Numbers 8

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 Speak to Aaron, and say to him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light opposite the lampstand.

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

3 And Aaron did so; he lighted its lamps opposite the lampstand, as the LORD 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 And this work of the lampstand was of beaten gold, to its shaft, to the flowers of it, was beaten work: according to the pattern which the LORD had showed Moses, so he made 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 the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

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

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

7 And thus shalt thou do to them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

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 let them take a young bull with its meat offering, even fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bull shalt thou take for a sin offering.

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 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

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

10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put 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 before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.

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 lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, to the LORD, to make an atonement for 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 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering to the LORD.

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 from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be 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 go in to perform the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an 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 they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them to 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 all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

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 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

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

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 tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there may be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to 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 congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel to 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 were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

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 perform their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to 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 the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

24 This is it that which pertaineth to the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

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

25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service of it, and shall serve no more:

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

26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do to the Levites concerning their charge.

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.”