Moses said unto Levi, Thy holy one beareth thy light and thy truth, He whom thou didst prove at Massah, With whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; Who saith unto his father and his mother, I see them not; And to his brother, I acknowledge him not; And to his sons, I know nothing of them. For they have observed thy word And kept thy covenant. They teach Jacob thy judgments, And Israel thy law. They shall put incense before thee, And whole burnt-offerings on thine altar. Bless, O Jehovah, his substance, And accept the work of his hands. Smite through the loins of them that rise against him, That those who hate him rise not again.—Deut. xxxiii. 8. “Thou hast said what is required of the tribe of Levi,” said the old man. “It was not without reason that to the whole tribe no portion was given in Israel: for, ‘Jehovah is their heritage.’ He had first of all chosen the eldest-born in every family to be his ministers, and still the priesthood so far rests upon them that they must be ransomed for five shekels on the thirtieth day.[72] In this way the office is transferred to the tribe of Levi. Others have so much to do with worldly things, that they could not instruct their children from their infancy in the knowledge of the law. But the sons of Levi with their children are to live only for the temple and the laws, and on this account the rest of the people give up three-tenths of their income, of which one-tenth supports the Levites, the second is for the expenses of sacrifices and feasts, and for coming up to Jerusalem at the festivals; the third is for the maintenance of the king.[73] Thus the priest and the Levite, free from the ordinary cares of life, are devoted exclusively to Jehovah. They are to present the offering of Jehovah, the bread of their God. Hence the purity which they are so carefully to preserve, not allowing themselves to come in contact with any thing which might defile them. The sacerdotal order is the most exalted in the world. Yet its dignity lies not in any preeminence of its own; but in God’s choice of it, to preserve and make known his law. Be not thou therefore unduly exalted, but rejoice that thou art permitted, as a priest of Jehovah, to minister in his temple. Before the full light of day is spread over heaven and earth, some one spot is brightened by a partial gleam. But has that spot done any thing to merit this distinction? Give thanks then to Jehovah that thou standest in the earliest beams of that dawn which is the harbinger of light to all mankind. When He comes for whom we wait, the brightness of his rising shall illuminate the whole earth, and the heathens shall walk in his light.” ----- Footnote 72: Exod. xiii. 12-16; Numb. iii. 12, 13. Footnote 73: Lev. xxvii. 30-33; Numb. xviii. 21-32; Deut. xii. 17-19; xiv. 22-29; xxvi. 12-15; 1 Sam. viii. 15. -----