Numbers 8

The Seven Lamps

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you 1mount the lamps, the seven lamps will 2provide light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3Therefore Aaron did so; he 3mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 44Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flower ornamentation it was hammered work; 5according to the 6pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing the Levites

5Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and 7cleanse them. 7This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle 8purifying 9water on them, and have them 1011use a razor over their whole 12body, and they shall 13wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8Then have them take a 14bull with 15its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second 16bull as a sin offering. 9So 17you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. 18You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel 19shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11Aaron then shall 20present the Levites before the Lord as a 21wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may 22qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12Now 23the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.

14“So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and 24the Levites shall be Mine. 15Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and 25present them as a wave offering; 16for they are 26exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself 27instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17For 28every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. 18But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19And 29I have given the Levites as 30a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no 31affliction among the sons of Israel due to 32their approaching the sanctuary.”

20So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 2133The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement for the Levites

23Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24“This is what applies to the Levites: from 34twenty-five years old and upward 35they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25But at the age of fifty years they shall 36retire from service in the work and not work anymore. 26They may, however, 37assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, 38to fulfill an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. In this way you shall deal with the Levites in their obligations.”