The Lord bless thee - There are three forms of blessing here, any or all of which the priests might use on any occasion. The following is a verbal translation: -

1. May Jehovah bless thee and preserve thee!

2. May Jehovah cause his faces to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!

3. May Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and may be put prosperity unto thee!

This is a very comprehensive and excellent prayer, and may be paraphrased thus: -

1. May God speak good unto thee, by giving thee his excellent promises! (See the note on Genesis 2:3). May he preserve thee in the possession of all the good thou hast, and from all the evil with which thou art threatened!

2. May the Holy Trinity illuminate thy heart, giving thee the true knowledge of thyself and of thy Maker; and may he show thee his graciousness in pardoning thy sins, and supporting thy soul!

3. May God give thee communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit, with a constant sense of his approbation; and grant thee prosperity in thy soul, and in all thy secular affairs!

This I suppose to be the spirit and design of this form of benediction. Others will doubtless interpret it after their manner. Several wise and learned men believe that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is not obscurely hinted at in it. God the Father blesses and keeps his followers. God the Son is gracious unto sinners in remitting their offenses, which he died to blot out. God the Holy Spirit takes of the things which are Christ's, and shows them unto genuine Christians, and diffuses the peace of God in their hearts. In a word, Christ, the gift of the Father by the energy of the Holy Spirit, came to bless every one of us by turning us away from our iniquities.

1. Every genuine Christian is a true Nazarite. He is separated from the world, and dedicated solely to the service of God.

2. His life is a life of self-denial; he mortifies and keeps the flesh in obedience to the Spirit.

3. All this enters into the spirit of his baptismal vow; for in that he promises to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh - to keep God's holy word and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life.

4. The person who is faithful has the blessing of God entailed upon him. Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, etc., etc. See the notes on Numbers 6:5-7 (note).

put my

Exodus 3:13-15 And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you...

Exodus 6:3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Exodus 34:5-7 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD...

Deuteronomy 28:10 And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of you.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways...

Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

Jeremiah 14:9 Why should you be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet you, O LORD, are in the middle of us...

Daniel 9:18,19 O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name...

Matthew 28:19 Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

and I will

Numbers 23:20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

Genesis 12:2,3 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing...

Genesis 32:26,29 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me...

1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast...

Psalm 5:12 For you, LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor will you compass him as with a shield.

Psalm 67:7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Psalm 115:12,13 The LORD has been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron...

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

These Things, My Brother Aurelius, Most Dear unto Me...
38. These things, my brother Aurelius, most dear unto me, and in the bowels of Christ to be venerated, so far as He hath bestowed on me the ability Who through thee commanded me to do it, touching work of Monks, I have not delayed to write; making this my chief care, lest good brethren obeying apostolic precepts, should by lazy and disobedient be called even prevaricators from the Gospel: that they which work not, may at the least account them which do work to be better than themselves without doubt. …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Things to be Meditated on as Thou Goest to the Church.
1. That thou art going to the court of the Lord, and to speak with the great God by prayer; and to hear his majesty speak unto thee by his word; and to receive his blessing on thy soul, and thy honest labour, in the six days past. 2. Say with thyself by the way--"As the hart brayeth for the rivers of water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God: When shall I come and appear before the presence of God? For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament