Num 8
1
And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
2
Speak to Aaron, and say to him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give
light in front of the candlestick.
3
And Aaron did so; he lighted its lamps [so as to give light] in front of the
candlestick, as YHWH commanded Moses.
4
And this was the work of the candlestick, beaten work of gold; to its base,
[and] to its flowers, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which YHWH
had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
5
And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
6
Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
7
And thus shall you do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of expiation upon
them, and let them cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and let them wash their
clothes, and cleanse themselves.
8
Then let them take a young bullock, and its meal-offering, fine flour mingled with
oil; and another young bullock shall you take for a sin-offering.
9
And you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting: and you shall assemble
the whole congregation of the children of Israel:
10
and you shall present the Levites before YHWH. And the children of Israel shall lay
their hands upon the Levites:
11
and Aaron shall offer the Levites before YHWH for a wave-offering, on the behalf of
the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of YHWH.
12
And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and offer you
the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to YHWH, to make atonement
for the Levites.
13
And you shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for
a wave-offering to YHWH.
14
Thus shall you separate the Levites from among 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 tent of meeting: and
you shall cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering.
16
For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all
that opens the womb, even the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken
them to me.
17
For all the first-born among the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast:
on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them
for 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 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; that there be no plague among the children
of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh to the sanctuary.
20
Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to
the Levites: according to all that YHWH commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did
the children of Israel to them.
21
And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes: and Aaron
offered them for a wave-offering before YHWH; and Aaron made atonement for them to
cleanse them.
22
And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tent of meeting before
Aaron, and before his sons: as YHWH had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so
did they to them.
23
And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,
24
This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward
they shall go in to wait upon the service in the work of the tent of meeting:
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and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the work, and shall
serve no more,
26
but shall minister with their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge,
and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites touching their charges.