The Silver Trumpets

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for xsummoning the congregation and for breaking camp. ³And when yboth are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁴But if they blow only one, then zthe chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ⁵When you blow an alarm, athe camps that are on the east side shall set out. ⁶And when you blow an alarm the second time, bthe camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. ⁷But when the assembly is to be gathered together, cyou shall blow a long blast, but you shall not dsound an alarm. ⁸eAnd the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹And fwhen you go to war in your land against the adversary who goppresses you, then you shall dsound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be hremembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰iOn the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and jat the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be ka reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Israel Leaves Sinai

¹¹In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, lthe cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, ¹²and the people of Israel mset out by stages from the nwilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the owilderness of Paran. ¹³They set out for the first time pat the command of the Lord by Moses. ¹⁴The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out qfirst by their companies, and over their company was rNahshon the son of Amminadab. ¹⁵And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. ¹⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷And when sthe tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, twho carried the tabernacle, set out. ¹⁸And uthe standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was vElizur the son of Shedeur. ¹⁹And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was wShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ²⁰And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was xEliasaph the son of yDeuel.

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, zcarrying the holy things, and athe tabernacle was set up before their arrival. ²²And bthe standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was cElishama the son of Ammihud. ²³And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was cGamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ²⁴And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was dAbidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵Then ethe standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the frear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was gAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was hPagiel the son of Ochran. ²⁷And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was iAhira the son of Enan. ²⁸jThis was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

²⁹And Moses said to Hobab the son of kReuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, l‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for mthe Lord has promised good to Israel.” ³⁰But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” ³¹And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve nas eyes for us. ³²And if you do go with us, owhatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

³³So they set out from pthe mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out qa resting place for them. ³⁴rAnd the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

³⁵And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, s“Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” ³⁶And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

Psalm 46

God Is Our Fortress

To the choirmaster. Of athe Sons of Korah. According to bAlamoth.1 A Song.

¹God is our crefuge and strength,

a very dpresent2 help in etrouble.

²Therefore we will not fear fthough the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into gthe heart of the sea,

³though hits waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

⁴There is ia river whose streams make glad jthe city of God,

the holy khabitation of the Most High.

⁵lGod is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

⁶mThe nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he nutters his voice, the earth omelts.

⁷pThe Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

⁸qCome, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

⁹rHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he sbreaks the bow and shatters the spear;

the burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰u“Be still, and know that I am God.

vI will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

¹¹pThe Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Psalm 47

God Is King over All the Earth

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of wthe Sons of Korah.

¹xClap your hands, all peoples!

yShout to God with loud songs of joy!

²For the Lord, the Most High, zis to be feared,

aa great king over all the earth.

³He bsubdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

⁴He chose our cheritage for us,

dthe pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

⁵God ehas gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

⁷For God is fthe King of all the earth;

sing praises gwith a psalm!1

⁸God hreigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

⁹iThe princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For jthe shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted!

Longing for Her Beloved

¹Oh that you were like a brother to me

who nursed at my mother's breasts!

If I found you outside, I would kiss you,

and none would despise me.

²I would lead you and rbring you

into the house of my mother—

she who used to teach me.

I would give you sspiced wine to drink,

the juice of my pomegranate.

³tHis left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embraces me!

⁴I uadjure you, O vdaughters of Jerusalem,

wthat you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

⁵xWho is that coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.

There your mother was in labor with you;

there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as ya seal upon your arm,

for zlove is strong as death,

ajealousy1 is fierce as the grave.2

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very bflame of the Lord.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his chouse,

he3 would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

⁸We have a little sister,

and she dhas no breasts.

What shall we do for our sister

on the day when she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall,

we will build on her a battlement of silver,

but if she is a door,

we will enclose her with eboards of cedar.

She

¹⁰fI was a wall,

and my gbreasts were like towers;

then I was in his eyes

as one who finds4 peace.

¹¹Solomon had ha vineyard at Baal-hamon;

he ilet out the vineyard to jkeepers;

each one was to bring for its fruit ka thousand pieces of silver.

¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me;

you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,

and lthe keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

¹³mO you who dwell in the gardens,

with ncompanions listening for your voice;

olet me hear it.

She

¹⁴pMake haste, my beloved,

and be qlike a gazelle

or a young stag

on rthe mountains of spices.

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

¹Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, uone who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²a minister in the holy places, in vthe true tent1 that the Lord wset up, not man. ³For xevery high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus yit is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. ⁴Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵They serve za copy and ashadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, b“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶But as it is, Christ2 has obtained a ministry that is cas much more excellent than the old as dthe covenant ehe mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ⁷fFor if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

⁸For he finds fault with them when he says:3

g“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah,

⁹not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰hFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and iwrite them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

¹¹And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor

and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall jall know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

¹²For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

kand I will remember their sins no more.”

¹³In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And lwhat is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.