These are the genealogies of Aaron and Moses at the time when Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. These are the names of the descendants of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, the anointed ones whom he consecrated as priests. Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they presented a strange fire before Yahweh in the desert of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priest during the presence of Aaron their father.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring near the tribe of Levi, and set the tribe before Aaron the priest, and they will minister to him. They shall observe his duties and the duties of the entire community before the tent of assembly, to do the work of the tabernacle. And they will keep all the vessels of the tent of assembly and the responsibilities of the Israelites, to do the work of the tabernacle. You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they are surely assigned to him from among the Israelites. But you will count Aaron and his descendants; they will keep their priesthood, and the stranger who approaches will be put to death.”

Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, “I myself receive the Levites from the midst of the Israelites in the place of all the firstborn of the offspring of the womb from the Israelites. The Levites will be mine because all the firstborn are mine; on the day of my killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both humankind and animal; they will be mine. I am Yahweh.”

Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying, “Muster the descendants of Levi according to their families, according to their clans. You will count every male from one month and above.” So Moses mustered them according to the command of Yahweh, just as he commanded. These were the sons of Levi according to their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their clans: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath according to their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The sons of Merari according to their tribes: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their families.

To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these are the clans of the Gershonites. The ones counted according to the number of every male from one month and above were seven thousand five hundred. The clans of the Gershonites will camp behind the tabernacle to the west, and the leader of the family of the Gershonites is Eliasaph son of Lael. And the responsibility of the descendants of Gershon in the tent of assembly is the tabernacle, and the tent covering it and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of the assembly, and the hangings of the courtyard and the curtain of the doorway of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its ten cords, all of its use.

To Kohath belonged the clan of Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites. According to the number of every male from one month and above there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary. The clan of the descendants of Kohath will encamp on the side of the tabernacle to the south. The leader of his family according to the clans of the Kohathites is Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. Their responsibility was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altar, and the vessels of the sanctuary, with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all of its use. The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest who had oversight of those keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary.

To Merari belonged the clan of Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. The ones counted according to the number of every male from one month and above were six thousand two hundred. The leader of the family according to the clans of Merari is Zuriel son of Abihail; they will encamp of the side of the tabernacle to the north. The responsibility of the sons of Merari was the supervision of the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, and all its vessels and all its service, and the pillars around the courtyard, and their bases, pegs, and cords.

Those encamped before the tabernacle to the east—before the tent of assembly to the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons; they will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary for the Israelites; and the stranger who approaches will be put to death. All those counted from the Levites whom Moses and Aaron mustered according to the word of Yahweh, according to their clans, every male from one month and above were twenty-two thousand.

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Muster every firstborn male from the Israelites from one month and above and count their names. And you will receive the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the animals of the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the animals among the Israelites.” So Moses mustered all the firstborn among the Israelites just as Yahweh commanded him. And all the firstborn males among the number of names from one month and above, the ones counted, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Receive the Levites in the place of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the animals of the Levites in the place of their animals; the Levites will be mine. I am Yahweh. And the ransom of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the Israelites who are excessive over the Levites, you will receive five shekels a person, in the sanctuary shekel; you will collect twenty gerahs per shekel. You will give the money to Aaron, and to his sons the ransom of the ones who are excessive among them.” And Moses received the money of the redemption from the ones who were excessive from those redeemed of the Levites. From the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, in the sanctuary shekel. And Moses gave the money of the ransom to Aaron and to his sons according to the word of Yahweh just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from the midst of the descendants of Levi, according to their clans and their families, from thirty years old and above, up to fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service to do the work in the tent of assembly. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of assembly, concerning the holiness of the sanctuary: When setting out the camp, Aaron and his sons will go and lower the curtain of the covering and cover with it the ark of the testimony. They will put on it a covering of fine leather, and they will spread a cloth of perfect blue over it, and they will place its poles. And over the table of the presence they will spread out a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes, and libation bowls, and the pitchers of the libation; and the bread of continuity will be on it. They will spread over it a scarlet cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they will place its poles. They will take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light source, its lamps, a pair of its tongs, its small pans, and all the vessels of its oil with which they attend to it. They will put it and all its vessels inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame. Over the altar of gold they will spread a blue cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of fine leather and place its poles. They will take all the vessels of the cultic service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put them on a blue cloth, and they will cover them with a covering of fine leather; and they will put them on the carrying frame. They will remove the fat-soaked ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it; they will put on it all the vessels with which they serve, the fire pans, forks, shovels, and bowls—all the vessels of the altar. They will spread on it a covering of fine leather; and they will place its poles. And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary when the camp sets out, the descendants of Kohath will come after to carry these, but they must not touch the sanctuary, or they will die. These are the load of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of assembly.

“Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is to supervise the oil of the light source, the incense, the regular grain offering, the oil of anointment, the supervision of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, in the sanctuary and in its vessels.”

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “You must not cut off the tribe of the clan of the Kohathites from the midst of the Levites. Do this to them and they will live and not die when they come near the most holy things. Aaron and his sons will go and appoint them, each one to his task and burden. But they must not go and look for a moment at the holy objects.”

Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the descendants of Gershon also, according to their families and clans, from those twenty years old and above until fifty years old; you will muster them, all who come to help to do the work of the tent of assembly. This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites: to serve and to carry. They will carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of assembly and its covering and the covering of fine leather, which is on top of it, and the curtain of the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the curtains of the courtyard, and the covering for the doorway of the gate of the courtyard, which is all around on the tabernacle and altar, and their cords and all the vessels of their work; and all that is done to them they will do. And all the work of the descendants of the Gershonites will be at the command of Aaron and his sons, for all they are to carry and for all their work, and you will appoint to them responsibility for all they are to carry. This is the work of the clan of the descendants of the Gershonites in the tent of assembly, and their responsibility lies under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

“For the descendants of Merari according to their clans, according to their families, you will muster them; from those thirty years old and above until fifty years old; you will muster them, all who come to do the work of the tent of assembly. And this is the responsibility of those who are to carry, all their work in the tent of assembly: the frames of the tabernacle and its bars, pillars, and bases, and the pillars of the courtyard all around, and their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their vessels and for all their work. You will appoint by name the vessels that they are responsible to carry. This is the work of the clan of the descendants of Merari, for all their work in the tent of assembly under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

And Moses and Aaron mustered the leaders of the community according to the house of their families, from those thirty years old and above until fifty years old; everyone who comes to the service to work in the tent of assembly, the ones counted were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. These were those counted of the clans of the Kohathites, everyone who served in the tent of assembly whom Moses and Aaron mustered according to the command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

And the descendants of Gershon counted according to their clans and according to their families, from those thirty years old and above until fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service to work in the tent of assembly; the ones counted, according to their clans, according to their families, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. These were those counted of the clans of the descendants of Gershon, everyone who serves in the tent of assembly whom Moses and Aaron mustered according to the command of Yahweh.

Those counted of the clans of the descendants of Merari according to their clans, according to their families, from those thirty years old and above until fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service to work in the tent of assembly, the ones counted, according to their clans, were three thousand two hundred. These were those counted of the clans of the descendants of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron mustered according to the command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

All those counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel mustered according to their clans, according to their families, from those thirty years old and above until fifty years old, everyone who comes to the service to do the work of the service carrying in the tent of assembly, the ones counted were eighty thousand five hundred and eighty. According to the command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses they were mustered, each man according to his service and according to their service and according to their burden; and so they were counted by him just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the Israelites: they must send everyone from the camp who is afflicted with a rash, everyone with a fluid discharge, and everyone unclean through contact with a corpse. You will send away both male and female; you will send them outside the camp. They must not make unclean their camps where I am dwelling in their midst.” So the Israelites did so. They sent them away outside the camp; just as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the Israelites.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of humankind by acting unfaithfully, it is a sin against Yahweh, and that person will be guilty; they will confess their sin that they did and will make restitution for their guilt by adding a fifth to it and giving it to whomever was wronged. But if the man does not have a redeemer to make restitution to him for the reparation, the reparation is to be given to Yahweh for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him. And every contribution of all the holy objects of the Israelites that they bring to the priest for him will be his. The holy objects of a man will be for him; whatever he gives to the priest will be for him.'”

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully to him, and a man sleeps with her and ejaculates and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is concealed, although she is defiled, and there is no witness against her and she was not caught, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she is not defiled, he will bring his wife to the priest. And he will bring her offering for her, one-tenth of an ephah of flour. He will not pour oil on it, and he will not put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembering, a reminding of guilt.

“‘Then the priest will bring her near and present her before Yahweh; the priest will take holy waters in a clay vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and the priest will put it into the waters. And the priest will present the woman before Yahweh, and he will uncover the head of the woman; he will then put in her hands the grain offering of the remembering—which is the grain offering of jealousy—and in the hand of the priest will be the waters of bitterness that brings a curse. Then the priest will make her swear an oath, and he will say to the woman, “If a man has not slept with you, and if you have not had an impurity affair under your husband, go unpunished from the waters of bitterness that brings this curse. But if you have had an affair under your husband, and if you are defiled and a man other than your husband had intercourse with you,” the priest will make the woman swear an oath of the sworn oath of the curse, the priest will say to the woman, “May Yahweh give you a curse and a sworn oath in the midst of your people with Yahweh making your hip fall away and your stomach swollen; and these waters that bring a curse will go into your intestines to cause your womb to swell and to make your hip fall away.” And the women will say, “Amen. Amen.”

“‘And the priests will write these curses on the scroll, and he will wipe them off into the waters of the bitterness. He will make the woman drink the waters of the bitterness that brings a curse, and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse will go into her. The priest will take the grain offering of jealousy from the hand of the woman, and he will wave the grain offering before Yahweh, and he will present it to the altar; the priest will grasp her memorial offering from the grain offering, and he will turn it into smoke on the altar, and afterward he will make the woman drink the waters. When he has made her drink the waters, it will come about, if she has defiled herself and acted unfaithfully to her husband and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse go into her and her stomach swells and her hip falls away, the woman will be as a curse in the midst of her people. And if the woman is not defiled, and she is pure, she will go unpunished and be able to conceive children.

“‘This is the regulation of jealousy, when a woman has an affair under her husband and she is defiled, or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he will present the woman before Yahweh,and the priest will do to her all of this law. The man will go unpunished from guilt, and the woman, she will bear her guilt.'”

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, let us run with patient endurance the race that has been set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider the one who endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary in your souls and give up. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood as you struggle against sin. And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons?

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

or give up when you are corrected by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves,

and punishes every son whom he accepts.”

Endure it for discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, in which all legitimate sons have become participants, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had our earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Will we not much rather subject ourselves to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a few days according to what seemed appropriate to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we can have a share in his holiness. Now all discipline seems for the moment not to be joyful but painful, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it.

Therefore strengthen your slackened hands and your weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Take care that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no one growing up like a root of bitterness causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one be a sexually immoral or totally worldly person like Esau, who for one meal traded his own birthright. For you know that also afterwards, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he did not find an occasion for repentance, although he sought it with tears.

For you have not come to something that can be touched, and to a burning fire, and to darkness, and to gloom, and to a whirlwind, and to the noise of a trumpet, and to the sound of words which those who heard begged that not another word be spoken to them. For they could not endure what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” And the spectacle was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better than Abel’s does.

Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, much less will we escape, if we reject the one who warns from heaven, whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying,

“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”

Now the phrase “yet once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence. For indeed our God is a consuming fire.

Until next time, keep meditating on the word of God.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.