Numbers 8

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord told Moses,

2 Say to Aaron, When you put the lights in their places, the seven lights will give light in front of the support.

“Tell Aaron, ‘When you place the seven lamps on the lampstand, make sure they shine towards the front.’”

3 And Aaron did so; he put the lights in their places so that they gave light in front of the support, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

So that's what Aaron did. He placed the lamps facing towards the front of the lampstand, as the Lord had ordered Moses.

4 The support for the lights was of hammered gold work, from its base to its flowers it was of hammered work; from the design which the Lord had given to Moses, he made the support for the lights.

The lampstand was made of hammered gold from its base to the flower decorations on the top, in accordance with the design that the Lord had shown Moses.

5 And the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord told Moses,

6 Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean.

“Separate the Levites from the other Israelites and purify them.

7 And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean.

This is how you will purify them. Sprinkle on them the water of purification. They are to shave off all the hair from their bodies and wash their clothes so they will be clean.

8 Then let them take a young ox and its meal offering, crushed grain mixed with oil, and take another ox for a sin-offering.

Have them bring a young bull with its grain offering of the best flour mixed with olive oil, and you are to bring a second young bull as a sin offering.

9 And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together:

Take the Levites and have them stand in front of the Tent of Meeting and have all the Israelites gather there.

10 And you are to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put their hands on them:

When you bring the Levites to the Lord the Israelites are to place their hands upon them.

11 And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's work.

Aaron shall present the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites so that they can do the Lord's work.

12 And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen, and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites.

The Levites are to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. One is to be sacrificed as a sin offering to the Lord, and the other as a burnt offering to set the Levites right with the Lord.

13 Then the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the Lord.

Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present them to the Lord as a wave offering.

14 So you are to make the Levites separate from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine.

This is how you are to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to me.

15 After that, the Levites will go in to do whatever has to be done in the Tent of meeting; you are to make them clean and give them as a wave offering.

They can come and serve at the Tent of Meeting once you've purified them and presented them as a wave offering.

16 For they have been given to me from among the children of Israel; in place of every mother's first son, the first to come to birth in Israel, I have taken them for myself.

The Levites have been completely given over to me by the Israelites. I have accepted them as mine in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites.

17 For every mother's first son among the children of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine.

Every firstborn male in Israel belongs to me, both human and animal. I reserved them for myself at the time when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt.

18 And in place of the first sons among the children of Israel, I have taken the Levites.

I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites.

19 And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place.

Of all the Israelites, the Levites are a gift from me to Aaron and his sons to serve the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting, and on their behalf to set them right, so that nothing bad will happen to them when they come to the sanctuary.”

20 All these things Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel did to the Levites; as the Lord gave orders to Moses about the Levites, so the children of Israel did.

Moses, Aaron, and all the Israelites did everything that the Lord had ordered Moses that they should do regarding the Levites.

21 And the Levites were made clean from sin, and their clothing was washed, and Aaron gave them for a wave offering before the Lord; and Aaron took away their sin and made them clean.

The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering to the Lord. Aaron also presented the sacrifice to make them right with the Lord so they would be clean.

22 And then the Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons: all the orders which the Lord had given Moses about the Levites were put into effect.

Afterwards the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Aaron and his sons. They followed all the instructions regarding the Levites that the Lord had given to Moses.

23 And the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord told Moses,

24 This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting;

“This rule applies to the Levites. Those twenty-five or older shall serve at the Tent of Meeting.

25 But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more;

However, once they reach the age of fifty they need to retire from the work and won't serve any longer.

26 But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.

They can still help their fellow Levites in their assignments, but they are not to do the actual work themselves. These are the arrangements in the case of the Levites.”