Torah Portion for 09/02/2023

This is a summary of Numbers, chapters 3 and 4. The Lord commanded Moses to register the children of Lehi by their fathers' houses. Gershon, Kehath, and Merari were the sons of Lehi. They were divided into different clans. The Gershonites were responsible for the tent of appointment and its covering. The Kehathites guarded the duty of the set-apart place and were responsible for the ark, table, lampstand, and other utensils. The Merarites were in charge of the boards and other equipment. The firstborn males of the Israelites were counted and the Levites were chosen to replace them. The Levites served in place of the firstborns and a ransom was paid for the excess. Aaron and his sons were given the ransomed silver. The sons of Kehath, from 30 to 50 years old, were chosen to do the work in the tent of appointment. They were responsible Numbers, chapter 3, verse 14 through chapter 4, verse 16. And Yahweh spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, Register the children of Lehi by their fathers' houses, by their clans. Register every male from a new moon old and above. So Moshe registered them according to the word of Yahweh, as he had been commanded. And these were the sons of Lehi by their names, Gershon and Kehath and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans, Libni and Shemi, and the sons of Kehath by their clans, Amram and Yitzhar, Hebron and Uziel, and the sons of Merari by their clans, Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Lehites by their fathers' houses. From Gershon came the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shemites. These were the clans of the Gershonites. Their registered ones, according to the number of all the males from a new moon old and above, their registered ones were 7,500. The clans of the Gershonites were to camp westward, behind the dwelling place, in the leader of the father's house of the Gershonites, Eliaseph, son of Lael. And the duty of the children of Gershon in the tent of appointment was the dwelling place in the tent with its covering, and the covering of the door of the tent of appointment, and the screens of the courtyard, and the covering of the door of the courtyard, which is around the dwelling place, and the slaughter place, and their cords, according to all its service. And from Kehath came the clan of the Amramites, and the clan of the Yitzharites, and the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzielites. These were the clans of the Kehathites. In number, all the males from a new moon old and above were 8,600, guarding the duty of the set-apart place. The clans of the children of Kehath were to camp on the south side of the dwelling place, and the leaders of the father's house of the clans of the Kehathites was Elitsefon, son of Uziel, and their duty was the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the slaughter places, and the utensils of the set-apart place used in the service, and the covering, and all its service. And Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, was to be chief over the leaders of the Lewites, with oversight of those who guard the duty of the set-apart place. From Merari came the clan of the Malites, and the clan of the Mushites. These were the clans of Merari, and the number of their registered ones, all the males from a new moon old and above were 6,200, and the leader of the father's house of the clans of Merari was Suriel, son of Abihayel. These were to camp on the north side of the dwelling place, and the appointed duty of of Merari was the boards of the dwelling place, and its bars, and its columns, and its sockets, and its utensils, and all its service, and the columns of the courtyard all around with their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords. And those who were to camp before the dwelling place on the east, before the tent of appointment, were Moshe and Aaron, and his sons, guarding the duty of the set-apart place, and the duty of the children of Yisrael. But the stranger who came near was to be put to death. All the registered ones of the Lewites, whom Moshe and Aaron registered at the mouth of Yahweh by their clans, all the males from a new moon old and above, were 22,000. And Yahweh said to Moshe, Register all the firstborn males of the children of Yisrael from a new moon old and above, and take the number of their names. And you shall take the Lewites for me. I am Yahweh, instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisrael, and the livestock of the Lewites, instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Yisrael. And Moshe registered all the firstborn among the children of Yisrael, as Yahweh had commanded him. And all the firstborn males, by the number of names, from one new moon old and above of their registered ones, were 22,273. And Yahweh spoke to Moshe, saying, Take the Lewites, instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisrael, and the livestock of the Lewites, instead of their livestock, and the Lewites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. And for the ransom of the 273 of the firstborn of the children of Yisrael, who are more than the number of the Lewites, you shall take five shekels for each one, head by head, take it by the shekel of the set-apart place, the shekel of 20 geras. And you shall give the silver, the ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and his sons. And Moshe took the ransomed silver from those who were over and above those who were ransomed by the Lewites. From the firstborn of the children of Yisrael, he took the silver, 1,365 pieces, according to the shekel of the set-apart place. And Moshe gave the ransomed silver to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moshe. And Yahweh spoke to Moshe and to Aaron, saying, Take a census of the sons of Cahoth, from among the children of Lewi, by their clans, by their father's house, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of appointment. This is the service of the sons of Cahoth in the tent of appointment. The most set-apart matters. At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the witness with it, and shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over that an all-blue wrapper, and shall insert its poles. And on the table of shewbread they shall spread a blue wrapper, and shall put on it the dishes and the ladles and the bowls and the jars for pouring, and the shewbread on it. And they shall spread over them a scarlet wrapper, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles. And shall take a blue wrapper, and cover the lampstand of the light with its lamps and its snuffers and its trays, and all its oil vessels by which they serve it. And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a barb. And over the golden solder-place they shall spread a blue wrapper, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and shall insert its poles. And shall take all the utensils of service with which they serve in the set-apart place, and shall put them in a blue wrapper, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a barb. And shall remove the ashes from the solder-place, and spread a purple wrapper over it, and shall put on it all its utensils by which they serve there, the fire-holders, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, and all the utensils of the solder-place, and shall spread on it a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the set-apart objects, and all the furnishings of the set-apart place at the breaking of camp, then the sons of Cahoth shall come to lift them, but let them not touch that which is set-apart, lest they die. These matters are the burden of the sons of Cahoth in the tempt of appointment. And the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily grain-offering, and the anointing-oil, and the oversight of all the dwelling-place, and all that is in it, with the set-apart place, and its furnishings.