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1 Chronicles 23 2
He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. (niv)
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Numbers 3:1-4
This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.Those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests.Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron. (niv)
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Numbers 18:1-32
The Lord said to Aaron,“ You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the tent of the covenant law.They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die.They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting— all the work at the tent— and no one else may come near where you are.“ You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting.But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”Then the Lord said to Aaron,“ I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion, your perpetual share.You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.“ This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.“ I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest.All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.“ Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours.The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.“ But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Splash their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours.Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”The Lord said to Aaron,“ You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.“ I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites.Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them:‘ They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’”The Lord said to Moses,“ Speak to the Levites and say to them:‘ When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering.Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest.You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’“ Say to the Levites:‘ When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting.By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.’” (niv)
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Numbers 8:5-26
The Lord said to Moses:“ Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. And so they will purify themselves.Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community.You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord.“ Then the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, using one for a sin offering to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering to the Lord.In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.“ After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman.Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement for them to purify them.After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.The Lord said to Moses,“ This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.” (niv)
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1 Chronicles 25 1-1 Chronicles 25 26
David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service:From the sons of Asaph: Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision.As for Jeduthun, from his sons: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah, six in all, under the supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied, using the harp in thanking and praising the Lord.As for Heman, from his sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth.( All these were sons of Heman the king’s seer. They were given him through the promises of God to exalt him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.)All these men were under the supervision of their father for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.Along with their relatives— all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord— they numbered 288.Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties.The first lot, which was for Asaph, fell to Joseph, his sons and relatives 12 the second to Gedaliah, him and his relatives and sons 12the third to Zakkur, his sons and relatives 12the fourth to Izri, his sons and relatives 12the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and relatives 12the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and relatives 12the seventh to Jesarelah, his sons and relatives 12the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and relatives 12the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and relatives 12the tenth to Shimei, his sons and relatives 12the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and relatives 12the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and relatives 12the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons and relatives 12the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons and relatives 12the fifteenth to Jerimoth, his sons and relatives 12the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and relatives 12the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons and relatives 12the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons and relatives 12the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons and relatives 12 (niv)
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Numbers 16:9-10
Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. (niv)
