4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: ^cthe most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down ^dthe veil of the screen and cover ^ethe ark of the testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin¹ and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its ^fpoles.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that ^mthe sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, ⁿbut they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to ^sthe most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 ^tbut they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”