After all, you, Lord God, set them apart from all the people of the world to be your own as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
He said, “If you will listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what he considers right, if you pay attention to his commands and obey all his laws, I will never make you suffer any of the diseases I made the Egyptians suffer, because I am the Lord, who heals you.”
You will be called the priests of the Lord. You will be called the servants of our God. You will consume the wealth of the nations. You will boast in their splendor.
As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares the Lord. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen.
Israel was set apart for the Lord. It was the best part of the harvest. All who devoured it became guilty, and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the Lord.
But I did tell them this, ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live the way I told you to live so that things will go well for you.’
I have told you that you will take their land. I will give it to you as your own. It is a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who separated you from other people.
However, he must never come up to the canopy or to the altar, since he has a physical defect. He must never dishonor the holy places because I, the Lord, set them apart as holy.”
They came together to confront Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You’ve gone far enough! Everyone in the whole community is holy, and the Lord is among them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you.
Never eat any creature that dies naturally. You may give it to the foreigners who live in your cities, and they may eat it. You may also sell it to foreigners who are visiting. But you are people who are holy to the Lord your God. Never cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Then he will place you high above all the other nations he has made. He will give you praise, fame, and honor, and you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.
You will be the Lord’s holy people, as he promised you with an oath. He will do this if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and follow his directions.
You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ.
However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Blessed and holy are those who are included the first time that people come back to life. The second death has no power over them. They will continue to be priests of God and Christ. They will rule with him for 1,000 years.