Numbers 7

Offerings of Dedication

1On the day Moses set up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart as holy. He also anointed and set apart all its furnishings and the altar with its utensils. 2Then the leaders of Israel—the tribal leaders who had registered the troops—came and brought their offerings. 3Together they brought six large wagons and twelve oxen. There was a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. They presented these to the Lord in front of the Tabernacle.

4Then the Lord said to Moses, 5“Receive their gifts, and use these oxen and wagons for transporting the Tabernacle.* Distribute them among the Levites according to the work they have to do.” 6So Moses took the wagons and oxen and presented them to the Levites. 7He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonite division for their work, 8and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarite division for their work. All their work was done under the leadership of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 9But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.

10The leaders also presented dedication gifts for the altar at the time it was anointed. They each placed their gifts before the altar. 11The Lord said to Moses, “Let one leader bring his gift each day for the dedication of the altar.”

89Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.* The Lord spoke to him from there.