1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.’”
3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 This is how the lampstand was made: It was beaten work in gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them. 7 And do this to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification on them; then have them shave all their body and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves. 8 Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take a second young bull for a purification offering. 9 You are to bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire community of the Israelites. 10 Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites; 11 and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work of the Lord. 12 When the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them as a wave offering to the Lord. 14 And so you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
15 “After this, the Levites will go in to do the work of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering. 16 For they are entirely given to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites. 17 For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself. 18 So I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons among the Israelites. 19 I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary.”
20 So Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the Israelites did this with the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, this is what the Israelites did with them. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them. 22 After this, the Levites went in to do their work in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did.
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: At the age of twenty-five years and upward one may begin to join the company in the work of the tent of meeting, 25 and at the age of fifty years they must retire from performing the work and may no longer work. 26 They may assist their colleagues in the tent of meeting to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish the Levites regarding their duties.”
1 O God, we have clearly heard;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in ancient times.
2 You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;
you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.
3 For they did not conquer the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength,
but rather by your power, strength, and good favor,
for you were partial to them.
4 You are my king, O God.
Decree Jacob’s deliverance.
5 By your power we will drive back our enemies;
by your strength we will trample down our foes.
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
7 For you deliver us from our enemies;
you humiliate those who hate us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
9 But you rejected and embarrassed us.
You did not go into battle with our armies.
10 You made us retreat from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.
11 You handed us over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for a pittance;
you did not ask a high price for them.
13 You made us an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.
14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt.
15 All day long I feel humiliated
and am overwhelmed with shame,
16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me.
17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you
or violated your covenant with us.
18 We have not been unfaithful,
nor have we disobeyed your commands.
19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;
you have covered us with darkness.
20 If we had rejected our God,
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,
21 would not God discover it,
for he knows a person’s secret thoughts?
22 Yet because of you we are killed all day long;
we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block.
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up! Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you look the other way,
and ignore the way we are oppressed and mistreated?
25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground.
26 Rise up and help us.
Rescue us because of your loyal love.
1 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned?
Tell us, that we may seek him with you.
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the flowerbeds of balsam spices,
to graze in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;
he grazes among the lilies.
4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as bannered armies.
5 Turn your eyes away from me—
they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing;
each has its twin;
not one of them is missing.
7 Like a slice of pomegranate
is your forehead behind your veil.
8 There may be sixty queens,
and eighty concubines,
and young women without number.
9 But she is unique,
my dove, my perfect one!
She is the special daughter of her mother;
she is the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and complimented her;
the queens and concubines praised her:
10 “Who is this who appears like the dawn?
Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?”
11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees,
to look for the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or if the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I was beside myself with joy!
There please give me your myrrh,
O daughter of my princely people.
13 (7:1) Turn, turn, O Perfect One!
Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!
Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One
like the dance of the Mahanaim?
1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this is what we intend to do, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned. 9 But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. 11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.
13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” 15 And so by persevering, Abraham inherited the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. 17 In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, 18 so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
