Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary,^(A) and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. ² Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister^(B) before the tent of the covenant law. ³ They are to be responsible to you^(C) and are to perform all the duties of the tent,^(D) but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die.^{(E) 4} They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting—all the work at the tent—and no one else may come near where you are.^(F)

⁵ “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar,^(G) so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you,^(H) dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting.^{(I) 7} But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain.^(J) I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.^(K) Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.^(L)”

¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,^[a](A) and lay your hand on him.^{(B) 19} Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him^(C) in their presence.^{(D) 20} Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.^{(E) 21} He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring^(F) of the Urim^(G) before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

²² Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him,^(H) as the Lord instructed through Moses.

⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(A) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(B) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.

⁸ The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(A) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(B) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^(A) is near. Call Joshua^(B) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(C)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(D)

¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{(E) 16} And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(F) and these people will soon prostitute^(G) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(H) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ And in that day I will become angry^(I) with them and forsake^(J) them; I will hide^(K) my face^(L) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(M) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^{(N) 18} And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now write^(O) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(P) for me against them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(Q) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(R) and worship them,^(S) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{(T) 21} And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(U) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(V) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²² So Moses wrote^(W) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord gave this command^(X) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,^(Y) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”