Duties of Priests and Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall ^(A)bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, ^(B)and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. ² And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may ^(C)join you and ^(D)minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ They shall keep guard over you and ^(E)over the whole tent, ^(F)but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar ^(G)lest they, and you, die. ⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(H)and no outsider shall come near you. ⁵ And you shall ^(I)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, ^(J)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. ^6 (K)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. ^(L)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ And ^(M)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and ^(N)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and ^(O)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ Now ^(A)the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. ²⁰ Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. ²¹ As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. ²² And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” ²³ Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” ²⁴ But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” ²⁵ So David paid Ornan ^(B)600 shekels^[a] of gold by weight for the site. ²⁶ And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord^{[b] (C)}answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

²⁸ At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. ²⁹ For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering ^(D)were at that time in the high place at Gibeon, ³⁰ but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

22 Then David said, ^(E)“Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

The Holy District

45 “When ^(A)you allot the land as an inheritance, ^(B)you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits^[a] long and 20,000^[b] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ^2 (C)Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^(D)an open space around it. ³ And ^(E)from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^(F)in which shall be the sanctuary, ^(G)the Most Holy Place. ^4 (H)It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ^5 (I)Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.^[c]

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ^(J)you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^(K)It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

^7 (L)“And to ^(M)the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary ⁸ of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^(N)my princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^(O)they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(P)Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^(Q)your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

^10 (R)“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^{[d] 11} The ephah and the bath shall be ^(S)of the same measure, ^(T)the bath containing one tenth of a homer,^[e] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ^12 (U)The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;^[f] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.^[g]

^13 (V)“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, ¹⁴ and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor^[h] (the cor, like the homer, contains ^(W)ten baths).^{[i] 15} And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^(X)to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. ^17 (Y)It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

Great Is the Lord

^[a] A Song of Praise. Of David.

Scripture Must Be Fulfilled in Jesus

³⁵ And he said to them, ^(A)“When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶ He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that ^(B)this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ^(C)‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For ^(D)what is written about me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸ And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two ^(E)swords.” And he said to them, ^(F)“It is enough.”

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

^39 (G)And he came out and went, ^(H)as was his custom, to ^(I)the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. ^40 (J)And when he came to ^(K)the place, he said to them, ^(L)“Pray that you may not ^(M)enter into temptation.” ⁴¹ And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and ^(N)knelt down and prayed, ⁴² saying, ^(O)“Father, if you are willing, remove ^(P)this cup from me. ^(Q)Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” ⁴³ And there appeared to him ^(R)an angel from heaven, strengthening him. ⁴⁴ And ^(S)being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.^{[a] 45} And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, ⁴⁶ and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and ^(T)pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Put On the New Self

3 ^(A)If then you have been raised with Christ, seek ^(B)the things that are above, where Christ is, ^(C)seated at the right hand of God. ^2 (D)Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For ^(E)you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ ^(F)who is your^[a] life ^(G)appears, then you also will appear with him ^(H)in glory.

^5 (I)Put to death therefore ^(J)what is earthly in you:^{[b] (K)}sexual immorality, impurity, ^(L)passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^(M)which is idolatry. ^6 (N)On account of these the wrath of God is coming.^{[c] 7 (O)}In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now ^(P)you must put them all away: ^(Q)anger, wrath, malice, ^(R)slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ^9 (S)Do not lie to one another, seeing that ^(T)you have put off ^(U)the old self^[d] with its practices ¹⁰ and ^(V)have put on ^(W)the new self, ^(X)which is being renewed in knowledge ^(Y)after the image of ^(Z)its creator. ^11 (AA)Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,^[e] free; but Christ is ^(AB)all, and in all.

^12 (AC)Put on then, as ^(AD)God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^(AE)compassionate hearts, ^(AF)kindness, ^(AG)humility, meekness, and patience, ^13 (AH)bearing with one another and, ^(AI)if one has a complaint against another, ^(AJ)forgiving each other; ^(AK)as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on ^(AL)love, which ^(AM)binds everything together in ^(AN)perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let ^(AO)the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called ^(AP)in one body. And ^(AQ)be thankful. ¹⁶ Let ^(AR)the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^(AS)singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^(AT)with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And ^(AU)whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^(AV)giving thanks to God the Father through him.