Numbers 4-5
The Duties of the Kohathites
4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron 2 to take a census of the descendants of Kohath among the Levites, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, 3 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for the service of performing the tasks at the Tent of Meeting.
4 This is the work for the descendants of Kohath at the Tent of Meeting: to take care of the most holy things. 5 When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go into the Dwelling. They are to take down the veil that screens the ark, cover the Ark of the Testimony with it, 6 put a covering made from the hides of sea cows[a] over it, spread a solid blue cloth over that, and insert its poles.
7 Over the table for the Bread of the Presence[b] they are to spread a blue cloth and put the dishes, the small bowls, the larger bowls, and the pitchers for the drink offering on it.[c] The bread that is continually there is to remain on it. 8 Then they are to spread a scarlet cloth over these things, cover them with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and insert its poles.
9 They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, its lamps, its snuffers, its fire pans, and all the jars of oil used to supply it. 10 They are to put the lampstand and all its accessories under a cover made from the hides of sea cows and put it on a carrying frame.
11 Over the golden altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and insert its poles. 12 They are to take all the utensils which they use in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and put them on a carrying frame.
13 They are to remove the fat-soaked ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They are to put on it all the utensils which they use around the altar: the fire pans, the meat hooks,[d] the shovels, and the basins—the utensils of the altar. They will spread a covering made of the hides of sea cows over the altar and insert its poles.
15 After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the items of the sanctuary, when the camp sets out, the descendants of Kohath will come to carry them. But they are not to touch the sanctuary or they will die. The descendants of Kohath are to carry these things associated with the Tent of Meeting.
16 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be in charge of the lamp oil, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He shall be in charge of the entire Dwelling, everything in it, the holy objects, and its furnishings.
17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 18 “Do not allow the tribe of the Kohathite clans to be cut off from among the Levites. 19 Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign to each one of them what he is to do and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment or they will die.”
The Duties of the Gershonites
21 The Lord also told Moses 22 to take a census of the descendants of Gershon, according to their fathers’ houses, by their clans, 23 and to register those from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for the service of doing the work at the Tent of Meeting.
24 This is the work for the Gershonite clans: the work of moving the Dwelling. 25 They are to carry the curtains of the Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering made of sea cow hides that is on top of that,[e] the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 26 the hangings for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance through the gate into the courtyard which surrounds the Dwelling and the altar, the ropes, and all the items related to this work. They are responsible for everything that is to be done with these things. 27 All the work of the descendants of the Gershonites, everything they are to carry and all the work they are to do, is to be done at the command of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign to each of them everything they are to carry. 28 This is the work for the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites in regard to the Tent of Meeting. They are to serve under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
The Duties of the Merarites
29 As for the descendants of Merari, register them according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses. 30 Register all of them who are between thirty years old and fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, to do the work for the Tent of Meeting. 31 This is what they are responsible for as their entire work at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the Dwelling’s boards, its crossbars, its posts, its bases, 32 the posts of the surrounding courtyard and their bases, their tent pegs, their ropes with all their equipment, and everything related to this work. You are to specify by name the items that they are responsible to carry. 33 This is the work for the clans of the descendants of Merari, regarding all their work in regard to the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
The Census of the Levites
34 Moses, Aaron, and the tribal chiefs of the community registered the descendants of the Kohathites according to their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. 36 The ones registered according to their clans were 2,750. 37 These were the ones registered from the clans of the Kohathites, all those who worked at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.
38 The descendants of Gershon were registered according to their clans and according to their fathers’ houses, 39 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. 40 The ones registered according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, were 2,630. 41 These were the ones registered from the clans of the descendants of Gershon, all those who worked at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command.
42 The clans of the descendants of Merari were registered according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, 43 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. 44 Those registered by their clans were 3,200. 45 These were the ones registered from the clans of the descendants of Merari. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.
46 Every one of the Levites was registered. Moses and Aaron and the tribal chiefs of Israel registered them according to their clans and their fathers’ houses, 47 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who was eligible to perform the work of serving at or carrying the Tent of Meeting. 48 Those registered totaled 8,580. 49 According to the Lord’s command, they were registered by Moses, along with what each man was assigned to do and to carry. They were registered just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Separation From the Unclean
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites to send outside of the camp everyone who has an impure skin disease,[f] everyone who has a bodily discharge, and everyone who is unclean because of contact with a dead body. 3 You must send them away, male or female. You must send them outside of the camp so that they will not defile their camps, where I dwell in their midst.”
4 The Israelites did exactly that and sent them outside of the camp. The Israelites did just as the Lord said to Moses.
Compensation for Wrongdoing
5 The Lord spoke to Moses and told him 6 to tell the Israelites this:
Whenever a man or a woman commits any wrong against another person and so in this way is unfaithful to the Lord, that person must be held responsible. 7 Such people are to confess the wrong which they have done. They are to make full restitution for their guilt, then add one fifth of its value on top of that and give it to the person they have wronged. 8 But if the wronged person has no next-of-kin to receive the restitution, the restitution goes to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the atonement ram, with which the priest will make atonement for him. 9 Every elevated offering that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to the priest. 10 Anyone’s holy things[g] are his own, but whatever anyone gives to the priest is the priest’s.
A Test for Adultery
11 The Lord told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them this:
12 If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and another man lies down with[h] her, but this remains hidden from her husband and she is not found out, she has defiled herself even though there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act.
14 If a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he becomes jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, even though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering on her behalf: two quarts[i] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance, to reveal guilt.
16 The priest is to bring her near and present her before the Lord. 17 The priest is to take holy water in a clay vessel, take some of the dust that is on the floor of the Dwelling, and put it into the water. 18 The priest is to present the woman before the Lord, let down the woman’s hair, and put into her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to have in his hands the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 The priest will make her take an oath, and he will tell the woman, “If no man has slept with you, and if you have not gone astray by becoming defiled while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not affect you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband, and if you are defiled and another man besides your husband has had sex with you—” 21 Then the priest will make the woman take an oath with a curse, and the priest will tell the woman, “May the Lord make you an object of cursing and swearing among your people when the Lord allows your thigh to shrivel and your belly to swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse go inside you and make your belly swell and your thigh shrivel.” The woman will say, “Amen, Amen.”
23 The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wipe them off into the bitter water. 24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. 25 The priest will take the grain offering for jealousy out of the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Afterward he will make the woman drink the water.
27 When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. Her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. The woman will be an object of cursing among her people. 28 If the woman has not defiled herself but is clean, then she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.
29 This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife, while married to her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he is jealous of his wife. Then the man will present the woman before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire procedure to her. 31 The man will be free from guilt, but that woman will bear her guilt.
Footnotes:
- Numbers 4:6 Sea cows are similar to the manatees of Florida. The local name of the Red Sea variety is dugong. Alternate translations are dolphin skin, badger skin, goatskin, and fine leather.
- Numbers 4:7 Traditionally showbread
- Numbers 4:7 The precise identification of the four types of vessels or utensils is uncertain. See Exodus 25:29.
- Numbers 4:14 Or forks
- Numbers 4:25 It appears that this verse is enumerating the four layers of the Dwelling: the dwelling made of linen, the tent made of goat hair, the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the outer covering made of hides of sea cows.
- Numbers 5:2 Traditionally leprosy. However, the term is wider than this specific disease. The term includes various sorts of skin diseases.
- Numbers 5:10 Or dedicated things
- Numbers 5:13 As a term for sexual intercourse, lie down with usually refers to illicit sexual relations initiated by a man. The same word is used in verses 19 and 20 where it is translated more freely.
- Numbers 5:15 One tenth (of an ephah). The text lists no unit of measurement. It is assumed it is an ephah.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mark 12:18-37
The God of the Living
18 Next some Sadducees (who say that there will be no resurrection) came to him. They asked him a question: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife but no child, then his brother should take his wife and raise up children for his brother.’[a]
20 “Now there were seven brothers. The first one took a wife and died without leaving children. 21 The second one married her and died, leaving no children. The third one did the same. 22 The seven left no children. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 So when they rise in the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her as a wife?”
24 Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you are mistaken: that you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 In fact, when people rise from the dead, they do not marry, and they are not given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven. 26 But about the dead—that they are raised—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[b] 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”
Love God and Your Neighbor
28 One of the experts in the law approached after he heard their discussion. When he saw that Jesus had answered them well, he asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. 30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[c] 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 The expert in the law said to him, “Well said, teacher. You have spoken correctly on the basis of the truth that he is one, and there is no other besides him.[e] 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”[f]
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
David’s Son and David’s Lord
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he responded by saying, “How is it that the experts in the law say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36 David himself said by the Holy Spirit:
The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies a footstool under your feet.’[g]
37 “David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Psalm 48
Psalm 48
The Security of the King’s Holy City
Heading
A song. A psalm by the Sons of Korah.
Call to Praise
1 The Lord is great. He deserves to be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
2 His mountain is lofty and beautiful, the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion, the northern mountain, is the city of the Great King.
3 God is in her citadels.
He is famous as her fortress.
Defeat of the Enemies
4 Look! See! The kings came together.
They advanced together.
5 They saw. Yes, they were amazed.
They were terrified. They were put to flight.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pain like a woman giving birth.
7 You shattered them with an east wind, like ships of Tarshish.
Thanksgiving
8 What we have heard, we now have also seen:
In the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God, Interlude
God establishes her forever.
9 Inside your temple, O God, we meditate on your mercy.
10 Your praise, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth,
just as your fame does.
Righteousness fills your right hand.
11 Mount Zion rejoices.
The daughters of Judah[a] celebrate because of your judgments.
12 Go around Zion. Yes, go all the way around her.
Count her towers. 13 Consider her rampart.[b]
View her citadels, so that you may tell the next generation about them.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us beyond death.[c]
Footnotes:
- Psalm 48:11 That is, the towns around Jerusalem and their inhabitants
- Psalm 48:13 Or moat
- Psalm 48:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts read guide us forever.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 10:26
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes,
so is a lazy person to those who send him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.