The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went.

So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.

They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.

They must join ¹  with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person ²  may approach you.

I myself have chosen ¹  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²  of the tent of meeting.

See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform – the service of the tent of meeting.

And you may ¹  eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting.

Eleazar the priest is to take ¹  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ²  directly in front of the tent of meeting.

So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders ¹  of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial ²  for the Israelites before the Lord.

Now Eli was very old when he heard about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel ¹  and how they used to have sex with ²  the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, ¹  and all the holy items in the tent. ² 

They performed music ¹  before the sanctuary ²  of the meeting tent until Solomon built the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. ³  They carried out their tasks according to regulations.

They were in charge of the meeting tent and the holy place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple. ¹ 

Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord which was at the meeting tent, and he offered up a thousand burnt sacrifices.

Solomon left the meeting tent at the worship center in Gibeon and went to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel. ¹ 

The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people, ¹  and all the holy items in the tent. ² 

(Wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy items of the Lord’s temple in their worship of the Baals.)

The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the Lord, ¹ 

Yes, ¹  wild dogs surround me – a gang of evil men crowd around me; like a lion they pin my hands and feet. ² 

Do not hand the life of your dove ¹  over to a wild animal! Do not continue to disregard ²  the lives of your oppressed people!