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The Lampstand
8 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘Put the seven lamps where they can light the area in front of the ·lampstand [L Menorah; Ex. 25:31–40].’”
3 Aaron did this, putting the lamps so they lighted the area in front of the ·lampstand [L Menorah]; he obeyed the command the Lord gave Moses. 4 The ·lampstand [L Menorah] was made from hammered gold, from its base to the flowers [C like a flowering tree, reminding worshipers of Eden]. It was made exactly the way the Lord had showed Moses.
The Levites Are Given to God
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Take the Levites away from the other ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] and make them clean [C in a ritual sense]. 7 This is what you should do to make them clean: Sprinkle the cleansing water on them, and have them shave their bodies and wash their clothes so they will be clean. 8 They must take a young bull and the grain offering of flour mixed with oil that goes with it. Then take a second young bull for a ·sin [or purification] offering [Lev. 4:3]. 9 Bring the Levites to the front of the Meeting Tent, and gather all the ·Israelites [L community/congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel] around. 10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] should put their hands on them [C a ritual of identification, showing that the Israelites had a part in their consecration]. 11 Aaron will present the Levites before the Lord as an offering presented from the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. Then the Levites will be ready to do the work of the Lord.
12 “The Levites will ·put [lay] their hands [8:10; Ex. 29:10] on the bulls’ heads—one bull will be a ·sin [or purification] offering [Lev. 4:3] to the Lord, and the other will be a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17], to ·remove the sins of the Levites so they will belong to the Lord [make atonement for the Levites]. 13 Make the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present the Levites as an elevation offering to the Lord. 14 In this way you must ·set apart [separate] the Levites from the other ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]; the Levites will be mine.
15 “Make the Levites pure [C in a ritual sense], and ·present [elevate] them as an offering so that they may come to work at the Meeting Tent. 16 They will be given completely to me from the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]; I have taken them for myself instead of ·the firstborn of every Israelite woman [L those who open the womb, the firstborn of all the sons/T children of Israel]. 17 All the firstborn ·in Israel—people or animals[—L among the sons/T children of Israel and among people and among animals] are mine. When I ·killed [L struck] all the firstborn in Egypt [Ex. 12:12–13], I ·set the firstborn in Israel aside for myself [L consecrated/sanctified them to me; Ex. 13:2, 11–16; 22:29–30; 34:19–20]. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn ·in Israel [L among the sons/T children of Israel]. 19 From all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons so that they may serve the Israelites at the Meeting Tent. They will ·help remove the Israelites’ sins so they will belong to the Lord [L make atonement for the sons/T children of Israel] and so that no ·disaster [plague] will strike the Israelites when they approach the ·Holy Place [Tabernacle].”
20 So Moses, Aaron, and all the ·Israelites [L community/congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel] obeyed and did with the Levites what the Lord commanded Moses. 21 The Levites made themselves clean from sin and washed their clothes. Then Aaron ·presented [elevated] them as an offering to the Lord. He also ·removed their sins [made atonement for them] so they would be pure [C in a ritual sense]. 22 After that, the Levites came to the Meeting Tent to work, and Aaron and his sons told them what to do. They did with the Levites what the Lord commanded Moses.
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “This command is for the Levites. Everyone twenty-five years old or older must come to the Meeting Tent, because they all have jobs to do there. 25 At the age of fifty, they must retire from their jobs and not work again. 26 They may ·help [serve; minister to] their fellow Levites with their work at the Meeting Tent, but they must not do the work themselves. This is the way you are to give the Levites their jobs.”
The Passover Is Celebrated
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai in the first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt [1:1]. He said, 2 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time [Ex. 12:14–20; C commemorating the departure from Egypt]. 3 That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month ·at twilight [L between the two evenings]; they must obey all the rules about it.”
4 So Moses told the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to celebrate the Passover, 5 and they did; it was in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Sinai ·at twilight [L between the two evenings] on the fourteenth day of the first month. The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
6 But some of the people could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were unclean [C in a ritual sense; 5:2] from touching a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day and 7 said to Moses, “We are unclean because of touching a dead body. But why should we be kept from offering gifts to the Lord at this appointed time? Why can’t we join the other ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]?”
8 Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will find out what the Lord says about you.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] this: ‘If you or your descendants become unclean [C in a ritual sense] because of a dead body, or if you are away on a trip during the Passover, you must still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 But celebrate it at ·twilight [L between the two evenings] on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs [Ex. 12:8] and bread made without ·yeast [leaven]. 12 Don’t leave any of it until the next morning or break any of its bones [Ex. 12:46]. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules [2 Chr. 30:1–27]. 13 Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip but does not eat the Passover must be cut off from the people. That person did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time and must be punished for the sin.
14 “‘·Foreigners [Resident aliens] among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover, but they must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for ·foreigners [resident aliens] as you have for ·yourselves [L natives; citizens].’”
The Cloud Above the Tent
15 On the day the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], the Tent of the ·Agreement [Testimony; Treaty; Covenant], was set up, a cloud covered it. From dusk until dawn the cloud above the ·Tent [Tabernacle] looked like fire [Ex. 40:34–38]. 16 The cloud stayed above the ·Tent [Tabernacle], and at night it looked like fire. 17 When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] moved, and wherever the cloud stopped, the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] camped. 18 So the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] moved at the Lord’s command, and they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the ·Tent [Tabernacle], they remained camped. 19 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the ·Tent [Tabernacle] for a long time, but the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] obeyed the Lord and did not move. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from dusk until dawn; when the cloud lifted the next morning, the people moved. When the cloud lifted, day or night, the people moved. 22 The cloud might stay over the ·Tent [Tabernacle] for two days, a month, or a year. As long as it stayed, the people camped, but when it lifted, they moved. 23 At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord’s order that he commanded through Moses.
14 “You will see ‘·a blasphemous object that brings destruction’ [T the abomination of desolation; C a phrase taken from Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11, and originally referring to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 bc] standing where ·it [or he] should not be.” (You who read this should understand what it means [C probably a reference to the (soon-to-occur) destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70].) “At that time, the people in Judea should ·run away [flee] to the mountains. 15 If people are on the roofs of their houses [C roofs in Palestine were flat and used as spare rooms and for storage], they must not go down or go inside to get anything out of their houses. 16 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their ·coats [cloaks]. 17 At that time, ·how terrible it will be for [L woe to] women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 18 Pray that these things will not happen in ·winter [bad weather], 19 because those days will be full of ·trouble [distress; T tribulation]. There will be more ·trouble [distress; T tribulation] than there has ever been since the beginning, when God made the world, until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again [Dan. 12:1]. 20 ·God has decided to make that terrible time short [L If the Lord had not shortened those days…]. Otherwise, no one would ·go on living [survive; L be saved]. But God will make that time short ·to help [for the sake of] ·the people [the elect] he has chosen. 21 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the ·Christ [Messiah]!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 22 False ·Christs [Messiahs] and false prophets will ·come [appear; rise up] and perform ·great wonders [signs; miracles] and ·miracles [wonders; marvels]. They will try to ·fool [mislead; deceive] even the ·people God has chosen [elect], if that is possible. 23 So ·be careful [watch out; be on guard]. I have warned you about all this before it happens.
24 “During the days after this ·trouble [tribulation; distress] comes,
‘the sun will grow dark,
and the moon will not give its light.
25 The stars will fall from ·the sky [heaven].
And the ·powers of the heavens [celestial bodies] will be shaken’ [Is. 13:10; 34:4; cf. Ezek. 32:7–8; Joel 2:10, 31].
26 “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory [Dan. 7:13]. 27 Then he will send his angels to gather his ·chosen people [elect] from ·all around the earth [the four winds], from ·every part [the farthest end] of the earth and from ·every part [the farthest end] of heaven [Deut. 30:4; Zech. 2:6].
28 “Learn a ·lesson [parable; analogy] from the fig tree: When its branches ·become green and soft [become tender; sprout] and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that ·the time [or he] is near, ·ready to come [right at the door]. 30 I tell you the truth, all these things will happen ·while the people of this time are still living [before this generation passes away; C either the generation that sees the destruction of Jerusalem (ad 70), or a future generation of the end times]. 31 ·Earth and sky will be destroyed [T Heaven and earth will pass away], but the words I have said will never ·be destroyed [pass away].
32 “No one knows when that day or ·time [hour] will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. 33 ·Be careful [Watch out; Be on guard]! Always be ·ready[a] [alert; watching], because you don’t know when that [appointed] time will be. 34 It is like a man who goes on a ·trip [journey]. He leaves his house and lets his servants take care of it, giving each one ·a special job [his own work] to do. The man tells the servant guarding the door always to be watchful. 35 So ·always be ready [stay alert; keep watching], because you don’t know when the ·owner [master; lord] of the house will come back. It might be in the evening, or at midnight, or ·in the morning while it is still dark [L when the rooster crows], or when the sun rises. 36 Always be ready. Otherwise he might come back suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 I tell you this, and I say this to everyone: ‘Be ·ready [alert; watchful]!’”
God Wants True Worship
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
50 The God of gods, the Lord, speaks.
He ·calls [proclaims to; summons] the earth from the rising to the setting sun.
2 God shines from ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple],
·whose beauty is perfect [L the perfection of beauty; 48:2; Lam. 2:15].
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent.
A fire ·burns [consumes] in front of him [Heb. 12:29],
and a ·powerful storm [whirlwind; tempest] surrounds him [Is. 66:15].
4 He ·calls to [summons] the ·sky [heavens] above and to the earth
that he might judge his people.
5 He says, “Gather around, you ·who worship me [holy ones; saints],
who have made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with me, using a sacrifice [Ex. 24:5–8].”
6 God is the judge,
and even the ·skies say he is right [heavens proclaim his righteousness]. ·
7 God says, “My people, listen to me;
Israel, I will ·testify [witness] against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not ·scold [reprimand; rebuke] you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17].
9 But I do not ·need [or accept] bulls from your ·stalls [L house]
or goats from your ·pens [folds],
10 because every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the earth and ·everything in it [L its fullness] are mine.
13 ·I don’t [L Do I…?] eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an ·offering to show thanks [thank offering] to God [Lev. 7:12; 22:29; Heb. 13:15].
Give God Most High what you have ·promised [vowed].
15 Call to me in times of ·trouble [distress].
I will ·save [rescue; T deliver] you, and you will ·honor [glorify] me.”
16 But God says to the wicked,
“Why do you ·talk about [recount] my ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements]?
Why do you ·mention [L lift up on your mouth] my ·agreement [covenant; treaty]?
17 You hate my ·teachings [instruction; discipline; Prov. 1:7]
and turn your back on what I say.
18 When you see a thief, you ·join [delight in; or run with] him.
·You take part in adultery [Your lot/portion is with adulterers].
19 You ·don’t stop your mouth from speaking evil [L send your mouth into evil],
and your tongue ·makes up lies [L is yoked to deception].
20 You sit around and speak against your brother
and ·lie [L give a stain/fault] about your mother’s son.
21 I have kept quiet while you did these things,
so you thought I was just like you.
But I will ·scold [reprimand; reprove] you
and ·accuse [indict] you ·to your face [L before your eyes].
22 “·Think about [Understand] this, you who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you apart,
and no one will ·save [protect] you.
23 Those people ·honor [glorify] me
who bring me ·offerings to show thanks [thank offerings; v. 14].
And I, God, will save those who ·do that [L go on my way/path].”
29 The path of the Lord ·will protect good people [L is a refuge for the innocent]
but ruin for those who do evil.
30 ·Good [Righteous] people will ·always be safe [L never be shaken],
but evil people will not ·remain [dwell] in the land.
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