Study Desk

"You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons [as servants and helpers]; they are to be given wholly to him from among the Israelites.

"So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall observe and attend to their priesthood; but the layman (non-Levite) who approaches [the holy things] shall be put to death."

Now those to camp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were to be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for whatever was required of the Israelites; and the layman (non-Levite) who approached [the sanctuary] was to be put to death.

and give the money, the ransom (redemption price) of those who outnumber the Levites to Aaron and to his sons."

Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and to his sons at the command of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

"When the camp prepares to move out, Aaron and his sons shall come into the sanctuary and take down the veil (curtain) screening off the Holy of Holies, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;

"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furniture, as the camp sets out, after all that [is done, but not before], the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them [using the poles], so that they do not touch the holy things, and die. These are the things in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

"But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march].

"Aaron and his sons shall direct all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all they have to carry and all they have to do. You shall assign to them as a duty all that they are to carry [on the march].

According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses, they were numbered, each assigned to his work of serving and carrying. Thus they were numbered by him, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

then he shall confess the sin which he has committed, and he shall make restitution for his wrong in full, and add a fifth to it, and give it to [the person] whom he has wronged.

'Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the Israelites which they offer to the priest, shall be his.

'And every man's holy gifts shall be the priest's; whatever any man gives the priest, it becomes his.'"

and if a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous and angry at his wife who has defiled herself—or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself—

then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring as an offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it [the symbols of favor and joy], because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a memorial grain offering, a reminder of [the consequences of] wickedness.

or when a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy and suspicion comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply this law to her.

'All the time of his separation he shall not eat anything produced from the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

'All the time of the vow of his separation no razor shall be used on his head. Until the time of his separation to the LORD is completed, he shall be holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow long.

'He shall not make himself [ceremonially] unclean for his father, mother, brother, or sister, when they die, because [the responsibility for] his separation to God is on his head.

'All the time of his separation he is holy to the LORD.