and removing the parts of it, and the things in it; and it was most proper and reasonable, when they were about to take it down, first to take out the ark, table, c. which was the business of the Kohathites to carry next to take down the curtains, coverings, and hangings for the tabernacle and court, and the doors thereof, which were the charge of the Merarites; wherefore, in this order the sum out of each of them fit for business were ordered to be numbered.


 
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