For the Lord your God chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister in the Lord’s name forever.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in Yahweh’s name, him and his sons for ever.
- KJV For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.
- BSB For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.
- NKJV For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.
- NASB For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand to serve in the name of the Lord always.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yahweh chose the tribe of Levi to stand and minister in His name forever. Priestly service was a divine calling, not a human ambition.
Overview
The reason for the priests' support is that God Himself selected this tribe to serve perpetually in His name. Their ministry rested on God's sovereign choice and commission. This foreshadows Christ, the great High Priest chosen and appointed by God to minister forever (Heb. 5:4-6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 10:8At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
- Num 3:10You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
- Num 16:5He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him.
- Num 16:9–10Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
- Num 17:5–9It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”
- Exod 28:1–14“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
- Deut 17:12The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel.
- Num 25:13It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 18:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.