4 ^1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take a census of the Kohath division of the Levite tribe. ³ This census will be of all males from ages thirty to fifty who are able to work in the Tabernacle. ⁴ These are their sacred duties:

⁵ “When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons will enter the Tabernacle first and take down the veil and cover the Ark with it. ⁶ Then they will cover the veil with goatskin leather, cover the goatskins with a blue cloth, and place the carrying poles of the Ark in their rings.

⁷ “Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and place the dishes, spoons, bowls, cups, and the Bread upon the cloth. ⁸ They will spread a scarlet cloth over that, and finally a covering of goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they shall insert the carrying poles into the table.

⁹ “Next they must cover with a blue cloth the lampstand, the lamps, snuffers, trays, and the reservoir of olive oil. ¹⁰ This entire group of objects shall then be covered with goatskin leather, and the bundle shall be placed upon a carrying frame.

¹¹ “They must then spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with a covering of goatskin leather, and insert the carrying poles into the altar. ¹² All of the remaining utensils of the Tabernacle are to be wrapped in a blue cloth, covered with goatskin leather, and placed on the carrying frame.

¹³ “The ashes are to be removed from the altar, and the altar shall be covered with a purple cloth. ¹⁴ All of the altar utensils are to be placed upon the cloth—the firepans, hooks, shovels, basins, and other containers—and a cover of goatskin leather will be spread over them. Finally, the carrying poles are to be put in place. ¹⁵ When Aaron and his sons have finished packing the sanctuary and all the utensils, the clan of Kohath shall come and carry the units to wherever the camp is traveling; but they must not touch the holy items, lest they die. This, then, is the sacred work of the sons of Kohath.

¹⁶ “Aaron’s son Eleazar shall be responsible for the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil—in fact, the supervision of the entire Tabernacle and everything in it will be his responsibility.”

^17-19 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Don’t let the families of Kohath destroy themselves! This is what you must do so that they will not die when they carry the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in with them and point out what each is to carry. ²⁰ Otherwise they must never enter the sanctuary for even a moment, lest they look at the sacred objects there and die.”

^21-23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take a census of the Gershonite division of the tribe of Levi, all of the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible for the sacred work of the Tabernacle. ²⁴ These will be their duties:

²⁵ “They will carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the goatskin leather roof, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance. ²⁶ They are also to carry the drapes covering the courtyard fence, and the curtain across the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the altar and the Tabernacle. They will also carry the altar, the ropes, and all of the accessories. They are fully responsible for the transportation of these items. ²⁷ Aaron or any of his sons may assign the Gershonites’ tasks to them, ²⁸ but the Gershonites will be directly responsible to Aaron’s son Ithamar.

²⁹ “Now take a census of the Merari division of the Levite tribe, all of the men from thirty to fifty who are eligible for the Tabernacle service. ^30-31 When the Tabernacle is moved, they are to carry the frames of the Tabernacle, the bars, the bases, ³² the frames for the courtyard fence with their bases, pegs, cords, and everything else connected with their use and repair. Assign duties to each man by name. ³³ The Merari division will also report to Aaron’s son Ithamar.”

³⁴ So Moses and Aaron and the other leaders took a census of the Kohath division, ³⁵ including all of the men thirty to fifty years of age who were eligible for the Tabernacle service, ³⁶ and found that the total number was 2,750. ³⁷ All this was done to carry out the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ^38-41 A similar census of the Gershon division totaled 2,630. ^42-45 And of the Merari division, 3,200. ^46-48 Thus Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel found that the total of all the Levites who were thirty to fifty years old and who were eligible for the Tabernacle service and transportation was 8,580. ⁴⁹ This census was taken in response to the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

5 ^1-2 These are further instructions from the Lord to Moses: “Inform the people of Israel that they must expel all lepers from the camp, and all who have open sores, or who have been defiled by touching a dead person. ³ This applies to men and women alike. Remove them so that they will not defile the camp where I live among you.” ⁴ These instructions were put into effect.

^5-6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that when anyone, man or woman, betrays the Lord by betraying a trust, it is sin. ⁷ He must confess his sin and make full repayment for what he has stolen,^[a] adding 20 percent and returning it to the person he took it from. ⁸ But if the person he wronged is dead,^[b] and there is no near relative to whom the payment can be made, it must be given to the priest, along with a lamb for atonement. ^9-10 When the people of Israel bring a gift to the Lord it shall go to the priests.”

^11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that if a man’s wife commits adultery, ¹³ but there is no proof, there being no witness, ¹⁴ and he is jealous and suspicious, ¹⁵ the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering for her of a tenth of a bushel of barley meal without oil or frankincense mingled with it—for it is a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth^[c] as to whether or not she is guilty.

¹⁶ “The priest shall bring her before the Lord, ¹⁷ and take holy water in a clay jar and mix into it dust from the floor of the Tabernacle. ¹⁸ He shall unbind her hair and place the suspicion offering in her hands to determine whether or not her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest shall stand before her holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ He shall require her to swear that she is innocent, and then he shall say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you except your husband, be free from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse. ²⁰ But if you have committed adultery, ^21-22 then Jehovah shall make you a curse among your people, for he will make your thigh rot away and your body swell.’ And the woman shall be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ ²³ Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ (When he requires the woman to drink the water, it becomes bitter within her if she is guilty.^[d])

²⁵ “Then the priest shall take the suspicion offering from the woman’s hand and wave it before Jehovah, and carry it to the altar. ²⁶ He shall take a handful, representing all of it, and burn the handful upon the altar, and then require the woman to drink the water. ²⁷ If she has been defiled, having committed adultery against her husband, the water will become bitter within her, and her body will swell and her thigh will rot, and she shall be a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if she is pure and has not committed adultery, she shall be unharmed and will soon become pregnant.

²⁹ “This, then, is the law concerning a wayward wife—or a husband’s suspicions against his wife— ³⁰ to determine whether or not she has been unfaithful to him. He shall bring her before the Lord and the priest shall handle the situation as outlined above. ³¹ Her husband shall not be brought to trial for causing her horrible disease, for she is responsible.”

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees stepped forward—a group of men who say there is no resurrection. Here was their question:

¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that when a man dies without children, the man’s brother should marry his widow and have children in his brother’s name. ^20-22 Well, there were seven brothers and the oldest married and died, and left no children. So the second brother married the widow, but soon he died too and left no children. Then the next brother married her and died without children, and so on until all were dead, and still there were no children; and last of all, the woman died too.

²³ “What we want to know is this:^[a] In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, for she had been the wife of each of them?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Your trouble is that you don’t know the Scriptures and don’t know the power of God. ²⁵ For when these seven brothers and the woman rise from the dead, they won’t be married—they will be like the angels.

²⁶ “But now as to whether there will be a resurrection—have you never read in the book of Exodus about Moses and the burning bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and I am the God of Isaac, and I am the God of Jacob.’

²⁷ “God was telling Moses that these men, though dead for hundreds of years,^[b] were still very much alive, for he would not have said, ‘I am the God’ of those who don’t exist! You have made a serious error.”

²⁸ One of the teachers of religion who was standing there listening to the discussion realized that Jesus had answered well. So he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “The one that says, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only God. ³⁰ And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.’

³¹ “The second is: ‘You must love others as much as yourself.’ No other commandments are greater than these.”

³² The teacher of religion replied, “Sir, you have spoken a true word in saying that there is only one God and no other. ³³ And I know it is far more important to love him with all my heart and understanding and strength, and to love others as myself, than to offer all kinds of sacrifices on the altar of the Temple.”

³⁴ Realizing this man’s understanding, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared ask him any more questions.

³⁵ Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple area, he asked them this question:

“Why do your religious teachers claim that the Messiah must be a descendant of King David? ³⁶ For David himself said—and the Holy Spirit was speaking through him when he said it—‘God said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ³⁷ Since David called him his Lord, how can he be his son?”

(This sort of reasoning delighted the crowd and they listened to him with great interest.)

48 How great is the Lord! How much we should praise him. He lives upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem. ² What a glorious sight! See Mount Zion rising north of the city^[a] high above the plains for all to see—Mount Zion, joy of all the earth, the residence of the great King.

³ God himself is the defender of Jerusalem.^{[b] 4} The kings of the earth have arrived together to inspect the city. ⁵ They marvel at the sight and hurry home again, ⁶ afraid of what they have seen; they are filled with panic like a woman in travail! ⁷ For God destroys the mightiest warships with a breath of wind. ⁸ We have heard of the city’s glory—the city of our God, the Commander of the armies of heaven. And now we see it for ourselves! God has established Jerusalem forever.

⁹ Lord, here in your Temple we meditate upon your kindness and your love. ¹⁰ Your name is known throughout the earth, O God. You are praised everywhere for the salvation^[c] you have scattered throughout the world. ¹¹ O Jerusalem,^[d] rejoice! O people of Judah, rejoice! For God will see to it that you are finally treated fairly. ¹² Go, inspect the city! Walk around and count her many towers! ¹³ Note her walls and tour her palaces so that you can tell your children.

¹⁴ For this great God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide until we die.

²⁶ A lazy fellow is a pain to his employers—like smoke in their eyes or vinegar that sets the teeth on edge.