At the commandment of the Lord they camped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled on; they kept the instructions of the Lord according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority ¹  of Moses.

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.

You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites ¹  this entire time, ²  right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God. ³ 

Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever ¹  seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”

He ordered them, “This is what you must do. One third of the unit that is on duty during the Sabbath will guard the royal palace.

The two units who are off duty on the Sabbath will guard the Lord’s temple and protect the king. ¹ 

From Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, ¹  there were 3,000, most of whom, up to that time, had been loyal to Saul. ² 

and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok, from the descendants of Levi, who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”

But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, ¹  and his sons. They were responsible for the needs ²  of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ¹  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

From the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Then David went to his palace ¹  in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. ²  Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. ³  They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.

Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you ¹  by following his instructions ²  and obeying ³  his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, ⁴ 

They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly ¹  we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him.

No one must enter the Lord’s temple except the priests and Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially pure. All the others should carry out their assigned service to the Lord.

“‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok ¹  who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord.