But you, as a person dedicated to God, ¹  keep away from all that. ²  Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer ¹  spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I want you to recall ¹  both ²  the predictions ³  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁴ 

Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹  You must never cut his hair, ²  for the child will be dedicated to God ³  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ⁴  of the Philistines.”

He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ²  For the child will be dedicated ³  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Finally he told her his secret. ¹  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ²  for I have been dedicated to God ³  from the time I was conceived. ⁴  If my head ⁵  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes. ¹ 

Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment, ¹  you must wash ²  whatever he spatters it on in a holy place.

He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane ¹  the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord.

but if ¹  he consecrates his field after the jubilee, the priest will calculate the price ²  for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value.

If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it, ¹  he must add to it one fifth of the conversion price ²  and it will belong to him. ³ 

So Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the Israelites did this with the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, this is what the Israelites did with them.

Kore son of Imnah, a Levite and the guard on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God and disbursed the contributions made to the Lord and the consecrated items.

Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. ¹  All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,” says the Lord.’”

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 made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. ¹  Is this not true, you Israelites?” The Lord is speaking!

But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ¹ 

For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” ¹  to eat food offered to idols?

So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, ¹  he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues ¹  of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.