Then he commanded,“ No one except the Levites may carry the Ark of God. The Lord has chosen them to carry the Ark of the Lord and to serve him forever.”

那时大卫说：“除了利未人之外，无人可抬神的约柜；因为耶和华拣选他们抬神的约柜，且永远侍奉他。”

那时大卫说：“除了利未人之外，无人可抬上帝的约柜，因为耶和华拣选他们抬上帝的约柜，永远事奉他。”

那时大卫说：“除了利未人之外，无人可抬神的约柜，因为耶和华拣选他们抬神的约柜，永远事奉他。”

大卫说：“除了利未人以外，谁也不可抬上帝的约柜，因为耶和华只拣选他们抬上帝的约柜，永远事奉祂。”

那时大卫说：“神的约柜，除了利未人以外，没有人可以抬，因为耶和华拣选了他们抬神的约柜，并且永远事奉他。”

那時大衛說：「除了利未人之外，無人可擡神的約櫃；因為耶和華揀選他們擡神的約櫃，且永遠事奉他。」

那時大衛說：「除了利未人之外，無人可抬上帝的約櫃，因為耶和華揀選他們抬上帝的約櫃，永遠事奉他。」

那時大衛說：「除了利未人之外，無人可抬神的約櫃，因為耶和華揀選他們抬神的約櫃，永遠事奉他。」

大衛說：「除了利未人以外，誰也不可抬上帝的約櫃，因為耶和華只揀選他們抬上帝的約櫃，永遠事奉祂。」

那時大衛說：“神的約櫃，除了利未人以外，沒有人可以抬，因為耶和華揀選了他們抬神的約櫃，並且永遠事奉他。”

那時大衛說：『上帝的櫃、除了利未人之外、沒有人可以抬；因為永恆主所揀選來抬永恆主的櫃、並永遠伺候他的、乃是他們。』

大衛曰、耶和華既簡利未人舁上帝匱、永久奉事之、他人不可舁也、

大闢曰、耶和華簡利未人、舁上帝匱、供其役事、歷代勿替、自是舁匱、必以利未人。

其時大衛曰、利未人之外、無人可舁天主之匱、因主特選利未人、舁天主之匱、且奉事之、至於永遠、

Then David said,“ No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever.”

He said,“ Only Levites can carry the ark of God. That’s because the Lord chose them to carry his ark. He chose them to serve him forever in front of the place where his throne is.”

Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.

Then David said,“ No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before him forever.”

Then David said,“ No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve Him forever.”

Then David said,“ No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.”

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath Jehovah chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

Then David said,“ No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.”

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

Then David said,“ Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to serve before him perpetually.

Then David said,“ No one ought to carry God’s ark but the Levites. For Yahweh has chosen them to carry God’s ark, and to minister to him forever.”

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to stand before the Lord as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this day.

For this is what the Lord says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever.And there will always be Levitical priests to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me.”Then this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord:“ This is what the Lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that one does not follow the other,only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.”

Then the Lord said to Aaron:“ You, your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood.“ Bring your relatives of the tribe of Levi— your ancestral tribe— to assist you and your sons as you perform the sacred duties in front of the Tabernacle of the Covenant.But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die.The Levites must join you in fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle, but no unauthorized person may assist you.“ You yourselves must perform the sacred duties inside the sanctuary and at the altar. If you follow these instructions, the Lord’s anger will never again blaze against the people of Israel.I myself have chosen your fellow Levites from among the Israelites to be your special assistants. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord for service in the Tabernacle.But you and your sons, the priests, must personally handle all the priestly rituals associated with the altar and with everything behind the inner curtain. I am giving you the priesthood as your special privilege of service. Any unauthorized person who comes too near the sanctuary will be put to death.”The Lord gave these further instructions to Aaron:“ I myself have put you in charge of all the holy offerings that are brought to me by the people of Israel. I have given all these consecrated offerings to you and your sons as your permanent share.

So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel.

“ This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty five,and they must retire at the age of fifty.After retirement they may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the service. This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.”

“ Record the names of the members of the clans and families of the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi.List all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible to serve in the Tabernacle.“ The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle will relate to the most sacred objects.When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons must enter the Tabernacle first to take down the inner curtain and cover the Ark of the Covenant with it.Then they must cover the inner curtain with fine goatskin leather and spread over that a single piece of blue cloth. Finally, they must put the carrying poles of the Ark in place.“ Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and on the cloth they will place the bowls, ladles, jars, pitchers, and the special bread.They must spread a scarlet cloth over all of this, and finally a covering of fine goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they must insert the carrying poles into the table.“ Next they must cover the lampstand with a blue cloth, along with its lamps, lamp snuffers, trays, and special jars of olive oil.Then they must cover the lampstand and its accessories with fine goatskin leather and place the bundle on a carrying frame.“ Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar.They must take all the remaining furnishings of the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine goatskin leather, and place them on the carrying frame.“ They must remove the ashes from the altar for sacrifices and cover the altar with a purple cloth.All the altar utensils— the firepans, meat forks, shovels, basins, and all the containers— must be placed on the cloth, and a covering of fine goatskin leather must be spread over them. Finally, they must put the carrying poles in place.The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry.

giving these instructions to the people:“ When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them.

Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and raise your hands and present them as a special offering to the Lord.In this way, you will set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.

This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person.The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary to look at the sacred objects for even a moment, or they will die.”

But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.

So Joshua called together the priests and said,“ Take up the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a ram’s horn.”

“ And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken!

He issued this order to the Levites, who were to teach all Israel and who had been set apart to serve the Lord:“ Put the holy Ark in the Temple that was built by Solomon son of David, the king of Israel. You no longer need to carry it back and forth on your shoulders. Now spend your time serving the Lord your God and his people Israel.