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Numbers 18

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1 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 And thy brothers also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, come·​·near with thee, that they may be joined to thee, and minister to thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the Tabernacle of the testimony.

3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tabernacle; only they shall not come·​·near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar, and they shall not die, both they, and you.

4 And they shall be joined to thee, and keep the charge of the Tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the Tabernacle; and a stranger shall not come·​·near to you.

5 And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, that there be no rage any·​·more upon the sons of Israel.

6 And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; to you they are given as a gift for Jehovah, to serve the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

7 And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for every thing of the altar, and for that inside the veil; and you shall serve; I have given you the priesthood as a gift of service; and the stranger who draws·​·near shall be put·​·to·​·death.

8 And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of My upliftings of all the holy things of the sons of Israel; to thee I have given them for the anointing, and to thy sons, for a statute of an age.

9 This shall be for thee from the holy of holies from the fire: every offering of theirs, every gift·​·offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they shall return unto Me, it shall be a holy of holies for thee and for thy sons.

10 In the holy of holies shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it; it shall be holy to thee.

11 And this is thine: the uplifting of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute of an age; everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

12 All the fat of the olive·​·oil, and all the fat of the must* and grain, their firstfruits which they shall give to Jehovah, to thee I have given them.

13 A firstfruit of all that is in the land, which they shall bring to Jehovah, shall be thine; everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

14 Every devoted·​·thing in Israel shall be thine.

15 All that opens·​·up the womb of all flesh, which they offer to Jehovah, among man and among beast, shall be for thee; only redeeming shalt thou redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of the unclean beast shalt thou redeem.

16 And those who are to be redeemed from a son of a month shalt thou redeem, with thy value, the silver of five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary; this is twenty gerahs.

17 Only the firstborn of an ox, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy; thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shalt burn· their fat ·for·​·incense for a fire·​·offering, for a restful smell to Jehovah.

18 And their flesh shall be for thee as the chest portion of the waving, and as the right hind·​·quarter is for thee.

19 All the upliftings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel lift·​·up to Jehovah, have I given to thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, for an eternal statute; it is a covenant of salt of eternity before Jehovah to thee and to thy seed with thee.

20 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou shalt not inherit in their land, and thou shalt not have a part in their midst. I am thy part and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

21 And, behold, I have given the sons of Levi all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in·​·exchange·​·for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

22 Neither must the sons of Israel any·​·more come·​·near unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

23 But the Levites shall serve the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be an eternal statute for your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they shall not inherit an inheritance.

24 But the tithes of the sons of Israel, which they lift·​·up as an uplifting to Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, In the midst of the sons of Israel they shall not inherit an inheritance.

25 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

26 Then speak to the Levites, and say to them, When you take from the sons of Israel the tithes, which I have given to you from them for your inheritance, then you shall lift·​·up an uplifting from it for Jehovah, even a tithe* of the tithe.

27 And this your uplifting shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing·​·floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

28 So also shall you lift·​·up an uplifting to Jehovah from all your tithes, which you take from the sons of Israel; and you shall give from it Jehovah’s uplifting to Aaron the priest.

29 From all your gifts you shall lift·​·up every uplifting of Jehovah, of all its fat, the holy·​·part of it from it.

30 And thou shalt say to them, When you have lifted·​·up its fat from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing·​·floor, and as the increase of the winepress.

31 And you shall eat it in every place, you and your houses; for it is your wage in·​·exchange·​·for your service in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

32 And you shall not bear sin on·​·account·​·of it, when you have lifted·​·up from it the fat of it; and you shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, and you shall not die.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 10441

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10441. 'And repent [of the evil] against Your people' means having mercy on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'repenting', when it has reference to Jehovah, as having mercy. The reason why 'repenting' means having mercy is that Jehovah does not ever repent, since He foresees and makes provision for all things from eternity. Repentance is a reaction that can take place only in someone who has no knowledge of the future and who sees, as events unfold, that he has made a mistake. Nevertheless the Word speaks of Jehovah's reacting in that kind of way because the sense of the letter consists of ideas of things as man sees them. For it is intended for very simple people and for young children, who at first go no further than that sense. Also young children and very simple people's interests lie in the most external things, from which they start out and in which after this their inner thoughts and feelings terminate. For this reason the Word in the letter must be understood differently by those who have become wiser.

[2] The situation with the Word is similar to that with the human being. Everything within him terminates in flesh and bones; these are the container of everything there. Unless they existed in place of a foundation or support a person could not remain in being; for he would have no final level in which all things within him could terminate and on which they could rest. The situation is similar with the Word. This must have a final level in which everything within it terminates; that final level is the sense of the letter, and the inner things are the heavenly matters belonging to the internal sense. From all this it is now evident that the way things appear to man is the reason why Jehovah is said to repent, when in fact He does not repent.

[3] The fact that Jehovah is said to repent is clear from a large number of places in the Word, such as the following: In Jeremiah,

If [a nation] does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit it. Jeremiah 18:10.

In the same prophet,

It may be that they will listen and every man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I am thinking to do to them on account of the wickedness of their doings. Jeremiah 26:3.

In Ezekiel,

When My anger is accomplished and I make My wrath rest on them, I will repent. Ezekiel 5:13.

In Amos,

Jehovah repented. It shall not happen, He said. Amos 7:3, 6.

In Moses,

Jehovah will judge His people, and repent over 1 His servants. Deuteronomy 32:36.

In Jonah,

The king of Nineveh said, Who knows, God may turn and be moved to repentance 2 , and turn from the heat of His anger, and we may not perish! And they turned from their evil way; therefore God repented of the evil which He had said He would do to them, so that He did not do it. Jonah 3:9-10.

In the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6.

In the first Book of Samuel,

I have repented that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me. 1 Samuel 15:11, 35.

[4] From these places which speak of Jehovah's having repented, when in fact He cannot repent since He knows all things before He does them, it is evident that 'repenting' means having mercy. The fact that Jehovah never repents is also clear from the Word, as in Moses,

Jehovah 3 is not a man (vir), that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not act? Or has He spoken, and will not carry it out? Numbers 23:19.

And in the first Book of Samuel,

The Invincible One of Israel does not lie, nor does He repent, for He is not a man (homo), that He should repent. 1 Samuel 15:29.

The fact that when Jehovah is said to repent His mercy is meant is clear in Joel,

Jehovah is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in compassion, and One who is accustomed to repent of evil. Joel 2:13.

And in Jonah,

God is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in kindness, and One who repents of evil. Jonah 4:2.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. has compassion on

2. literally, be led by repentance

3. The Hebrew at this point uses the word meaning God.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.