But when the one ¹  who set me apart from birth ²  and called me by his grace was pleased

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ¹  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ²  in his name, as they do to this very day.

The whole allotment will be eight and a quarter miles ¹  square, you must set apart the holy allotment with the possession of the city.

I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord, my only source of well-being.” ¹ 

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.”

you must set apart for yourselves three cities ¹  in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

Also included were the cities set apart for the tribe of Ephraim within Manasseh’s territory, along with their towns. ¹ 

For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, ¹  but ²  he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ¹  in me – and I in him – bears ²  much fruit, ³  because apart from me you can accomplish ⁴  nothing.

You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath ¹  along with it. ²  You must absolutely detest ³  and abhor it, ⁴  for it is an object of divine wrath.

So they selected ¹  Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

And so ¹  you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.

He brought them out of the utter darkness, ¹  and tore off their shackles.

And now, ¹  I will break Assyria’s ²  yoke bar ³  from your neck; ⁴  I will tear apart the shackles ⁵  that are on you.” ⁶ 

Apart from other things, ¹  there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern ²  for all the churches.

But would you like evidence, ¹  you empty fellow, ²  that faith without works is useless? ³ 

You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.

So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. ¹  They also set aside ²  the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

“‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.