he ¹  commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant,

At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. ¹ 

I will write on the tablets the same words ¹  that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.”

So I made an ark of acacia ¹  wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.

“Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will remain there as a witness against you,

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.

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.