Numbers 8

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, then shall the seven lamps give light toward the body of the candlestick.

3 And Aaron did so; toward the body of the candlestick did he light its lamps; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

4 And this was the workmanship of the candlestick: It was of beaten gold, from the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work; according unto the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so made he the candlestick.

5 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

6 Take the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle upon them water of purification, after they have let the razor pass over all their flesh, and then let them wash their clothes, and so shall they be clean.

8 And they shall take a young bullock with his meat-offering, fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering.

9 And thou shalt bring near the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt assemble together the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

10 And when thou hast brought near the Levites before the Lord, then shall the children of Israel lay their hands upon the Levites:

11 And Aaron shall make with the Levites a waving before the Lord from the children of Israel, that they may be ready to execute the service of the Lord.

12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt prepare the one as a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt-offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.

13 And thou shalt place the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and make with them a waving before the Lord.

14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: after thou shalt have cleansed them, and made with them a waving.

16 For they are wholly given unto me from the midst of the children of Israel: instead of every one that openeth the womb, of every first-born of the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 For mine are all the first-born of the children of Israel, both of man and beast: on the day that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt did I sanctify them unto myself.

18 And I have taken the Levites, instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel.

19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from the midst of the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.

20 And so did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites: according unto all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

21 And the Levites purified themselves, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron made with them a waving before the Lord: and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

22 And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

23 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

24 This shall be the rule for the Levites: From twenty and five years old and upward shall he go into the ranks to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation;

25 And from the age of fifty years shall he go out of the ranks of the service, and he shall serve no more;

26 But he shall wait on his brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, but the service shall he not perform; thus shalt thou do unto the Levites in the discharge of their office.