²⁴ “This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five,

³ All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000.

³ List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.^[a]

³ Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. ⁵ And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules.

^4 [a]We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

⁷ What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk?

¹² David also gave Solomon all the plans he had in mind^[a] for the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple, the outside rooms, the treasuries, and the rooms for the gifts dedicated to the Lord. ¹³ The king also gave Solomon the instructions concerning the work of the various divisions of priests and Levites in the Temple of the Lord. And he gave specifications for the items in the Temple that were to be used for worship.

²⁴ These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. ²⁶ Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings from place to place.” ²⁷ In accordance with David’s final instructions, all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for service.

²³ List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.

¹² Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.