Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 3 ^bfrom thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: ^cthe most holy things. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch ⁿprophets and ⁿteachers, ^oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,¹ Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^qthe Holy Spirit said, ^r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^sfor the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and ^tpraying they laid their hands on them and ^usent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

4 So, being sent out ^vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God ^win the synagogues of the Jews. And they had ^xJohn to ^yassist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain ^zmagician, ^aa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with ^bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the ^zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) ^copposed them, seeking to turn ^dthe proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, ^efilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You ^fson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and ^gvillainy, will you not stop ^hmaking crooked ⁱthe straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, ^jthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking ^kpeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at ^lthe teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^mJohn left them and returned ⁿto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^oon the Sabbath day ^pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After ^qthe reading from ^rthe Law and the Prophets, ^sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^tword of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and ^umotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^vyou who fear God, listen. 17 ^wThe God of this people Israel ^xchose our fathers and ^ymade the people great ^zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about ^bforty years ^che put up with² them in the wilderness. 19 And ^dafter destroying ^eseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ^ghe gave them judges until ^hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ⁱthey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And ^kwhen he had removed him, ^lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ⁿa man after my heart, ^owho will do all my will.’ 23 ^pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel ^qa Savior, Jesus, ^ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, ^sJohn had proclaimed ^ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, ^uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^vwho fear God, to us has been sent ^wthe message of ^xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^ythey did not recognize him nor understand ^zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And ^bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when ^dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ^ethey took him down from ^fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But ^gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days ^hhe appeared to those ⁱwho had come up with him ^jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, ^kwho are now ^lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news ^mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 ⁿthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

36 For David, after he had ^tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ^ufell asleep and ^vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom ^wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^xthat through this man ^yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him ^zeveryone who believes is freed³ from everything ^afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^cdevout ^dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^eto continue in ^fthe grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 ^gBut ^hwhen the Jews⁴ saw the crowds, they were filled with ⁱjealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^jreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^kbe spoken first to you. ^lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^munworthy of eternal life, behold, we ⁿare turning to the Gentiles. 47 ^oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 ^tBut the Jews incited the devout ^uwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^wdrove them out of their district. 51 But they ^xshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ^ywith joy and ^zwith the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

1 Now at Iconium ^athey entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 ^bBut the ^cunbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against ^dthe brothers.⁵ 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for ^ethe Lord, who bore witness to ^fthe word of his grace, ^ggranting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city ^hwere divided; ⁱsome sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, ^jto mistreat them and ^kto stone them, 6 they learned of it and ^lfled to ^mLystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was ⁿcrippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and ^oseeing that he had faith to be made well,⁶ 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he ^psprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ^q“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called ^rZeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of ^rZeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and ^swanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^ttore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, ^uwhy are you doing these things? We also are men, ^vof like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that ^wyou should turn from these ^xvain things to ^ya living God, ^zwho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he ^aallowed all the nations ^bto walk in their own ways. 17 Yet ^che did not leave himself without witness, for he ^ddid good by ^egiving you rains from heaven and ^ffruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with ^gfood and ^hgladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Paul Stoned at Lystra

19 ⁱBut Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, ^jthey stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had ^kmade many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 ^lstrengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them ^mto continue in ⁿthe faith, and saying that ^othrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had ^pappointed ^qelders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting ^rthey committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, ^swhere they had been ^tcommended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, ^uthey declared all that God had done with them, and ^vhow he had ^wopened ^xa door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.

The Jerusalem Council

1 ^yBut some men came down from Judea and were teaching ^zthe brothers, “Unless you are ^acircumcised ^baccording to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and ^cdebate with them, Paul and Barnabas and ^dsome of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to ^ethe apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, ^fbeing sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, ^gdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and ^hbrought great joy to all ⁱthe brothers.⁷ 4 ^jWhen they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and ^kthe apostles and the elders, and ^gthey declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to ^lthe party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ^m“It is necessary ⁿto circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”