God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. Ps. 47:8
Numbers 2-3
Numbers 2
Order of the Camps
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “The Israelites shall encamp, each man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall encamp around the Tent of Meeting, far off from it.”
3 Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 4 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 74,600.
5 Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar. The leader of the descendants of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar. 6 His division, and those who were counted of it, were 54,400.
7 The tribe of Zebulun: the leader of the descendants of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon. 8 His division, and those who were counted of it, were 57,400.
9 All who were counted of the camp of Judah were 186,400, according to their divisions. They shall set out first.
10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11 His division, and those who were counted of it, were 46,500.
12 Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the descendants of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 59,300.
14 The tribe of Gad: the leader of the descendants of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 15 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 45,650.
16 All who were counted of the camp of Reuben were 151,450, according to their armies. They shall set out second.
17 Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards.
18 On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 40,500.
20 Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the descendants of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 32,200.
22 The tribe of Benjamin: the leader of the descendants of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 His army, and those who were counted of them, were 35,400.
24 All who were counted of the camp of Ephraim were 108,100, according to their divisions. They shall set out third.
25 On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 62,700.
27 Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the descendants of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran. 28 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 41,500.
29 The tribe of Naphtali: the leader of the descendants of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 30 His division, and those who were counted of them, were 53,400.
31 All who were counted of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last by their standards.”
32 These are the Israelites who were counted by their ancestral families. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not counted among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.
34 Thus the Israelites did. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.
Numbers 3
The Sons of Aaron
1 Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4 Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
Duties of the Levites
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep his requirements and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and the obligations of the Israelites, to do the service of the tabernacle.
9 You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on behalf of the Israelites. 10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
Registration of the Levites
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made all the firstborn in Israel holy to me, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am the Lord.”
14 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “Count the descendants of Levi by their ancestral houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and up.”
16 Moses counted them according to the Lord’s word, as he was commanded.
17 These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
18 These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
19 The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20 The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites according to their ancestral houses.
The Gershonites
21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
22 Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and up, the ones who were counted were 7,500.
23 The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle to the west.
24 Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the leader of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. 25 The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.
The Kohathites
27 Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males from a month old and up, there were 8,600 keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.
29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. 32 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be leader of the leaders of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.
The Merarites
33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. 34 Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and up, were 6,200.
35 The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, 37 the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords.
Moses and Aaron
38 Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the Israelites. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 39 All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
Firstborn Sons Redeemed
40 The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and up, and take the number of their names. 41 You shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the Israelites.”
42 Moses counted, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the Israelites. 43 All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and up, of those who were counted of them, were 22,273.
44 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock, and the Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord. 46 For the redemption of the 273 of the firstborn of the Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels apiece for each one. According to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs), 48 and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”
49 Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money, 1,365 according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of God, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Mark 12:1-27
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
1 Jesus began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2 When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty.
4 Again, he sent another servant to them, and they threw stones at him, wounded his head, and sent him away shamefully treated.
5 Again he sent another, and they killed him and many others, beating some, and killing some.
6 Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 What therefore will the master of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
11 This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes’?” a
12 They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
13 They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 14 When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give?”
But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.”
16 They brought it.
He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”
They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
17 Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
They marveled greatly at him.
Sadducees Question the Resurrection
18 Some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to him. They asked him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind, and no descendants, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 20 There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying, left no offspring. 21 The second took her, and died, leaving no descendants behind. The third likewise; 22 and the seven took her and left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.”
24 Jesus answered them, “Is this not the reason you err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But about the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.
Psalm 47
It is Good to Sing Praises to Our God
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
1 Oh clap your hands, all you nations.
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is a great King over all the earth.
3 He subdues nations under us,
and peoples under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom he loved.
Selah.
5 God has gone up with a shout,
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of the peoples are gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is greatly exalted!
Proverbs 10:24-25
24 What the wicked fear, will overtake them,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more;
but the righteous stand firm forever.