Numbers 8

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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

“Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’”

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.

Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as the LORD commanded 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.

This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.

5 And the Lord said to Moses,

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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

“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse 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.

You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.

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.

Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for 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:

You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

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

You shall present the Levites before the LORD. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,

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.

and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.

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 shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

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

You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the LORD.

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

Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

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.

“After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer 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.

For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me.

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.

For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself.

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

I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

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.

I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near 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, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

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 from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the LORD and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

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.

After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

23 And the Lord said to Moses,

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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 is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;

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

and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more,

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.

but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties.”