Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Moses Sets Apart the Levites

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites. Make them ‘clean’ in the usual way. ⁷ Here is how to make them pure. Sprinkle the special water on them. Then have them shave their whole bodies. Also have them wash their clothes. That is how they will make themselves pure. ⁸ Have them get a young bull along with its grain offering. The offering must be made out of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then you must get a second young bull. You must sacrifice it as a sin offering. ⁹ Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting. Gather the whole community of Israel together. ¹⁰ You must bring the Levites to me. The Israelites must place their hands on them. ¹¹ Aaron must bring the Levites to me. They are a wave offering from the Israelites. That is how they will be set apart to do my work.

¹² “Then I want the Levites to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. They must sacrifice one bull as a sin offering to me. And they must sacrifice the other as a burnt offering. The blood of the bulls will pay for the sin of the Levites. ¹³ Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Then give them as a wave offering to me. ¹⁴ That is how I want you to set apart the Levites from the other Israelites. The Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵ “Make the Levites pure. Give them to me as a wave offering. Then they must come to do their work at the tent of meeting. ¹⁶ They are the Israelites who will be given to me completely. I have taken them to be my own. I have taken them in place of every son born first in his family in Israel. ¹⁷ Every male born first in Israel belongs to me. That is true whether it is a human or an animal. In Egypt I struck down all the males born first to their mothers. Then I set apart for myself all the males born first in Israel. ¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites in place of all the sons born first in Israel. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from among all the Israelites. I have appointed them to do the work at the tent of meeting. They will do it in place of the Israelites. That is how they will keep the Israelites from being guilty when they go near the sacred tent. Then no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the tent.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites made themselves pure. They washed their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the Lord as a wave offering. That’s how he paid for their sin to make them pure. ²² After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting. They worked under the direction of Aaron and his sons. And so Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve God, and I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. God sent me to help his chosen people believe in Christ more and more. God sent me to help them understand even more the truth that leads to godly living. ² That belief and understanding lead to the hope of eternal life. Before time began, God promised to give that life. And he does not lie. ³ Now, at just the right time, he has made his promise clear. He did this through the preaching that he trusted me with. God our Savior has commanded all these things.

⁴ Titus, I am sending you this letter. You are my true son in the faith we share.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.

Choosing Elders Who Love What Is Good

⁵ I left you on the island of Crete. I did this because there were some things that hadn’t been finished. I wanted you to put them in order. I also wanted you to appoint elders in every town. I told you how to do it. ⁶ An elder must be without blame. He must be faithful to his wife. His children must be believers. They must not give anyone a reason to say that they are wild and don’t obey. ⁷ A church leader takes care of God’s family. That’s why he must be without blame. He must not look after only his own interests. He must not get angry easily. He must not get drunk. He must not push people around. He must not try to get money by cheating people. ⁸ Instead, a church leader must welcome people into his home. He must love what is good. He must control his mind and feelings. He must do what is right. He must be holy. He must control the desires of his body. ⁹ The message as it has been taught can be trusted. He must hold firmly to it. Then he will be able to use true teaching to comfort others and build them up. He will be able to prove that people who oppose it are wrong.