Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord does great things^[a]

The numbers in the Levite clans

³⁴ So Moses, Aaron and the people's leaders recorded the names of Kohath's descendants in their clans and in their families. ³⁵ They recorded the men who could work in the Tent of Meeting. They recorded them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. ³⁶ They recorded them in clans. There were 2,750 men. ³⁷ Moses and Aaron recorded the descendants of Kohath who worked at the Tent of Meeting. The Lord had told Moses that they must do that.

³⁸ Moses and Aaron also recorded the names of Gershon's descendants in their clans and in their families. ³⁹ They recorded the men who could work in the Tent of Meeting. They recorded them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. ⁴⁰ They recorded them in clans and families. There were 2,630 men. ⁴¹ Moses and Aaron recorded the descendants of Gershon who worked at the Tent of Meeting. The Lord had told Moses that they must do that.

⁴² Moses and Aaron also recorded the names of Merari's descendants in their clans and in their families. ⁴³ They counted all the men who worked in the Tent of Meeting. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. ⁴⁴ They recorded them in clans. There were 3,200 men. ⁴⁵ Moses and Aaron recorded the descendants of Merari who worked at the Tent of Meeting. The Lord had told Moses that they must do that.

⁴⁶ Moses, Aaron and the people's leaders recorded the names of the Levites in their clans and in their families. ⁴⁷ They counted all the men who worked in the Tent of Meeting. And they counted all the men who carried any of its things. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. ⁴⁸ There were 8,580 Levites in the list. ⁴⁹ They told each man the things that he must do. Or they told him what he must carry. Moses recorded all their names. The Lord had told him that he must do that.

Unclean people

5 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Speak to the Israelites. They must send any person with a disease of the skin away from the camp. Or somebody may have a disease that causes pus to come out of his body. Any person like that is not clean. Anyone who has touched a dead person is also not clean. Send those people out of the camp too. ³ Do this with both men and women. Send them out of the camp. They must not make the camp unclean, because that is where I live among the people.’

⁴ The Israelites did what the Lord had said to Moses. They sent those people outside the camp.

A good soldier for Christ

2 Timothy, you are like my own child. Let God make you strong. He is kind, so trust him to help you, because you belong to Christ Jesus. ² You have heard the message that I have taught. Many other people also heard it and they agree that it is true. Now you must tell the same message to other people who will be able to teach it to even more people. They should be people that you can trust as honest people and who can teach well.

³ Be patient through the troubles that we Christians have. Be brave and strong, like a good soldier for Christ Jesus. ⁴ Any soldier who fights in a war does not become busy with other things. He only wants to fight well to make his captain happy. ⁵ It is the same with an athlete who runs a race.^[a] He cannot win the race unless he obeys the rules. ⁶ A farmer works hard to grow plants for food. So he should be the first person to receive some of that food. ⁷ Think carefully about what I am saying to you. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.