Numbers 4; Psalm 38; Song of Solomon 2; Hebrews 2

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Numbers 4

Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, bfrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: cthe most holy things. When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down dthe veil of the screen and cover ethe ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin1 and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its fpoles. And over the gtable of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; hthe regular showbread also shall be on it. Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall iput in its poles. And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover jthe lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over kthe golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12 And they shall take all lthe vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that mthe sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, nbut they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of othe oil for the light, the pfragrant incense, qthe regular grain offering, and rthe anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.

17 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to sthe most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 tbut they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.

21 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans. 23 uFrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can vcome to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 wthey shall carry xthe curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with yits covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26 and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be zunder the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses. 30 uFrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And athis is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall blist by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, cunder the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35 ufrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 dThis was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 39 ufrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting 40 those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41 eThis was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 43 ufrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting 44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 fThis was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 47 ufrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses they were listed, geach one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, has the Lord commanded Moses.


Psalm 38

Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord

A Psalm of David, lfor the memorial offering.

O Lord, mrebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

For your narrows have sunk into me,

and your hand ohas come down on me.

There is pno soundness in my flesh

because of your indignation;

there is no health in my qbones

because of my sin.

For my riniquities have gone over my head;

like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and fester

because of my foolishness,

I am sutterly bowed down and tprostrate;

all the day I ugo about mourning.

For my sides are filled with burning,

and there is pno soundness in my flesh.

I am feeble and crushed;

I vgroan because of the tumult of my heart.

O Lord, all my longing is before you;

my wsighing is not hidden from you.

10  My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

and xthe light of my eyesit also has gone from me.

11  My yfriends and companions zstand aloof from my aplague,

and my nearest kin bstand far off.

12  Those who seek my life clay their snares;

those who seek my hurt dspeak of ruin

and meditate etreachery all day long.

13  But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,

like fa mute man who does not open his mouth.

14  I have become like a man who does not hear,

and in whose mouth are no grebukes.

15  But for hyou, O Lord, do I wait;

it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

16  For I said, Only ilet them not rejoice over me,

who jboast against me when my kfoot slips!

17  For I am lready to fall,

and my pain is ever before me.

18  I mconfess my iniquity;

I am nsorry for my sin.

19  But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,

and many are those who hate me owrongfully.

20  Those who prender me evil for good

qaccuse me because I rfollow after good.

21  Do not forsake me, O Lord!

O my God, be not sfar from me!

22  tMake haste to help me,

O Lord, my usalvation!


Song of Solomon 2

I am a rose1 of Sharon,

ka lily of the valleys.

He

As a lily among brambles,

so is lmy love among the young women.

She

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat nin his shadow,

and his ofruit was sweet to my taste.

He pbrought me to the banqueting house,2

and his qbanner over me was love.

Sustain me with rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

sfor I am sick with love.

His tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand uembraces me!

I vadjure you,3 O wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10  My beloved speaks and says to me:

aArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

11  for behold, the winter is past;

bthe rain is over and gone.

12  cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing4 has come,

and the voice of dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

13  eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

14  O my hdove, in the iclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is klovely.

15  Catch lthe foxes5 for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

ffor our vineyards are in blossom.

16  mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ngrazes6 among the lilies.

17  Until othe day breathes

and pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.7


Hebrews 2

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since athe message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and bevery transgression or disobedience received a just cretribution, dhow shall we escape if we eneglect such a great salvation? It was fdeclared at first by the Lord, and it was gattested to us hby those who heard, gwhile God also bore witness iby signs and wonders and various miracles and by jgifts of the Holy Spirit kdistributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world lto come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

mWhat is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,1

putting everything in subjection under his feet.

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, nwe do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him owho for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, pcrowned with glory and honor qbecause of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might rtaste death sfor everyone.

10 For it twas fitting that he, ufor whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons vto glory, should make the wfounder of their salvation xperfect through suffering. 11 For yhe who sanctifies and zthose who are sanctified aall have one source.2 That is why he is not ashamed to call them bbrothers,3 12 saying,

cI will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the dcongregation I will sing your praise.

13 And again,

eI will put my trust in him.

And again,

fBehold, I and the children gGod has given me.

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he mhelps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had nto be made like his brothers in every respect, oso that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered qwhen tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.