Deuteronomy - Chapter 18

1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.

2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD himself is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

3 And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox , [a calf] or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw [and the great intestine].

4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.

5 For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand before the Lord thy God, to stand to minister and bless in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever among the children of Israel.

6 And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all the children of Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose [to the place which he shall have chosen];

7 Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there present before the LORD thy God.

8 They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony [his hereditary property].

9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch [who deals with omens, and augury],

11 Or a charmer [a sorcerer employing incantation], or a consulter with familiar spirits, observer of signs, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD thy God: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.

14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times [they will listen to omens], and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

16 According to all things that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my [thy] God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken to thee.

18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he, that prophet, shall speak in my name, I will require it of him [take vengeance on him].

20 But the prophet, which shall presume to impiously speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously [wickedly]: thou shalt not be afraid of him [ye shall not spare him].

Numbers - Chapter 18

1 And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary [the sins of the holy things]: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness], for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD [a present given to the Lord], to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness].

7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee [after thee] shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings [of the first-fruits] of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, as an honour, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me of all their holy things, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

10 In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it [thou and thy sons]: it shall be holy unto thee.

11 And this is thine; the heave offering [the first-fruits] of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

12 All the best [first-offering] of the oil, and all the best [first-offering] of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.

13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

15 Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.

16 And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs [oboli].

17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle [pour] their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a smell of sweet savour unto the LORD.

18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

19 All the heave [special] offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall specially offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with [after] thee.

20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness].

22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness], lest they bear sin [to incur fatal guilt], and die.

23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness], and they shall bear their iniquity [their iniquities]: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given as a distinct portion to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

26 Thus shalt also speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.

27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness [an offering] of the winepress.

28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD [So shall ye also separate them from all the offerings of the Lord] of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’s heave offering to Aaron the priest.

29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best [of every first-fruit] thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.

30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof [When ye shall offer the first-fruits] from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation [of witness].

32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it [for ye shall have offered an offering of first-fruits from it]: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

Leviticus - Chapter 18

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.

3 After the doings [the devices] of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings [the devices] of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.

5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments, and do them: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD your God.

6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.

9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister by the same father, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.

13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.

14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.

17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near [thy] kinswomen: it is wickedness.

18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to in addition her sister, as a rival, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech [give of thy seed to serve a ruler], neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God [my holy name]: I am the LORD.

22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast [any quadruped] for copulation to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast [any quadruped] to lie down thereto [to have connexion with it]: it is confusion [it is an abomination].

24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, [I have recompensed their iniquity to them because of it] and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants the land [is aggrieved with them that dwell upon it].

26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments [my ordinances], and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

28 That the land spue not you out also [be aggrieved with you], when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you [as it was aggrieved with the nations before you].

29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

Exodus - Chapter 18

1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God, the Lord, had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;

2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,

3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

4 And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword [the hand] of Pharaoh:

5 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

6 And he said [it was told] unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her [with him].

7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare [and they embraced each other]; and they came into the tent [and he brought them into the tent].

8 And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them out of the hand of Pharao, and out of the hand of the Egyptians.

9 And Jethro rejoiced [was amazed] for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharao.

10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than [great above] all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly [they attacked them] he was above them.

12 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a whole burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.

13 And it came to pass on [after] the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

14 And when Moses’ father in law, Jothor, saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God [to seek judgment from God]:

16 When they have a matter, a dispute among them, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes [the ordinances] of God, and his laws [his law].

17 And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good [Thou dost not this thing rightly].

18 Thou wilt surely [with intolerable weariness] wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward [in the things pertaining to God], that thou mayest bring the causes [their matters] unto God:

20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth [righteous men], hating covetousness [hating pride]; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, God shall strengthen thee, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

Genesis - Chapter 18

1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre, by the oak of Mambre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and ye shall eat, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on on your journey: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

9 And they [he] said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? The thing has not as yet happened to me, even until now, and my lord is old.

13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? Shall anything be impossible with the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom and Gomorrha: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham my servant that thing which I do, what things I intend to do?

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty, populous nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way [the ways] of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath

spoken of him.

20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, has been increased towards me, and because their sin is very grievous;

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? shall the righteous be as the wicked?

24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole city, all the place for their sakes.

27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous, if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if

I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.