The Sons of Aaron

¹These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²These are the names of the sons of Aaron: dNadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, ethe anointed priests, fwhom he ordained to serve as priests. ⁴gBut Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

Duties of the Levites

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶h“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, ias they minister at the tabernacle. ⁸They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹And jyou shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are kwholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and lthey shall guard their priesthood. But if many outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Behold, nI have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³for oall the firstborn are mine. pOn the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

¹⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; qevery male from a month old and upward you shall list.” ¹⁶So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷rAnd these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: sLibni and Shimei. ¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their clans: tAmram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰And the sons of Merari by their clans: uMahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.

²¹To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. ²²Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was1 7,500. ²³vThe clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, ²⁴with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. ²⁵And the wguard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved xthe tabernacle, ythe tent with zits covering, athe screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶bthe hangings of the court, cthe screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and dits cords—all the service connected with these.

²⁷To Kohath belonged the clan of the eAmramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. ²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. ²⁹The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, ³⁰with fElizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹And their guard duty involved gthe ark, hthe table, ithe lampstand, jthe altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and kthe screen; all the service connected with these. ³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

³³To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. ³⁴Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. ³⁵And the chief of the fathers' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶lAnd the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the mframes of the tabernacle, nthe bars, othe pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; ³⁷also pthe pillars around the court, with their bases and qpegs and rcords.

³⁸Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, sguarding the sanctuary itself, to protect2 the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. ³⁹All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the Lord, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were t22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰And the Lord said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names. ⁴¹uAnd you shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.

⁴⁴And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵v“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. ⁴⁶And was the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take xfive shekels3 per head; you shall take them according to ythe shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs4), ⁴⁸and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” ⁴⁹So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, z1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹And Moses agave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

1 Of David.

¹uFret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not venvious of wrongdoers!

²For they will soon wfade like xthe grass

and wither ylike the green herb.

³zTrust in the Lord, and do good;

adwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.2

⁴bDelight yourself in the Lord,

and he will cgive you the desires of your heart.

⁵dCommit your way to the Lord;

ztrust in him, and he will act.

⁶eHe will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as fthe noonday.

⁷gBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

hfret not yourself over the one who iprospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸jRefrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

hFret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

⁹kFor the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall linherit the land.

¹⁰In mjust a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at nhis place, he will not be there.

¹¹But othe meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in pabundant peace.

¹²The wicked qplots against the righteous

and rgnashes his teeth at him,

¹³but the Lord slaughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his tday is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and ubend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose vway is upright;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their wbows shall be broken.

¹⁶xBetter is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For ythe arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord zupholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord aknows the days of the blameless,

and their bheritage will remain forever;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times;

in cthe days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like dthe glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like esmoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous fis generous and gives;

²²for those blessed by the Lord3 shall ginherit the land,

but those cursed by him hshall be cut off.

²³The isteps of a man are jestablished by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

²⁴kthough he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord lupholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children mbegging for bread.

²⁶He is ever nlending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

²⁷oTurn away from evil and do good;

so shall you pdwell forever.

²⁸For the Lord qloves justice;

he will not forsake his rsaints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be scut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land

and pdwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

³¹tThe law of his God is in his heart;

his usteps do not slip.

³²The wicked vwatches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

³³The Lord will not wabandon him to his power

or let him xbe condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴yWait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on zwhen the wicked are cut off.

³⁵aI have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like ba green laurel tree.4

³⁶But he passed away,5 and behold, che was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of dpeace.

³⁸But etransgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked fshall be cut off.

³⁹gThe salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in hthe time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and idelivers them;

jhe delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they ktake refuge in him.

¹The Song of aSongs, which is Solomon's.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She1

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your blove is better than wine;

³your canointing oils are fragrant;

your dname is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

⁴eDraw me after you; flet us run.

gThe king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will hexult and rejoice in you;

we will extol byour love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

She

⁵I am very dark, but ilovely,

O jdaughters of Jerusalem,

like kthe tents of lKedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My mmother's sons were angry with me;

they made me nkeeper of othe vineyards,

but pmy own vineyard I have not kept!

⁷Tell me, you qwhom my soul loves,

where you rpasture your flock,

where you make it slie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your tcompanions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

⁸If you do not know,

O umost beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds' tents.

⁹I compare you, vmy love,

to wa mare among Pharaoh's chariots.

¹⁰xYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

¹¹We will make for you2 ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

She

¹²While ythe king was on his couch,

my znard gave forth its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of amyrrh

that lies between my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of bhenna blossoms

in the vineyards of cEngedi.

He

¹⁵dBehold, eyou are beautiful, fmy love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your geyes are doves.

She

¹⁶Behold, you are beautiful, hmy beloved, truly idelightful.

Our couch is green;

¹⁷the beams of our house are jcedar;

our rafters are jpine.

The Supremacy of God's Son

¹Long ago, at many times and ain many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ²but bin these last days che has spoken to us by dhis Son, whom he appointed ethe heir of all things, fthrough whom also he created gthe world. ³He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name lhe has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say,

m“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

n“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

⁶And again, when he brings othe firstborn into the world, he says,

p“Let all God's angels worship him.”

⁷Of the angels he says,

q“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

⁸But of the Son he says,

r“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, shas anointed you

with tthe oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

¹⁰And,

u“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

¹¹they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

¹²like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.1

But you are vthe same,

and your years will have no end.”

¹³And to which of the angels has he ever said,

w“Sit at my right hand

xuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits ysent out to serve for the sake of those who are to zinherit salvation?