< Numbers 8 >
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Adonai spoke to Moses [Drawn out], saying,
2 Speak to Aaron, and you shall say to him, Whenever you shall set the lamps in order, the seven lamps shall give light opposite the candlestick.
“Speak to Aaron [Light-bringer], and tell him, ‘When you light the menorah ·lamp· candles, the seven menorah ·lamp· candles shall give light in front of the menorah ·lamp·.’”
3 And Aaron did so: on one side opposite the candlestick he lighted its lamps, as the Lord appointed Moses.
Aaron [Light-bringer] did so. He lit its menorah ·lamp· candles to light the area in front of the menorah ·lamp·, as Adonai enjoined Moses [Drawn out].
4 And this [is] the construction of the candlestick: [it is] solid, golden—its stem, and its lilies—all solid: according to the pattern which the Lord showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
This was the workmanship of the menorah ·lamp·, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which Adonai had shown Moses [Drawn out], so he made the menorah ·lamp·.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Adonai spoke to Moses [Drawn out], saying,
6 Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and you shall purify them.
“Take the Levites [Descendants of United with] from among the children of Israel [God prevails], and cleanse them.
7 And thus shall you perform their purification: you shall sprinkle them with water of purification, and a razor shall come upon the whole of their body, and they shall wash their garments, and shall be clean.
You shall do this to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of habitual sin ·missing the mark· cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.
8 And they shall take one calf of the herd, and its meat-offering, fine flour mingled with oil: and you shall take a calf of a year old of the herd 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 habitual sin ·miss the mark· offering.
9 And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of witness; and you shall assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel.
You shall present the Levites [Descendants of United with] before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel [God prevails].
10 And you shall bring the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites.
You shall present the Levites [Descendants of United with] before Adonai. The children of Israel [God prevails] shall lay their hands on the Levites [Descendants of United with],
11 And Aaron shall separate the Levites for a gift before the Lord from the children of Israel: and they shall be prepared to perform the works of the Lord.
and Aaron [Light-bringer] shall offer the Levites [Descendants of United with] before Adonai for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel [God prevails], that it may be theirs to do the service of Adonai.
12 And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the calves; and you shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them.
“The Levites [Descendants of United with] shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a habitual sin ·miss the mark· offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Adonai, to make atonement for the Levites [Descendants of United with].
13 And you shall set the Levites before the Lord, and before Aaron, and before his sons; and you shall give them as a gift before the Lord.
You shall set the Levites [Descendants of United with] before Aaron [Light-bringer], and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Adonai.
14 And you shall separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they shall be mine.
Thus you shall separate the Levites [Descendants of United with] from among the children of Israel [God prevails], and the Levites [Descendants of United with] shall be mine.
15 And afterwards the Levites shall go in to perform the works of the tabernacle of witness; and you shall purify them, and present them before the Lord.
“After that, the Levites [Descendants of United with] shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering.
16 For these are given to me for a present out of the midst of the children of Israel: I have taken them to myself instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel that open every womb.
For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel [God prevails]; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel [God prevails], I have taken them to me.
17 For every firstborn amongst the children of Israel [is] mine, whether of man or beast: in the day in which I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them to myself.
For all the firstborn among the children of Israel [God prevails] are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt [Abode of slavery], I sanctified them for myself.
18 And I took the Levites in the place of every firstborn amongst the children of Israel.
I have taken the Levites [Descendants of United with] instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel [God prevails].
19 And I gave the Levites presented as a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of witness, and to make atonement for the children of Israel: thus there shall be none amongst the sons of Israel to draw near to the holy things.
I have given the Levites [Descendants of United with] as a gift to Aaron [Light-bringer] and to his sons from among the children of Israel [God prevails], to do the service of the children of Israel [God prevails] in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel [God prevails]; that there be no plague among the children of Israel [God prevails], when the children of Israel [God prevails] come near to the sanctuary.”
20 And Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them.
Moses [Drawn out], and Aaron [Light-bringer], and all the congregation of the children of Israel [God prevails] did so to the Levites [Descendants of United with]. According to all that Adonai enjoined Moses [Drawn out] concerning the Levites [Descendants of United with], so the children of Israel [God prevails] did to them.
21 So the Levites purified themselves and washed their garments; and Aaron presented them as a gift before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.
The Levites [Descendants of United with] cleansed sin ·err (the standard goal)· from themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron [Light-bringer] offered them for a wave offering before Adonai; and Aaron [Light-bringer] made atonement for them to cleanse them.
22 And afterwards the Levites went in to minister in their service in the tabernacle of witness before Aaron, and before his sons; as the Lord appointed Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
After that, the Levites [Descendants of United with] went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron [Light-bringer], and before his sons: as Adonai had enjoined Moses [Drawn out] concerning the Levites [Descendants of United with], so they did to them.
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Adonai spoke to Moses [Drawn out], saying,
24 This is the [ordinance] for the Levites; From five and twenty years old and upward, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of witness.
“This is that which belongs to the Levites [Descendants of United with]: 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 And from fifty years old [the Levites] shall cease from the ministry, and shall not work any longer.
and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more,
26 And his brother shall serve in the tabernacle of witness to keep charges, but he shall not do works: so shall you do to the Levites in their charges.
but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall do no service. You shall do thus to the Levites [Descendants of United with] concerning their duties.”