Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Those numbered of the Levites were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel, since no inheritance [of land] was given to them among the Israelites.

Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance [of tribal land] with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God has promised him.)

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your [city] gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.

But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your towns; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake. Take heed not to forsake or neglect the Levite [God's minister] as long as you live in your land.

And you shall not forsake or neglect the Levite [God's minister] in your towns, for he has been given no share or inheritance with you. At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite [because he has no part or inheritance with you] and the stranger or temporary resident, and the fatherless and the widow who are in your towns shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

The Levitical priests and all the tribe of Levi shall have no part or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and His rightful dues. They shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them. And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. read more.
The firstfruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first or best of the fleece of your sheep you shall give the priest. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name [and presence] of the Lord, him and his sons forever. And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel where he is a temporary resident, he may come whenever he desires to [the sanctuary] the place the Lord will choose; Then he may minister in the name [and presence of] the Lord his God like all his brethren the Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord. They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what may come of the sale of his patrimony.

It was only to the tribe of Levi that Moses gave no [territory as an] inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He told him.

For Moses had given an inheritance to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but he did not give [any territory as] an inheritance to the Levites among them.

But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

Their dwelling places are according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites, for theirs was the [first] lot -- " To them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding suburbs. But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh. read more.
To the sons of Aaron they gave the city of refuge, Hebron; also Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands. And out of the tribe of Benjamin: Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, with their pasturelands. All their cities according to their families were thirteen. And to the rest of the Kohathites ten cities were given by lot out of the family of the tribe [of Ephraim and of Dan and], of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh. To the Gershomites, according to their families, [were allotted] thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan. To the Merarites were given by lot, according to their families, twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. And the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities with their pasturelands. They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities whose names are mentioned. Some of the families of the Kohathites had cities in the allotted territory out of the tribe of Ephraim. And [the Ephraimites] gave to [the Levites] the city of refuge, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim; also Gezer, [both] with their suburbs and pasturelands; Jokmeam, Beth-horon, Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, with their suburbs and pasturelands; And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Aner and Bileam, for the rest of the families of the sons of Kohath. To the Gershomites were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and Ashtaroth, with their suburbs and pasturelands; Out of the tribe of Issachar, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Kedesh, Daberath, Ramoth, and Anem; Out of the tribe of Asher, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Mashal, Abdon, Hukok, and Rehob; And out of the tribe of Naphtali, with their suburbs and pasturelands: Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim. To the rest of the Merarites were given from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and Tabor, with their suburbs and pasturelands; On the other side of the Jordan, on the east side by Jericho, the Levites were given out of the tribe of Reuben [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Bezer in the wilderness, Jahzah, Kedemoth, and Mephaath; Out of the tribe of Gad [these cities], with their suburbs and pasturelands: Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, Heshbon, and Jazer.

David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send word everywhere to our fellow countrymen who remain in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, so that they may meet with us;

They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the households of the fathers (ancestors) in Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them, even to the [spiritual] shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you kill the fatlings, but you do not feed the sheep. read more.
The diseased and weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the hurt and crippled you have not bandaged, those gone astray you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought to find, but with force and hardhearted harshness you have ruled them. And they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts of the field.


David consulted the captains of thousands and hundreds, even with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, If it seems good to you and if it is of the Lord our God, let us send abroad everywhere to our brethren who are left in all the land of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites in their cities that have suburbs and pasturelands, that they may gather together with us. And let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul. read more.
And all the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing seemed right in the eyes of all the people.