13. They will remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth on it.
14. They will place on it all the equipment used for servicing it, the censers, the meat fork, the shovels, the bowls, all the equipment of the altar. They will spread a covering of fine leather over it and then set its poles in place.
15. Aaron and his sons will finish covering the sanctuary and all the equipment of the sanctuary when it is time to break camp. After that the Kohathites will enter to carry it, but they will not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These are the objects in the dwelling that the Kohathites are to carry.
16. But Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will have oversight of the oil for lighting, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, as well as oversight of the entire dwelling and everything in it related to the sanctuary and its equipment.
17. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
18. You must not let the tribe of the Kohathite clans be eliminated from the Levites.
19. This is what you must do for them so that they stay alive and don’t die when they approach the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will enter and assign each of them his work and his load.
20. But they may not enter to look at the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.
21. The Lord spoke to Moses:
22. Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their households and their clans.
23. You will enroll those from 30 to 50 years old, all who are eligible for service to do work in the dwelling.
24. This is the duty of the Gershonite clans for work and for carrying the load:
25. They will carry the fabric of the dwelling, the meeting tent with its covering, the outer covering of fine leather, the screen for the entrance of the meeting tent,
26. the curtains of the courtyard, the screen of the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the meeting tent and the altar, their cords, and all their equipment for their work. They will do everything that needs to be done with these objects.