Numbers 8

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

And 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 thou shalt say to him, Whenever thou shalt set the lamps in order, the seven lamps shall give light opposite the candlestick.

3 And Aaron did so, over against the front of the lampstand, lighted he up the lamps thereof, —As Yahweh commanded Moses,

And Aaron did so: on one side opposite the candlestick he lighted its lamps, as the Lord appointed 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.

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 shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

5 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

And 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 out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify 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.

And thus shalt thou perform their purification: thou shalt 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.

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.

And they shall take one calf of the herd, and its meat-offering, fine flour mingled with oil: and thou shalt take a calf of a year old of the herd 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;

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel.

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

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands upon 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 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.

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.

And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the calves; and thou shalt offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them.

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;

And thou shalt set the Levites before the Lord, and before Aaron, and before his sons; and thou shalt give them as a gift before the Lord.

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

And thou shalt separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they 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,

And afterwards the Levites shall go in to perform the works of the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt purify them, and present them before the Lord.

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 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 first-born of the sons of Israel that open every womb.

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 every first-born among the children of Israel [is] mine, whether of man or beast: in the day in which I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them to myself.

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

And I took the Levites in the place of every first-born 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.

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 among the sons of Israel to draw nigh to the holy things.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

23 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying;

And 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 the [ordinance] for the Levites; From five and twenty years old and upward, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of witness.

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 fifty years old [the Levites] shall cease from the ministry, and shall not work any longer.

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.

And his brother shall serve in the tabernacle of witness to keep charges, but he shall not do works: so shalt thou do to the Levites in their charges.