Numbers 8

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto Aaron, and thou shalt say unto him, —When thou lightest up the lamps, over against the front of the lampstand, shall the seven lamps give light.

“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, over against the front of the lampstand, lighted he up the lamps thereof, —As Yahweh commanded Moses,

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

4 Now, this, was the work of the lampstand—beaten work of gold both in the shaft thereof and in the flowers thereof, was it beaten work, according to the appearance which Yahweh caused to appear unto Moses, so, made he the lampstand.

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 Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

6 Take the Levites, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —and thou shalt purify them.

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

7 And, thus, shalt thou do unto them, to purify them, sprinkle upon them sin-cleansing water, —then shall they, cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and shall wash their clothes and so make themselves pure.

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 shall they take a choice young bullock, with the meal-offering thereof even fine meal overflowed with oil, —and a second choice young bullock, shalt thou take. as a sin-bearer.

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 Then shalt thou bring the Levites near, before the tent of meeting, —and shalt call together all the assembly of the sons of Israel;

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

10 and shalt bring the Levites near before Yahweh, —and the sons of Israel shall lean their hands upon the Levites;

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

11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites as a wave-offering before Yahweh, from among the sons of Israel, —so shall they be for performing the laborious work of Yahweh.

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, shall lean their hands upon the head of the bullocks; then make thou of the one a sin-bearer and of the other an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh, to put a propitiatory-covering over 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 Thus shalt thou cause the Levites to stand before Aaron and before his sons, —thus shalt thou offer them as a wave-offering unto Yahweh;

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

14 thus shalt thou separate the Levites out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —thus shall the Levites become mine.

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

15 And after that, shall the Levites enter to do the labour of the tent of meeting, —so shalt thou purify them, and offer 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, given, given, they are unto me, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —instead of every firstborn that a mother beareth from among the sons of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

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 mine, is every firstborn among the sons of Israel, among men and among beasts, —on the day when I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, did I hallow them unto me.

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 Therefore have I taken the Levites, —instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel;

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

19 therefore have I given the Levites as a gift unto Aaron and unto his sons, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, to do the laborious work of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to put a propitiatory-covering over the sons of Israel, —so shall there be among the sons of Israel, no plague, by the coming nigh of the sons of Israel unto the sanctuary.

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 And Moses and Aaron and all the assembly of the sons of Israel did thus unto the Levites, —according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses as touching the Levites, so, did the sons of Israel unto them.

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 accepted the cleansing from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave-offering before Yahweh, —and Aaron put a propitiatory-covering over them to make them pure.

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 after that, went the Levites in to do their laborious work in the tent of meeting, before Aaron and before his sons, —as Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so, did they unto them.

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 Yahweh spake unto Moses saying;

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

24 This is what concerneth the Levites, —from twenty-five years old and upwards, shall they enter to take rank in the host, for doing the laborious 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 from the age of fifty years, shall they retire from taking rank in the labour, and shall do laborious work no more;

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

26 yet shall they wait upon their brethren in the tent of meeting, by keeping charge, but laborious work, shall they not perform, —thus, shalt thou do unto the Levites, as touching their charges.

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.”