1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 3 from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who can enter the service of ministry to do work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.
5 “When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it; 6 and they shall place a covering of fine leather on it, and spread over it a cloth of pure violet, and insert its carrying poles. 7 Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of violet and put on it the dishes, the pans, the sacrificial bowls, and the jugs for the drink offering; and the continual bread shall be on it. 8 And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles. 9 Then they shall take a violet cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its oil containers, by which they attend to it; 10 and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying bars. 11 Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles; 12 and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a violet cloth and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying bars. 13 Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks, shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of fine leather over it and insert its carrying poles. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 “Now the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 “Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites. 19 Rather, do this for them so that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; 20 but they shall not come in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”
21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; 23 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall count them: all who can enter to perform service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 and the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes and all the equipment for their service; and everything that is to be done by them, they shall perform. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, that is, all their loads and all their work, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; 30 from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, you shall count them, everyone who can enter the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31 Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, 32 and the pillars around the courtyard and their bases, their pegs, and their ropes, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign by names of the men the items that each is to carry. 33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”
34 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, 35 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting. 36 Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. 37 These were the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.
38 And the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, 39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 40 their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. 41 These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord.
42 And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, 43 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 44 their numbered men by their families were 3,200. 45 These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.
46 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ households, 47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting— 48 their numbered men were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses, they were counted, everyone by his serving or carrying; so these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me,
And Your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no healthy part in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my guilty deeds have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester
Because of my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down;
I go in mourning all day long.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
And there is no healthy part in my flesh.
8 I feel faint and badly crushed;
I groan because of the agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen stand far away.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me;
And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction,
And they plot deception all day long.
13 But I, like a person who is deaf, do not hear;
And I am like a person who cannot speak, who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For I wait for You, Lord;
You will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, would exalt themselves over me.”
17 For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I admit my guilt;
I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and strong,
And those who wrongfully hate me are many.
20 And those who repay evil for good,
They become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, do not be far from me!
22 Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation!
1 “I am the rose of Sharon,
The lily of the valleys.”
2 “Like a lily among the thorns,
So is my darling among the young women.”
3 “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He has brought me to his banquet hall,
And his banner over me is love.
5 Refresh me with raisin cakes,
Sustain me with apples,
Because I am lovesick.
6 His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.”
7 “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you will not disturb or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
8 “Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping on the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 The blossoms have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 The fig tree has ripened its fruit,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
14 “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the hiding place of the mountain pathway,
Let me see how you look,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is pleasant,
And you look delightful.”
15 “Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”
1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every violation and act of disobedience received a just punishment, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, saying,
“What is man, that You think of him?
Or a son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7 You have made him for a little while lower than angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor;
8 You have put everything in subjection under his feet.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the originator of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying,
“I will proclaim Your name to My brothers,
In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.”
13 And again,
“I will put My trust in Him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
