Study Desk

The Levites had the job of helping Aaron's descendants in the service of the Lord 's Temple. They also cared for the Temple courtyard and the side rooms in the Temple. And they made sure all the holy things were kept pure. It was their job to serve in God's Temple.

Solomon, you must understand that the Lord has chosen you to build his holy place—the Temple. Be strong and finish the job."

Then Jehoiada chose the priests to be responsible for the Lord 's Temple. The priests were Levites, and David had given them the job of being responsible for the Lord 's Temple. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord the way the Law of Moses commanded. They offered the sacrifices with much joy and singing the way David commanded.

They told Uzziah he was wrong. They said to him, "Uzziah, it is not your job to burn incense to the Lord . It is not right. That is for the priests, Aaron's descendants, to do. They are the only ones who have been prepared for the holy work of burning incense. You have not been faithful, so you must go out of the Most Holy Place. The Lord God will not honor you for this."

The priests and Levites had been divided into groups, and each group had its own special job to do. So King Hezekiah told these groups to begin doing their jobs again. So the priests and Levites again had the job of offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings. And they had the job of serving in the Temple and singing and praising God by the doors to the Lord 's house.

Hilkiah and the king's servants went to the newer part of Jerusalem to see Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, whose father was Hasrah. Shallum had the job of taking care of the king's clothes. Hilkiah and the king's servants told Huldah what had happened.

Then I spoke to the leading families, the officials, and the rest of the people. I said, "This is a very big job and we are spread out along the wall. We are far from one another.

There was a man named Job who lived in the country of Uz. He was a good, honest man. He respected God and refused to do evil.

Job had seven sons and three daughters.

The day after each of these parties, Job got up early in the morning, sent for his children, and offered a burnt offering for each of them. He thought, "Maybe my children were careless and sinned against God at their party." Job always did this so that his children would be forgiven of their sins.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects God and refuses to do evil."

Satan answered the Lord , "But Job has a good reason to respect you.

The Lord said to Satan, "All right, do whatever you want with anything that he has, but don't hurt Job himself." Then Satan left the meeting.

A messenger came to Job and said, "We were plowing the fields with the oxen and the donkeys were eating grass nearby,

When Job heard this, he got up, tore his clothes, and shaved his head to show his sadness. Then he fell to the ground to bow down before God

Even after all this, Job did not sin. He did not accuse God of doing anything wrong.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects God and refuses to do evil. He is still faithful, even though you asked me to let you destroy, without reason, everything he has."

So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, Job is in your hands, but you are not allowed to kill him."

So Satan left the meeting with the Lord and gave Job painful sores all over his body, from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.

Job sat on the pile of ashes where he was mourning and used a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores.