1 Chronicles 13:2

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.

⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things. ⁵When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it, ⁶put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

⁷“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. ⁸They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

⁹“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. ¹⁰They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

¹¹“On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

¹²“They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

¹³“They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. ¹⁴They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸“Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹but do this to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; ²⁰but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

¹⁵but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.”

⁷When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁷They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate, ⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

²the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but God’s ark dwells within curtains.”

³Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴That same night, the LORD’s word came to Nathan, saying, ⁵“Go and tell my servant David, ‘The LORD says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?

²²Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.

⁴Moreover he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the LORD’s law. ⁵As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly. ⁶The children of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.

⁷In the third month, they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. ⁹Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, “Since people began to bring the offerings into the LORD’s house, we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.”

¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the LORD’s house, and they prepared them. ¹²They brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things faithfully. Conaniah the Levite was ruler over them, and Shimei his brother was second. ¹³Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ruler of God’s house. ¹⁴Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east gate, was over the free will offerings of God, to distribute the LORD’s offerings and the most holy things. ¹⁵Under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, to the great as well as to the small; ¹⁶in addition to those who were listed by genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even everyone who entered into the LORD’s house, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their offices according to their divisions; ¹⁷and those who were listed by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their offices by their divisions; ¹⁸and those who were listed by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation; for in their office of trust they sanctified themselves in holiness. ¹⁹Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in the fields of the pasture lands of their cities, in every city, there were men who were mentioned by name to give portions to all the males among the priests and to all who were listed by genealogy among the Levites.

²⁰Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

²“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites. ³They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.

⁴“The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits^[+] around it. ⁵You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities.

⁶“The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands. ⁸Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.” ⁹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,