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The Tribes and Leaders by Armies
2 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 (A)“Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own [a]standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp (B)some distance from the tabernacle of meeting. 3 On the (C)east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and (D)Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah.” 4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar.” 6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred.
7 “Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun.” 8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred—(E)these shall [b]break camp first.
10 “On the (F)south side shall be the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” 11 And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred.
12 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.” 13 And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
14 “Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of [c]Reuel.” 15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—(G)they shall [d]be the second to break camp.
17 (H)“And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the [e]camp of the Levites (I)in the middle of the [f]camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their [g]standards.
18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” 19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred.
20 “Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.” 21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred.
22 “Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.” 23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—(J)they shall [h]be the third to break camp.
25 “The [i]standard of the forces with Dan shall be on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” 26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
27 “Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.” 28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred.
29 “Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.” 30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—(K)they shall [j]break camp last, with their [k]standards.”
32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. (L)All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But (M)the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
34 Thus the children of Israel (N)did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; (O)so they camped by their [l]standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.
The Sons of Aaron(P)
3 Now these are the (Q)records[m] of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the (R)firstborn, and (S)Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, (T)the anointed priests, [n]whom he consecrated to minister as priests. 4 (U)Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 (V)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do (W)the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And (X)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to [o]him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, (Y)and they shall attend to their priesthood; (Z)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “Now behold, (AA)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be (AB)Mine, 13 because (AC)all the firstborn are Mine. (AD)On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.”
Census of the Levites Commanded(AE)
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: 15 “Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number (AF)every male from a month old and above.”
16 So Moses numbered them according to the [p]word of the Lord, as he was commanded. 17 (AG)These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of (AH)Gershon by their families: (AI)Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of (AJ)Kohath by their families: (AK)Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 (AL)And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.
21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 22 Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. 23 (AM)The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. 24 And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 (AN)The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included (AO)the tabernacle, (AP)the tent with (AQ)its covering, (AR)the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26 (AS)the screen for the door of the court, (AT)the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and (AU)their cords, according to all the work relating to them.
27 (AV)From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand [q]six hundred [r]keeping charge of the sanctuary. 29 (AW)The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of (AX)Uzziel. 31 (AY)Their duty included (AZ)the ark, (BA)the table, (BB)the lampstand, (BC)the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, (BD)the screen, and all the work relating to them.
32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.
33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34 And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. 35 The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. (BE)These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 And (BF)the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, 37 and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.
38 (BG)Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, (BH)keeping charge of the sanctuary, (BI)to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but (BJ)the outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 (BK)All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.
Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: (BL)“Number[s] all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41 (BM)And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 45 (BN)“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord. 46 And for (BO)the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, (BP)who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take (BQ)five shekels for each one (BR)individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, (BS)the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48 And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”
49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, (BT)one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses (BU)gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Jesus’ Authority Questioned(A)
27 Then they came again to Jerusalem. (B)And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28 And they said to Him, “By what (C)authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30 The (D)baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for (E)all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 33 So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers(F)
12 Then (G)He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to [a]vinedressers and went into a far country. 2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant, [b]and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, (H)beating some and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those [c]vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and (I)killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
(J)‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 (K)And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(L)
13 (M)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. 14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and [d]care about no one; for You do not [e]regard the person of men, but teach the (N)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”
But He, knowing their (O)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” 16 So they brought it.
And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, [f]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to (P)God the things that are God’s.”
And they marveled at Him.
Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome;
He is a great (A)King over all the earth.
3 (B)He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
4 He will choose our (C)inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.