Of them I will also select priests and Levites,” says Yahweh.
Parallel translations
- KJV And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
- BSB “And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
- NKJV And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
- NASB I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
- NLT “And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken!
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
God will appoint priests and Levites from among the gathered peoples. It matters because it signals that even Gentiles will be drawn into the service and worship of God.
Overview
Strikingly, the LORD promises to take some of these gathered ones for priestly service, a role once limited to a single tribe. This foreshadows the breaking down of old boundaries and the inclusion of the nations. In Christ, believers from every people become a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
- Exod 19:6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
- 1 Pet 2:5You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Isa 61:6But you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.
- Rev 1:6and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Rev 20:6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
- Rev 5:10and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
- Jer 13:18–22Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 66:21 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.