Duties of the Kohathite Clan

4 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi. ³ List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.^[a]

⁴ “The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects. ⁵ When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons must enter the Tabernacle first to take down the inner curtain and cover the Ark of the Covenant^[b] with it. ⁶ Then they must cover the inner curtain with fine goatskin leather and spread over that a single piece of blue cloth. Finally, they must put the carrying poles of the Ark in place.

⁷ “Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and on the cloth they will place the bowls, ladles, jars, pitchers, and the special bread. ⁸ They must spread a scarlet cloth over all of this, and finally a covering of fine goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they must insert the carrying poles into the table.

⁹ “Next they must cover the lampstand with a blue cloth, along with its lamps, lamp snuffers, trays, and special jars of olive oil. ¹⁰ Then they must cover the lampstand and its accessories with fine goatskin leather and place the bundle on a carrying frame.

¹¹ “Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar. ¹² They must take all the remaining furnishings of the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine goatskin leather, and place them on the carrying frame.

¹³ “They must remove the ashes from the altar for sacrifices and cover the altar with a purple cloth. ¹⁴ All the altar utensils—the firepans, meat forks, shovels, basins, and all the containers—must be placed on the cloth, and a covering of fine goatskin leather must be spread over them. Finally, they must put the carrying poles in place. ¹⁵ The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry.

¹⁶ “Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will be responsible for the oil of the lampstand, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. In fact, Eleazar will be responsible for the entire Tabernacle and everything in it, including the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ “Do not let the Kohathite clans be destroyed from among the Levites! ¹⁹ This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person. ²⁰ The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonite Clan

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ²² “Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Gershonite division of the tribe of Levi. ²³ List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

²⁴ “These Gershonite clans will be responsible for general service and carrying loads. ²⁵ They must carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the outer covering of fine goatskin leather, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance. ²⁶ They are also to carry the curtains for the courtyard walls that surround the Tabernacle and altar, the curtain across the courtyard entrance, the ropes, and all the equipment related to their use. The Gershonites are responsible for all these items. ²⁷ Aaron and his sons will direct the Gershonites regarding all their duties, whether it involves moving the equipment or doing other work. They must assign the Gershonites responsibility for the loads they are to carry. ²⁸ So these are the duties assigned to the Gershonite clans at the Tabernacle. They will be directly responsible to Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarite Clan

²⁹ “Now record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Merarite division of the tribe of Levi. ³⁰ List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

³¹ “Their only duty at the Tabernacle will be to carry loads. They will carry the frames of the Tabernacle, the crossbars, the posts, and the bases; ³² also the posts for the courtyard walls with their bases, pegs, and ropes; and all the accessories and everything else related to their use. Assign the various loads to each man by name. ³³ So these are the duties of the Merarite clans at the Tabernacle. They are directly responsible to Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

Summary of the Registration

³⁴ So Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders of the community listed the members of the Kohathite division by their clans and families. ³⁵ The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, ³⁶ and the total number came to 2,750. ³⁷ So this was the total of all those from the Kohathite clans who were eligible to serve at the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

³⁸ The Gershonite division was also listed by its clans and families. ³⁹ The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, ⁴⁰ and the total number came to 2,630. ⁴¹ So this was the total of all those from the Gershonite clans who were eligible to serve at the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the Lord had commanded.

⁴² The Merarite division was also listed by its clans and families. ⁴³ The list included all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle, ⁴⁴ and the total number came to 3,200. ⁴⁵ So this was the total of all those from the Merarite clans who were eligible for service. Moses and Aaron listed them, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁴⁶ So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel listed all the Levites by their clans and families. ⁴⁷ All the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were eligible for service in the Tabernacle and for its transportation ⁴⁸ numbered 8,580. ⁴⁹ When their names were recorded, as the Lord had commanded through Moses, each man was assigned his task and told what to carry.

And so the registration was completed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Purity in Israel’s Camp

5 The Lord gave these instructions to Moses: ² “Command the people of Israel to remove from the camp anyone who has a skin disease^[c] or a discharge, or who has become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person. ³ This command applies to men and women alike. Remove them so they will not defile the camp in which I live among them.” ⁴ So the Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses and removed such people from the camp.

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people—men or women—betray the Lord by doing wrong to another person, they are guilty. ⁷ They must confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20 percent and returning it to the person who was wronged. ⁸ But if the person who was wronged is dead, and there are no near relatives to whom restitution can be made, the payment belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest. Those who are guilty must also bring a ram as a sacrifice, and they will be purified and made right with the Lord.^{[d] 9} All the sacred offerings that the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. ¹⁰ Each priest may keep all the sacred donations that he receives.”

Protecting Marital Faithfulness

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is unfaithful to her husband ¹³ and has sex with another man, but neither her husband nor anyone else knows about it. She has defiled herself, even though there was no witness and she was not caught in the act. ¹⁴ If her husband becomes jealous and is suspicious of his wife and needs to know whether or not she has defiled herself, ¹⁵ the husband must bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring an offering of two quarts^[e] of barley flour to be presented on her behalf. Do not mix it with olive oil or frankincense, for it is a jealousy offering—an offering to prove whether or not she is guilty.

¹⁶ “The priest will then present her to stand trial before the Lord. ¹⁷ He must take some holy water in a clay jar and pour into it dust he has taken from the Tabernacle floor. ¹⁸ When the priest has presented the woman before the Lord, he must unbind her hair and place in her hands the offering of proof—the jealousy offering to determine whether her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest will stand before her, holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse to those who are guilty. ¹⁹ The priest will then put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has had sex with you, and you have not gone astray and defiled yourself while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune from the effects of this bitter water that brings on the curse. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray by being unfaithful to your husband, and have defiled yourself by having sex with another man—’

²¹ “At this point the priest must put the woman under oath by saying, ‘May the people know that the Lord’s curse is upon you when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel^[f] and your abdomen to swell. ²² Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.^[g]’ And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ ²³ And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.

²⁵ “The priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, lift it up before the Lord, and carry it to the altar. ²⁶ He will take a handful of the flour as a token portion and burn it on the altar, and he will require the woman to drink the water. ²⁷ If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink,^[h] and her name will become a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.

²⁹ “This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, ³⁰ or if a man becomes jealous and is suspicious that his wife has been unfaithful, the husband must present his wife before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual law to her. ³¹ The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.”

Discussion about Resurrection

¹⁸ Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.^{[a] 20} Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. ²¹ So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her. ²² This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died. ²³ So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. ²⁵ For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

²⁶ “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses,^[b] ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 27} So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”

The Most Important Commandment

²⁸ One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. ³⁰ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’^{[d] 31} The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[e] No other commandment is greater than these.”

³² The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. ³³ And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

³⁴ Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

³⁵ Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ For David himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said,

³⁷ Since David himself called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with great delight.

Psalm 48

A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.