Then Moses said to the Levites,“ You have been set apart for the Lord today. You fought against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”

摩西说：“今天你们要自洁，归耶和华为圣，各人攻击他的儿子和弟兄，使耶和华赐福与你们。”

摩西说：“今天你们要奉献自己来事奉耶和华，因为各人牺牲自己的儿子和弟兄，使耶和华今天赐福给你们。”

摩西说：“今天你们要奉献自己来事奉耶和华，因为各人牺牲自己的儿子和弟兄，使耶和华今天赐福给你们。”

摩西对利未人说：“今天你们已经把自己奉献给耶和华了，因为你们大义灭亲，祂必赐福给你们。”

摩西说：“今天你们要奉献自己归耶和华为圣，因为各人牺牲了自己的儿子和兄弟，好使耶和华今天赐福给你们。”

摩西說：「今天你們要自潔，歸耶和華為聖，各人攻擊他的兒子和弟兄，使耶和華賜福與你們。」

摩西說：「今天你們要奉獻自己來事奉耶和華，因為各人犧牲自己的兒子和弟兄，使耶和華今天賜福給你們。」

摩西說：「今天你們要奉獻自己來事奉耶和華，因為各人犧牲自己的兒子和弟兄，使耶和華今天賜福給你們。」

摩西對利未人說：「今天你們已經把自己奉獻給耶和華了，因為你們大義滅親，祂必賜福給你們。」

摩西說：“今天你們要奉獻自己歸耶和華為聖，因為各人犧牲了自己的兒子和兄弟，好使耶和華今天賜福給你們。”

摩西說：『今天你們授聖職與自己歸永恆主了，因為各人犧牲了自己的兒子或弟兄，好使今天有祝福給予你們。』

摩西曾曰、今日爾當自潔、歸耶和華為聖、各擊子女昆弟、致蒙錫嘏於爾、○

摩西曰、今日爾任職、奉事耶和華、攻爾子女兄弟、如是耶和華錫爾純嘏。○

摩西謂利未人曰、爾能不顧己之子女兄弟、今日必得奉事主之職、並蒙主今日賜福於爾、○

Then Moses said,“ You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

And Moses said,“ Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

Then Moses told the Levites,“ Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”

Afterward Moses said,“ Today you have been dedicated to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.”

Then Moses said,“ Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord— for every man has been against his son and against his brother— in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

Then Moses said,“ Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”

And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to- day to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Afterward Moses said,“ Today you have been dedicated to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.”

For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Moses said,“ You have been consecrated today for the LORD, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.”

Moses said,“ Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today.”

“ Phinehas is a priest. He is the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Phinehas has turned my anger away from the Israelites. I am committed to making sure I am honored among them. And he is as committed as I am. So even though I was angry with them, I did not put an end to them.So tell Phinehas I am making my covenant with him. It is my promise to give him peace.He and his sons after him will have a covenant to be priests forever. That is because he was committed to making sure that I, his God, was honored. In that way he paid for the sin of the Israelites.”

“ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Some people might still prophesy. But their own fathers and mothers will speak to them. They will tell them,‘ You must die. You have told lies in the Lord’ s name.’ When they prophesy, their own parents will stab them.

The Lord announces to his people,“ Return to me with all your heart. There is still time. Do not eat any food. Weep and mourn.”Don’t just tear your clothes to show how sad you are. Let your hearts be broken. Return to the Lord your God. He is gracious. He is tender and kind. He is slow to get angry. He is full of love. He won’t bring his judgment. He won’t destroy you.Who knows? He might turn toward you and not bring his judgment. He might even give you his blessing. Then you can bring grain offerings and drink offerings to the Lord your God.

Do what is right and fair. The Lord accepts that more than sacrifices.

Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says,“ Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before.They are the gods of the nations around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other.Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them.You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all the people must do the same thing.Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.After you kill those who tempted you, all the Israelites will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.

He sent you to do something for him. He said,‘ Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you keep for yourselves what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?”“ But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said.“ I went to do what he sent me to do. I completely destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king.The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”But Samuel replied,“ What pleases the Lord more? Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying the Lord? It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice. It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.

Levi didn’t show special favor to anyone. He did not spare his father and mother. He didn’t excuse his relatives or his children. But he watched over your word. He guarded your covenant.He teaches your rules to the people of Jacob. He teaches your law to Israel. He offers incense to you. He sacrifices whole burnt offerings on your altar.