Then David said, “No one may carry the (A)ark of God but the Levites, for (B)the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.”

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At that time (A)the Lord [a]separated the tribe of Levi (B)to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, (C)to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and (D)to bless in His name, to this day.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 10:8 set apart

17 “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never (A)lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the (B)priests, the Levites, lack a man to (C)offer burnt offerings before Me, to [a]kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

The Permanence of God’s Covenant

19 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then (D)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. 22 As (E)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I (F)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the (G)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 33:18 burn

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

So Moses wrote this law (A)and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, (B)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

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Duties of Priests and Levites

18 Then the Lord said to Aaron: (A)“You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall (B)bear the [a]iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. Also bring with you your brethren of the (C)tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be (D)joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of [b]witness. They shall attend to your [c]needs and (E)all the needs of the tabernacle; (F)but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, (G)lest they die—they and you also. They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; (H)but an outsider shall not come near you. And you shall attend to (I)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, (J)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. Behold, I Myself have (K)taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; (L)they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Therefore (M)you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and (N)behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a (O)gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Offerings for Support of the Priests

And the Lord spoke to Aaron: “Here, (P)I Myself have also given you [d]charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them (Q)as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:1 guilt
  2. Numbers 18:2 testimony
  3. Numbers 18:3 service
  4. Numbers 18:8 custody

and they commanded the people, saying, (A)“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, (B)and the priests, the Levites, [a]bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 3:3 carrying

24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: (A)From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting; 25 and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more. 26 They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, (B)to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”

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13 “And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord. 14 Thus you shall (A)separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be (B)Mine.

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19 but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach (A)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and [a]appoint each of them to his service and his task. 20 (B)But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 4:19 assign

“Take a census of the sons of (A)Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ house, (B)from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.

(C)“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of meeting, relating to (D)the most holy things: When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down (E)the covering veil and cover the (F)ark of the Testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of (G)blue; and they shall insert (H)its poles.

“On the (I)table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the [a]pitchers for pouring; and the (J)showbread[b] shall be on it. They shall spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. And they shall take a blue cloth and cover the (K)lampstand of the light, (L)with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it. 10 Then they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of badger skins, and put it on a carrying beam.

11 “Over (M)the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles. 12 Then they shall take all the (N)utensils of service with which they minister in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of badger skins, and put them on a carrying beam. 13 Also they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all its implements with which they minister there—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the [c]basins, and all the utensils of the altar—and they shall spread on it a covering of badger skins, and insert its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then (O)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; (P)but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.

(Q)These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 4:7 jars for the drink offering
  2. Numbers 4:7 Lit. continual bread
  3. Numbers 4:14 bowls

21 And I will also take some of them for (A)priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

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Then he said to the Levites (A)who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: (B)“Put the holy ark (C)in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. (D)It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.

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Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.”

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But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was (A)the service of the holy things, (B)which they carried on their shoulders.

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