Deuteronomy 10:8

10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ¹  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ²  in his name, as they do to this very day.

Jeremiah 15:19

15:19 Because of this, the Lord said, ³ 

“You must repent of such words and thoughts!

If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. ⁴ 

If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,

I will again allow you to be my spokesman. ⁵ 

They must become as you have been.

You must not become like them. ⁶ 

Luke 1:19

1:19 The ⁷  angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands ⁸  in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring ⁹  you this good news.

Luke 21:36

21:36 But stay alert at all times, ¹⁰  praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must ¹¹  happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Acts 27:23

27:23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong ¹²  and whom I serve ¹³  came to me ¹⁴ 

¹ sn The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi. This was not the initial commissioning of the tribe of Levi to this ministry (cf. Num 3:11-13; 8:12-26), but with Aaron’s death it seemed appropriate to Moses to reiterate Levi’s responsibilities. There is no reference in the Book of Numbers to this having been done, but the account of Eleazar’s succession to the priesthood there (Num 20:25-28) would provide a setting for this to have occurred.

² sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.

³ tn Heb “So the Lord said thus.”

⁴ tn Heb “If you return [ = repent], I will restore [more literally, ‘cause you to return’] that you may stand before me.” For the idiom of “standing before” in the sense of serving see BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.e and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 10:8; 12:8; 17:1; Deut 10:8.

⁵ tn Heb “you shall be as my mouth.”

⁶ tn Heb “They must turn/return to you and you must not turn/return to them.”

⁷ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁸ tn Grk “the one who is standing before God.”

⁹ tn Grk “to announce these things of good news to you.”

¹⁰ sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

¹¹ tn For the translation of μέλλω (mellw) as “must,” see L&N 71.36.

¹² tn Grk “of whom I am.” The relative clause with its possessive was translated following L&N 15.86 s.v. παρίσταμαι.

¹³ tn Or “worship.”

¹⁴ tn Or “stood by me.” BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “approach, come τινί (to) someone…Ac 9:39; 27:23.”