Numbers 8

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

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

“Tell Aaron to put the seven lamps on the lampstand and place them in such a way that they shine toward the front of the lampstand.”

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

So [Moses/I told him what Yahweh said], and he did that.

4 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.

The lampstand had been made from gold that had been hammered [from one large lump of gold], from its base to the decorations at the top [that resembled] flowers. The lampstand was made exactly like Yahweh had told Moses/me that it should be made.

5 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

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

“You must cause the descendants of Levi to be acceptable to me by setting them apart from the other Israeli people.

7 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.

Do that by sprinkling them with water [which will symbolize] their being freed/cleansed from [the guilt of] their sins. Then they must shave [off all the hair on] their bodies and wash their clothes.

8 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.

Then they must bring to the Sacred Tent one bull and some grain mixed with [olive] oil. [Those things will be burned] as sacrifices. They must also bring another bull [that will enable me to forgive them] for the sins they have committed.

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

Then you must summon all the Israeli people to come together in front of the Sacred Tent, to [gather around] the descendants of Levi.

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

Then the Israeli people must lay their hands on the descendants of Levi.

11 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.

Aaron must then present them to me to be a gift from the Israeli people, in order that they can work for me [at the Sacred Tent].

12 “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.

“After that, the descendants of Levi must place their hands on the heads of the two bulls. Then the bulls will be [killed and] burned on the altar. One will be an offering to enable me [to forgive them for] sins they have committed, and the other will be completely burned [to please me].

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

The descendants of Levi must stand [at the altar] in front of Aaron and his sons, and you must then dedicate to me the descendants of Levi.

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

This ritual will show that the descendants of Levi are set apart from the other Israelis and that they belong to me.

15 “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.

“After the descendants of Levi have been made acceptable to me, and presented to me like a special offering, they may start to work at the Sacred Tent.

16 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.

They will belong to me. They will work for me as substitutes for the firstborn males of all the Israelis, [who also belong to me].

17 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.

All the firstborn males in Israel, both the people and the animals, are mine. When I caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die, [I (spared/did not kill) the firstborn males of the Israelis]. I set them apart to belong to me. I said that the firstborn males of all their domestic animals would also belong to me.

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

But now I have chosen the descendants of Levi to take the places of the firstborn males of other Israelis.

19 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.”

I have appointed the descendants of Levi to help Aaron and his sons at the Sacred Tent, as Aaron and his sons offer the sacrifices so that the Israeli people’s sins will be forgiven, and to prevent the Israelis from coming close to the tent with the result that a plague would cause many of them to become sick and die.”

20 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.

Aaron and Moses/I and the other Israelis helped the descendants of Levi to do everything that Yahweh had commanded.

21 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.

The descendants of Levi [sprinkled themselves with water to symbolize that] they had been freed/cleansed from [the guilt of] their sins, and they washed their clothes. Then Aaron brought them to [the altar to] present them to Yahweh, and he offered sacrifices to cleanse them from [the guilt of] their sins and cause them to become acceptable to Yahweh.

22 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.

After that, the descendants of Levi started to work at the Sacred Tent to assist Aaron and his sons. They did that just as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.

23 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said this to Moses/me:

24 “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;

“The descendants of Levi who are between 25 and 50 years old will work at the Sacred Tent.

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

But after they become 50 years old, they must (retire/not do that work any more).

26 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.”

They may help the other descendants of Levi to do their work at the Sacred Tent, but they must not do the work themselves. That is what you must tell them about the work they will do.”