Numbers 18:3
New International Version
They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die.

New Living Translation
But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die.

English Standard Version
They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die.

Berean Standard Bible
And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.

King James Bible
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

New King James Version
They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle; but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die—they and you also.

New American Standard Bible
And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

NASB 1995
“And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

NASB 1977
“And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, lest both they and you die.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they shall thus keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, so that neither they nor you will die.

Amplified Bible
And the Levites shall attend to your duty [as assistants] and to the duties of all the tent (tabernacle); only they shall not approach the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

Christian Standard Bible
They are to perform duties for you and for the whole tent. They must not come near the sanctuary equipment or the altar; otherwise, both they and you will die.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They are to perform duties for you and for the whole tent. They must not come near the sanctuary equipment or the altar; otherwise, both they and you will die.

American Standard Version
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they shall keep your guard and the guard of all the Tabernacle, however do not let them approach the holy garments and the articles of the altar, lest they and also you will die.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they shall keep thy charges, and the charges of the tabernacle; only they shall not approach the holy vessels and the altar, so both they and you shall not die.

Contemporary English Version
You must see that they perform their duties. But if they go near any of the sacred objects or the altar, all of you will die.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Levites shall watch to do thy commands, and about all the works of the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary nor the altar, lest both they die, and you also perish with them.

English Revised Version
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They will work for you, doing whatever work is necessary for the whole tent. But they must not come near the altar or the furnishings in the holy place, or they will die, and you will die, too.

Good News Translation
They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.

International Standard Version
They are to take care of your concerns and all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But they're not to approach the holy vessels or the altar. That way, neither you nor they will die.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent; only they shall not come nigh unto the holy furniture and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye.

Literal Standard Version
And they have kept your charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, they do not come near to the vessels of the holy place and to the altar, and they do not die, either they or you;

Majority Standard Bible
And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.

New American Bible
They shall discharge your obligations and those with respect to the whole tent; however, they shall not come near the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, or else both they and you will die.

NET Bible
They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

New Revised Standard Version
They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, otherwise both they and you will die.

New Heart English Bible
They shall keep your commands, and the duty of all the Tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

World English Bible
They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you.

Young's Literal Translation
'And they have kept thy charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar they do not come near, and they die not, either they or you;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Duties of Priests and Levites
2But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony. 3And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. 4They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.…

Cross References
Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.

Numbers 4:15
When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

Numbers 18:4
They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.

Numbers 18:7
But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."

Numbers 31:30
From the Israelites' half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."

Ezekiel 44:13
They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.


Treasury of Scripture

And they shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor you also, die.

only they

Numbers 3:25,31,36
And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, …

Numbers 4:19,20
But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: …

Numbers 16:40
To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

neither

Numbers 4:15
And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

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Altar Attend Charge Commands Death Die Duties Duty Holy Kept Nigh Obligation Orders Overtake Perform Responsible Sanctuary Tabernacle Tent They Vessels Whole Work
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Altar Attend Charge Commands Death Die Duties Duty Holy Kept Nigh Obligation Orders Overtake Perform Responsible Sanctuary Tabernacle Tent They Vessels Whole Work
Numbers 18
1. The charge of the priests and Levites
8. The priests, portion
21. The Levites,
25. The heave offering to the priests out of the Levites' portion














Verse 3. - They shall keep thy charge, etc. See on Numbers 3:7, 8. That neither they, nor ye also, die. This warning does not seem to refer to the danger of the Kohathites seeing the sacred things (Numbers 4:15), but of the other Levites coming near them; the further warning, "nor ye also," is added because if the carelessness or profanity of the priest led to sacrilege and death in the case of the Levite, it would be laid to his charge (cf. Numbers 4:18).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And they shall attend
וְשָֽׁמְרוּ֙ (wə·šā·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

to your duties
מִֽשְׁמַרְתְּךָ֔ (miš·mar·tə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 4931: A guard, watch, charge, function

and all the duties
וּמִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת (ū·miš·me·reṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4931: A guard, watch, charge, function

of the Tent;
הָאֹ֑הֶל (hā·’ō·hel)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 168: A tent

but
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

they must not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

come near
יִקְרָ֔בוּ (yiq·rā·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7126: To come near, approach

to the furnishings
כְּלֵ֨י (kə·lê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3627: Something prepared, any apparatus

of the sanctuary
הַקֹּ֤דֶשׁ (haq·qō·ḏeš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6944: A sacred place, thing, sanctity

or the altar,
הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ (ham·miz·bê·aḥ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4196: An altar

or
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

both
גַם־ (ḡam-)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

they
הֵ֖ם (hêm)
Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

and
גַּם־ (gam-)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

you
אַתֶּֽם׃ (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

will die.
יָמֻ֥תוּ (yā·mu·ṯū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill


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OT Law: Numbers 18:3 They shall keep your commands and (Nu Num.)
Numbers 18:2
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