Thematic Bible: The time of moses


Thematic Bible



And he gave the divisions of the priests their places for their work, as ordered by his father David, and to the Levites he gave their work of praise and waiting on the priests, to do what was needed day by day; and he gave the door-keepers their places in turn at every door; for so David, the man of God, had given orders.

So I made them clean from all strange people, and had regular watches fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;

Now the divisions into which the sons of Aaron were grouped were these: the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu came to their end before their father, and had no children; so Eleazar and Ithamar did the work of priests. And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, made distribution of them into their positions for their work. read more.
And there were more chiefs among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar; and this is how they were grouped: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, all heads of families; and of the sons of Ithamar, heads of families, there were eight. So they were put into groups, by the Lord's decision, one with another; for there were rulers of the holy place and rulers of the house of God among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. And Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was a Levite, put down their names in writing, the king being present with the rulers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites; one family being taken for Eleazar and then one for Ithamar, and so on. Now the first name to come out was that of Jehoiarib; the second Jedaiah, The third Harim, the fourth Seorim, The fifth Malchijah, the sixth Mijamin, The seventh Hakkoz, the eighth Abijah, The ninth Jeshua, the tenth Shecaniah, The eleventh Eliashib, the twelfth Jakim, The thirteenth Huppah, the fourteenth Jeshebeab, The fifteenth Bilgah, the sixteenth Immer, The seventeenth Hezir, the eighteenth Happizzez, The nineteenth Pethahiah, the twentieth Jehezkel, The twenty-first Jachin, the twenty-second Gamul, The twenty-third Delaiah, the twenty-fourth Maaziah. So they were put into their different groups, to take their places in the house of the Lord, in agreement with the rules made by Aaron their father, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had given him orders.

The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two. The children of Pashhur, a thousand, two hundred and forty-seven. read more.
The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

And for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work in connection with the worship of the house of the Lord, and all the vessels used in the house of the Lord;

And see, there are the divisions of the priests and Levites for all the work of the house of God; and every trained and expert workman will be ready to do for you whatever is needed; and the captains and the people will be under your orders in everything.

Then Hezekiah put in order the divisions of the priests and Levites, every man in his division, in relation to his work, for the burned offerings and peace-offerings, and for the ordering of worship and for giving praise at the doors of the Lord's house.

And make yourselves ready in your divisions, by your families, as it is ordered in the writings of David, king of Israel, and of Solomon his son; And take your positions in the holy place, grouped in the families of your brothers, the children of the people, and for every division let there be a part of a family of the Levites.


(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

This is what you are to do to make them holy, to do the work of priests to me: Take one young ox and two male sheep, without any mark on them, And unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and thin unleavened cakes on which oil has been put, made of the best bread-meal; Put these in a basket and take them, with the ox and the two sheep. read more.
And let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting, and there let them be washed with water. Take the robes, and put the coat and the dress and the ephod and the priest's bag on Aaron; put the band of needlework round him, And let the head-dress be placed on his head and the holy crown on the head-dress. Then take the oil and put it on his head. And take his sons and put their robes on them; And put the linen bands round Aaron and his sons, and the head-dresses on them, to make them priests by my order for ever: so you are to make Aaron and his sons holy to me.

Then take the other sheep; and after Aaron and his sons have put their hands on its head, You are to put the sheep to death, and take some of its blood and put it on the point of Aaron's right ear, and of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and the great toes of their right feet, dropping the rest of the blood on the sides of the altar. Then take some of the blood on the altar, and the oil, and put it on Aaron and his robes and on his sons and on their robes, so that he and his robes and his sons and their robes may be made holy. read more.
Then take the fat of the sheep, the fat tail, the fat covering the insides, and the fat joining the liver and the two kidneys with the fat round them, and the right leg; for by the offering of this sheep they are to be marked out as priests: And take one bit of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one thin cake out of the basket of unleavened bread which is before the Lord: And put them all on the hands of Aaron and of his sons, to be waved for a wave offering before the Lord. Then take them from their hands, and let them be burned on the burned offering on the altar, a sweet smell before the Lord, an offering made by fire to the Lord. Then take the breast of Aaron's sheep, waving it before the Lord; and it is to be your part of the offering. So you are to make holy the breast of the sheep which is waved and the leg which is lifted up on high, that is, of the sheep which is offered for Aaron and his sons; And it will be their part as a right for ever from the children of Israel, it is a special offering from the children of Israel, made from their peace-offerings, a special offering lifted up to the Lord. And Aaron's holy robes will be used by his sons after him; they will put them on when they are made priests. For seven days the son who becomes priest in his place will put them on when he comes into the Tent of meeting to do the work of the holy place. Then take the sheep of the wave offering and let its flesh be cooked in water in a holy place. And let Aaron and his sons make a meal of it, with the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tent of meeting. All those things which were used as offerings to take away sin, and to make them holy to be priests, they may have for food: but no one who is not a priest may have them, for they are holy food. And if any of the flesh of the offering or of the bread is over till the morning, let it be burned with fire; it is not to be used for food, for it is holy. All these things you are to do to Aaron and his sons as I have given you orders: for seven days the work of making them priests is to go on.

Then let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting; and after washing them with water, You are to put on Aaron the holy robes; and you are to put oil on him, and make him holy, so that he may be my priest. And take his sons with him and put coats on them; read more.
And put oil on them as you did on their father, so that they may be my priests: the putting on of oil will make them priests for ever, from generation to generation. And Moses did this; as the Lord gave him orders, so he did.

This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to make to the Lord on the day when he is made a priest: the tenth part of an ephah of the best meal for a meal offering for ever; half of it in the morning and half in the evening. Let it be made with oil on a flat plate; when it is well mixed and cooked, let it be broken and taken in as a meal offering, for a sweet smell to the Lord. And the same offering is to be given by that one of his sons who takes his place as priest; by an order for ever, all of it is to be burned before the Lord. read more.
Every meal offering offered for the priest is to be completely burned: nothing of it is to be taken for food.

Then Moses took Aaron and his sons; and after washing them with water, He put the coat on him, making it tight with its band, and then the robe, and over it the ephod, with its band of needlework to keep it in place. And he put the priest's bag on him, and in the bag he put the Urim and Thummim. read more.
And on his head he put the head-dress, and in front of the head-dress the plate of gold, the holy crown, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And Moses took the holy oil and put it on the House and on all the things in it, to make them holy. Seven times he put oil on the altar and on all its vessels, and on the washing-basin and its base, to make them holy. And some of the oil he put on Aaron's head, to make him holy. Then he took Aaron's sons, clothing them with the coats, and putting the bands round them, and the head-dresses on their heads, as the Lord had given him orders. And he took the ox of the sin-offering: and Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the ox, And he put it to death; and Moses took the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and round it with his finger, and made the altar clean, draining out the blood at the base of the altar; so he made it holy, taking away what was unclean. And he took all the fat on the inside parts, and the fat on the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, to be burned on the altar; But the ox, with its skin and its flesh and its waste, was burned with fire outside the tent-circle, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And he put the male sheep of the burned offering before the Lord, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head, And he put it to death; and Moses put some of the blood on and round the altar. And when the sheep had been cut into parts, the head and the parts and the fat were burned by Moses. And the inside parts and the legs were washed with water and all the sheep was burned by Moses on the altar; it was a burned offering for a sweet smell: it was an offering made by fire to the Lord, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And he put the other sheep before the Lord, the sheep with which they were made priests; and Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the sheep, And he put it to death; and Moses took some of the blood and put it on the point of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot. Then he took Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the point of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet: and Moses put the blood on and round the altar. And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat on the inside parts, and the fat on the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right leg; And out of the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of bread with oil on it, and one thin cake, and put them on the fat and on the right leg: And he put them all on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, waving them for a wave offering before the Lord. And Moses took them from their hands, and they were burned on the altar on the burned offering, as a priest's offering for a sweet smell, an offering made by fire to the Lord. And Moses took the breast, waving it for a wave offering before the Lord; it was Moses' part of the sheep of the priest's offering, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. And Moses took some of the holy oil and of the blood which was on the altar and put it on Aaron and on his robes, and on his sons and on his sons' robes; and made Aaron holy, and his robes and his sons and his sons' robes with him. And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, The flesh is to be cooked in water at the door of the Tent of meeting, and there you are to take it as food, together with the bread in the basket, as I have given orders, saying, It is the food of Aaron and his sons. And that which is over of the flesh and of the bread is to be burned with fire. And you are not to go out from the door of the Tent of meeting for seven days, till the days for making you priest are ended; for this will be the work of seven days. What has been done this day, has been ordered by the Lord to take away your sin. And you are to keep watch for the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting day and night for seven days, so that death may not come to you: for so he has given me orders.


Then he took Aaron's sons, clothing them with the coats, and putting the bands round them, and the head-dresses on their heads, as the Lord had given him orders.

And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour. Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest. This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me. read more.
They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer. It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together. And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work. You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut: Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth. With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them. And you are to make twisted frames of gold; And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames. And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen. It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide. And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp. And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag. And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag. Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag; Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms. Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod. And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band: So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod. And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord. And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times. The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue; With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open. And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between; A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe. Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death. You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD. Put a blue cord on it and put it on the front of the twisted head-dress: And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord. The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework. And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour. These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me. And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee; Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.

And from the needlework of blue and purple and red they made the robes used for the work of the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. The ephod he made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen; Hammering the gold into thin plates and cutting it into wires to be worked into the blue and the purple and the red and the linen by the designer. read more.
And they made two bands for joining its edges together at the top of the arms. And the beautifully worked band which went on it was of the same design and the same material, worked in gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. Then they made the beryl stones, fixed in twisted frames of gold and cut like the cutting of a stamp, with the names of the children of Israel. These he put on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel, as the Lord had said to Moses. The priest's bag was designed like the ephod, of the best linen worked with gold and blue and purple and red. It was square and folded in two, as long and as wide as the stretch of a man's hand; And on it they put four lines of stones: in the first line was a carnelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; In the second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; In the third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; In the fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they were fixed in twisted frames of gold. There were twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel; on every one the name of one of the tribes of Israel was cut, like the cutting of a stamp. And on the bag they put gold chains, twisted like cords. And they made two gold frames and two gold rings, the rings being fixed to the ends of the priest's bag; And they put the two twisted chains on the two rings at the ends of the priest's bag; And the other two ends of the chains were joined to the two frames and fixed to the front of the ephod over the arm-holes. And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two lower ends of the bag, on the inner side nearest to the ephod. And two other gold rings were put on the front of the ephod, over the arm-holes, at the join, and over the worked band. And the rings on the bag were fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord, keeping it in place over the band, so that the bag might not get loose, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. The robe which went with the ephod was made all of blue; With a hole at the top in the middle, like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, edged with a band to make it strong. The skirts of the robe were worked all round with fruits in blue and purple and red made of twisted linen. And between the fruits all round the skirt they put gold bells, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. All round the skirt of the robe were bells and fruits in turn. The coats for Aaron and his sons they made of the best linen; And the twisted head-dress for Aaron, and beautiful head-dresses of linen, and linen trousers, And a linen band worked with a design of blue and purple and red, as the Lord had said to Moses.

And the priest is to put on his linen robes and his linen trousers, and take up what is over of the offering after it has been burned on the altar, and put it by the side of the altar. Then having taken off his linen robes and put on other clothing, he is to take it away into a clean place, outside the tent-circle.

And when they come in by the doorways of the inner square, they are to be clothed in linen robes; there is to be no wool on them while they are doing my work in the doorway of the inner square and inside the house. They are to have linen head-dresses on their heads and linen trousers on their legs, and they are to have nothing round them to make their skin wet with heat. And when they go out into the outer square to the people, they are to take off the robes in which they do the work of priests, and put them away in the holy rooms, and put on other clothing, so that the people may not be made holy by their robes.


And put the linen bands round Aaron and his sons, and the head-dresses on them, to make them priests by my order for ever: so you are to make Aaron and his sons holy to me.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever.


And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.

I will make holy the Tent of meeting and the altar: and Aaron and his sons I will make holy, to be my priests

Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons. And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour. Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest. read more.
This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me.


And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God.


And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.


And put the linen bands round Aaron and his sons, and the head-dresses on them, to make them priests by my order for ever: so you are to make Aaron and his sons holy to me.

Let Aaron and his sons put this in order, evening and morning, before the Lord, inside the Tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the ark; this is to be an order for ever, from generation to generation, to be kept by the children of Israel.

Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.


And after bathing his body in water in a holy place, he is to put on his clothing and come out and give his burned offering and the burned offering of the people, to take away his sin and the sin of the people.

And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself, to make himself and his house free from sin.

And on the day when he goes into the inner square, to do the work of the holy place, he is to make his sin-offering, says the Lord.


And after bathing his body in water in a holy place, he is to put on his clothing and come out and give his burned offering and the burned offering of the people, to take away his sin and the sin of the people.

And between the altar and the Tent of meeting he put the vessel with water in it for washing. In it the hands and feet of Moses and Aaron and his sons were washed, Whenever they went into the Tent of meeting, and when they came near the altar, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.


They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God. And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy. And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with fire. read more.
And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow. He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother; He may not go out of the holy place or make the holy place of his God common; for the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man. A widow, or one whose husband has put her away, or a common woman of loose behaviour, may not be the wife of a priest; but let him take a virgin from among his people. And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.

And they are not to take as wives any widow or woman whose husband has put her away: but they may take virgins of the seed of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.


So then, let them keep what I have put into their care, for fear that sin may come on them because of it, so causing their death because they have made it common: I am the Lord, who make them holy.

Let them be holy to their God and not make the name of their God common; for the fire offerings of the Lord and the bread of their God are offered by them, and they are to be holy. They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God.

So causing sin to come on them when they take their holy things for food: I am the Lord who make them holy.


And he made places for worship at the high places, and made priests, who were not Levites, from among all the people.

After this Jeroboam, not turning back from his evil ways, still made priests for his altars from among all the people; he made a priest of anyone desiring it, so that there might be priests of the high places.


When the priests go in, they may not go out of the holy place into the outer square, and there they are to put the robes in which they do the work of the Lord's house, for they are holy: and they have to put on other clothing before they come near that which has to do with the people.

And when they go out into the outer square to the people, they are to take off the robes in which they do the work of priests, and put them away in the holy rooms, and put on other clothing, so that the people may not be made holy by their robes.


And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men; And Zadok, a young man, great and strong in war, with twenty-two captains from his father's people.


And he said to me, This room, facing south, is for the priests who have the care of the house. And the room facing north is for the priests who have the care of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who, from among the sons of Levi, come near to the Lord to do the work of his house.


They are not to come near any dead person so as to become unclean: but for a father or mother or son or daughter or brother or for a sister who has no husband, they may make themselves unclean. And after he has been made clean, seven days are to be numbered for him.


Say to Aaron, If a man of your family, in any generation, is damaged in body, let him not come near to make the offering of the bread of his God. For any man whose body is damaged may not come near: one who is blind, or has not the use of his legs, or one who has a broken nose or any unnatural growth, Or a man with broken feet or hands, read more.
Or one whose back is bent, or one who is unnaturally small, or one who has a damaged eye, or whose skin is diseased, or whose sex parts are damaged; No man of the offspring of Aaron whose body is damaged in any way may come near to give the fire offerings of the Lord: he is damaged, he may not come near to make the offerings. He may take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy; But he may not go inside the veil or come near the altar, because he is damaged; and he may not make my holy places common; for I the Lord have made them holy.


Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God, And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.

And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.


They are not to have all the hair cut off their heads, and they are not to let their hair get long, but they are to have the ends of their hair cut.


In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain