Numbers 8

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying:

The Lord told Moses,

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.

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

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

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

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.

5 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

The Lord told Moses,

6 Take the Levites, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —and thou shalt purify them.

“Separate the Levites from the other Israelites and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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;

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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;

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

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

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

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,

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.”

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

23 And Yahweh spake unto Moses saying;

The Lord told Moses,

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

25 but from the age of fifty years, shall they retire from taking rank in the labour, and shall do laborious work no more;

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

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.”