But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife?

You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way.

I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself.

a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young.

he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant,

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, so the Lord spread out his wings and took him, he lifted him up on his pinions.

For I raise up my hand to heaven, and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,

Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.

and in the desert, where you saw him carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.”

Go up to the top of Pisgah and take a good look to the west, north, south, and east, for you will not be allowed to cross the Jordan.

Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose.

The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,

When you look up to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, for the Lord your God has assigned them to all the people of the world.

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

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

When he blesses you, if the place where he chooses to locate his name is distant,

You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.