The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.

A Psalm of David, ^[a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

Levite Priesthood Established

3 ^(A)Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ^2 (B)These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the ^(C)anointed priests, whom he ^[a]ordained to serve as priests. ^4 (D)But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered ^[b]strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests ^[c]in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “^(E)Bring the tribe of Levi forward and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷ They shall perform the duties for ^[d]him and for the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, to do the ^(F)service of the tabernacle. ⁸ They shall also take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ So you shall ^(G)assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are exclusively assigned to him from the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that ^(H)they may ^[e]keep their priesthood, but ^(I)the ^[f]layman who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹ Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Now, behold, I ^(J)have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every ^(K)firstborn, the firstborn of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. ¹³ For ^(L)all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from the human firstborn to animals. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord.”

¹¹ See with what large letters I have written to you ^(A)with my own hand! ¹² All who want ^(B)to make a good showing in the flesh try to ^(C)compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they ^(D)will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³ For those who ^[a]are circumcised do not even ^(E)keep ^[b]the Law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may ^(F)boast in your flesh. ¹⁴ But ^(G)[c]far be it from me to boast, ^(H)except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(I)through ^[d]which the world has been crucified to me, and ^(J)I to the world. ¹⁵ For ^(K)neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a ^(L)new ^[e]creation. ¹⁶ And all who will follow this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the ^(M)Israel of God.

¹⁷ From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the ^[f](N)marks of Jesus.

^18 (O)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ^(P)with your spirit, ^(Q)brothers and sisters. Amen.

The Transfiguration

17 ^(A)Six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^(B)Peter and ^[a]James, and his brother John, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You want, ^(C)I will make three ^[b]tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^(D)a voice from the cloud said, “^(E)This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[c]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^(F)do not be afraid.” ⁸ And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9 (G)When they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^(H)Tell the vision to no one until ^(I)the Son of Man has ^(J)risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[d]to him whatever they wanted. So also ^(L)the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[e]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.