Numbers six, verses twenty four to twenty six, states the Priestly Blessing in three balanced lines, each one longer than the one before it. Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee, the first line says. Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, the second continues, adding a specific image, a shining face, to the plain request of the first. Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace, the third completes, again returning to the image of a divine face, now lifted rather than merely shining, and closing on the single word peace. The blessing is addressed to the priests, who are instructed to speak it over the people of Israel in Jehovah's own name, so the text presents the words as spoken by the priest but carrying the force of a blessing Jehovah himself pronounces through him. Its structure of three increasingly fuller lines, each adding to what came before rather than repeating it, has made it one of the most frequently recited blessings, still pronounced in close to its ancient wording in both synagogue and church. Each of the three lines pairs a request with a further gift, blessing with keeping, a shining face with grace, a lifted face with peace, so the blessing builds its case for divine favor in matched halves rather than as a single flat request, ending deliberately on the single word that gives the whole passage its lasting reputation.