Numbers 8

1 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

2 “Tell Aaron, ‘When you place the seven lamps on the lampstand, make sure they shine towards the front.’”

Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick.

3 So that's what Aaron did. He placed the lamps facing towards the front of the lampstand, as the Lord had ordered Moses.

And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof [so as to give light] in front of the candlestick, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

4 The lampstand was made of hammered gold from its base to the flower decorations on the top, in accordance with the design that the Lord had shown Moses.

And this was the work of the candlestick, beaten work of gold; unto the base thereof, [and] unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work: according unto the pattern which Jehovah had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

5 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

6 “Separate the Levites from the other Israelites and purify them.

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

7 This is how you will purify them. Sprinkle on them the water of purification. They are to shave off all the hair from their bodies and wash their clothes so they will be clean.

And thus shalt thou do unto 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 Have them bring a young bull with its grain offering of the best flour mixed with olive oil, and you are to bring a second young bull as a sin offering.

Then let them take a young bullock, and its meal-offering, fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering.

9 Take the Levites and have them stand in front of the Tent of Meeting and have all the Israelites gather there.

And thou shalt present the Levites before the tent of meeting: and thou shalt assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel:

10 When you bring the Levites to the Lord the Israelites are to place their hands upon them.

and thou shalt present the Levites before Jehovah. And the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites:

11 Aaron shall present the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites so that they can do the Lord's work.

and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Jehovah for a wave-offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Jehovah.

12 The Levites are to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. One is to be sacrificed as a sin offering to the Lord, and the other as a burnt offering to set the Levites right with the Lord.

And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and offer thou the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, unto Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites.

13 Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present them to the Lord as a wave offering.

And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering unto Jehovah.

14 This is how you are to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to me.

Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine.

15 They can come and serve at the Tent of Meeting once you've purified them and presented them as a wave offering.

And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering.

16 The Levites have been completely given over to me by the Israelites. I have accepted them as mine in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites.

For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of all that openeth the womb, even the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 Every firstborn male in Israel belongs to me, both human and animal. I reserved them for myself at the time when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt.

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 I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites.

And I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel.

19 Of all the Israelites, the Levites are a gift from me to Aaron and his sons to serve the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting, and on their behalf to set them right, so that nothing bad will happen to them when they come to the sanctuary.”

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 unto the sanctuary.

20 Moses, Aaron, and all the Israelites did everything that the Lord had ordered Moses that they should do regarding the Levites.

Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the Levites: according unto all that Jehovah commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering to the Lord. Aaron also presented the sacrifice to make them right with the Lord so they would be clean.

And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes: and Aaron offered them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

22 Afterwards the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Aaron and his sons. They followed all the instructions regarding the Levites that the Lord had given to Moses.

And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

23 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

24 “This rule applies to the Levites. Those twenty-five or older shall serve at the Tent of Meeting.

This is that which belongeth unto 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:

25 However, once they reach the age of fifty they need to retire from the work and won't serve any longer.

and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the work, and shall serve no more,

26 They can still help their fellow Levites in their assignments, but they are not to do the actual work themselves. These are the arrangements in the case of the Levites.”

but shall minister with their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charges.