The Duties of the Levite Clan of Kohath

¹The Lord told Moses

²to take a census of the Levite clan of Kohath by subclans and families,

³and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.

⁴Their service involves the most holy things.

⁵The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it.

⁶They shall put a fine leather cover over it, spread a cloth of solid blue on top, and then insert the carrying poles.

⁷They shall spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread offered to the Lord and put on it the dishes, the incense bowls, the offering bowls, and the jars for the wine offering. There shall always be bread on the table.

⁸They shall spread a red cloth over all of this, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles.

⁹They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the olive oil containers.

¹⁰They shall wrap it and all its equipment in a fine leather cover and place it on a carrying frame.

¹¹Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles.

¹²They shall take all the utensils used in the Holy Place, wrap them in a blue cloth, put a fine leather cover over them, and place them on a carrying frame.

¹³They shall remove the greasy ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.

¹⁴They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: fire pans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles.

¹⁵When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved.

¹⁶Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord.

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

¹⁸“Do not let the clan of Kohath

¹⁹be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry.

²⁰But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die.”

The Duties of the Levite Clan of Gershon

²¹The Lord told Moses

²²to take a census of the Levite clan of Gershon by subclans and families,

²³and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.

²⁴They shall be responsible for carrying the following objects:

²⁵the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the fine leather cover on top of it, the curtain for the entrance,

²⁶the curtains and ropes for the court that is around the Tent and the altar, the curtains for the entrance of the court, and all the fittings used in setting up these objects. They shall perform all the tasks required for these things.

²⁷Moses and Aaron shall see to it that the Gershonites perform all the duties and carry everything that Aaron and his sons assign to them.

²⁸These are the responsibilities of the Gershon clan in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

The Duties of the Levite Clan of Merari

²⁹The Lord told Moses to take a census of the Levite clan of Merari by subclans and families,

³⁰and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence.

³¹They shall be responsible for carrying the frames, bars, posts, and bases of the Tent,

³²and the posts, bases, pegs, and ropes of the court around the Tent, with all the fittings used in setting them up. Each man will be responsible for carrying specific items.

³³These are the responsibilities of the Merari clan in their service in the Tent; they shall carry them out under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

The Census of the Levites

^34-48Following the Lord's command, Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community took a census of the three Levite clans, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. They did this by subclans and families and registered all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence, as follows: Clan Number Kohath 2,750 Gershon 2,630 Merari 3,200 Total: 8,580

⁴⁹Each man was registered as the Lord had commanded Moses; and at the command of the Lord given through Moses, each man was assigned responsibility for his task of serving or carrying.

Moses Urges Israel to Be Obedient

¹Then Moses said to the people, “Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

²Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away. Obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have given you.

³You yourselves saw what the Lord did at Mount Peor. He destroyed everyone who worshiped Baal there,

⁴but those of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today.

⁵“I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy.

⁶Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!’

⁷“No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the Lord our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help.

⁸No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today.

⁹Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren

¹⁰about the day you stood in the presence of the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.’

¹¹“Tell your children how you went and stood at the foot of the mountain which was covered with thick clouds of dark smoke and fire blazing up to the sky.

¹²Tell them how the Lord spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all.

¹³He told you what you must do to keep the covenant he made with you—you must obey the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets.

¹⁴The Lord told me to teach you all the laws that you are to obey in the land that you are about to invade and occupy.

Warning against Idolatry

¹⁵“When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain

¹⁶that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman,

¹⁷animal or bird,

¹⁸reptile or fish.

¹⁹Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship.

²⁰But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today.

²¹Because of you the Lord your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you.

²²I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land.

²³Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol,

²⁴because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

²⁵“Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord's sight, and it will make him angry.

²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed.

²⁷The Lord will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive.

²⁸There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell.

²⁹There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him.

³⁰When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey him.

³¹He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

³²“Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

³³Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have?

³⁴Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen.

³⁵The Lord has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other.

³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it.

³⁷Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt.

³⁸As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you.

³⁹So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god.

⁴⁰Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever.”

The Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

⁴¹Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan River

⁴²to which a man could escape and be safe if he had accidentally killed someone who had not been his enemy. He could escape to one of these cities and not be put to death.

⁴³For the tribe of Reuben there was the city of Bezer, on the desert plateau; for the tribe of Gad there was Ramoth, in the territory of Gilead; and for the tribe of Manasseh there was Golan, in the territory of Bashan.

Introduction to the Giving of God's Law

⁴⁴Moses gave God's laws and teachings to the people of Israel.

^45-46It was after they had come out of Egypt and were in the valley east of the Jordan River, opposite the town of Bethpeor, that he gave them these laws. This was in the territory that had belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in the town of Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated him when they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the other Amorite king who lived east of the Jordan.

⁴⁸This land extended from the town of Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon River, all the way north to Mount Sirion, that is, Mount Hermon.

⁴⁹It also included all the region east of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea and east to the foot of Mount Pisgah.

A Hymn in Time of National Trouble

¹O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love; I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.

²I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.

³You said, “I have made a covenant with the man I chose; I have promised my servant David,

⁴‘A descendant of yours will always be king; I will preserve your dynasty forever.’”

⁵The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do; the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, Lord.

⁶No one in heaven is like you, Lord; none of the heavenly beings is your equal.

⁷You are feared in the council of the holy ones; they all stand in awe of you.

⁸Lord God Almighty, none is as mighty as you; in all things you are faithful, O Lord.

⁹You rule over the powerful sea; you calm its angry waves.

¹⁰You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it; with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies.

¹¹Heaven is yours, the earth also; you made the world and everything in it.

¹²You created the north and the south; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy.

¹³How powerful you are! How great is your strength!

¹⁴Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.

¹⁵How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness!

¹⁶Because of you they rejoice all day long, and they praise you for your goodness.

¹⁷You give us great victories; in your love you make us triumphant.

¹⁸You, O Lord, chose our protector; you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king.

God's Promise to David

¹⁹In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants, “I have given help to a famous soldier; I have given the throne to one I chose from the people.

²⁰I have made my servant David king by anointing him with holy oil.

²¹My strength will always be with him, my power will make him strong.

²²His enemies will never succeed against him; the wicked will not defeat him.

²³I will crush his foes and kill everyone who hates him.

²⁴I will love him and be loyal to him; I will make him always victorious.

²⁵I will extend his kingdom from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River.

²⁶He will say to me, ‘You are my father and my God; you are my protector and savior.’

²⁷I will make him my first-born son, the greatest of all kings.

²⁸I will always keep my promise to him, and my covenant with him will last forever.

²⁹His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky; a descendant of his will always be king.

³⁰“But if his descendants disobey my law and do not live according to my commands,

³¹if they disregard my instructions and do not keep my commandments,

³²then I will punish them for their sins; I will make them suffer for their wrongs.

³³But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him.

³⁴I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him.

³⁵“Once and for all I have promised by my holy name: I will never lie to David.

³⁶He will always have descendants, and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines.

³⁷It will be as permanent as the moon, that faithful witness in the sky.”

Lament over the Defeat of the King

³⁸But you are angry with your chosen king; you have deserted and rejected him.

³⁹You have broken your covenant with your servant and thrown his crown in the dirt.

⁴⁰You have torn down the walls of his city and left his forts in ruins.

⁴¹All who pass by steal his belongings; all his neighbors laugh at him.

⁴²You have given the victory to his enemies; you have made them all happy.

⁴³You have made his weapons useless and let him be defeated in battle.

⁴⁴You have taken away his royal scepter and knocked his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵You have made him old before his time and covered him with disgrace.

A Prayer for Deliverance

⁴⁶Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal!

⁴⁸Who can live and never die? How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave?

⁴⁹Lord, where are the former proofs of your love? Where are the promises you made to David?

⁵⁰Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted, how I endure all the curses of the heathen.

⁵¹Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord! They insult him wherever he goes.

⁵²Praise the Lord forever! Amen! Amen!