Numbers 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lighting in the Tabernacle
8 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.” 3 So Aaron did this; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 This is the way the lampstand was made: it was a hammered work of gold, hammered from its base to its flower petals. The lampstand was made according to the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.(A)
Consecration of the Levites
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and ceremonially cleanse them. 7 This is what you must do to them for their purification: Sprinkle them with the purification water.(B) Have them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.(C)
8 “They are to take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire Israelite community.(D) 10 Then present the Levites before the Lord, and have the Israelites lay their hands on them. 11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a presentation offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the Lord’s work.(E) 12 Next the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.(F)
13 “You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you are to present them before the Lord as a presentation offering. 14 In this way you are to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites so that the Levites will belong to Me.(G) 15 After that the Levites may come to serve at the tent of meeting, once you have ceremonially cleansed them and presented them as a presentation offering.(H) 16 For they have been exclusively assigned to Me from the Israelites.(I) I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, every Israelite firstborn.(J) 17 For every firstborn among the Israelites is Mine, both man and animal. I consecrated them to Myself(K) on the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt. 18 But I have taken the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Israelites. 19 From the Israelites, I have given the Levites exclusively to Aaron and his sons to perform the work for the Israelites at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.”(L)
20 Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community did this to the Levites. The Israelites did everything to them the Lord commanded Moses regarding the Levites. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented[a] them before the Lord as a presentation offering. Aaron also made atonement for them to ceremonially cleanse them. 22 After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. So they did to them as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
23 The Lord spoke to Moses: 24 “In regard to the Levites: From 25 years old or more, a man enters the service in the work at the tent of meeting.(M) 25 But at 50 years old he is to retire from his service in the work and no longer serve. 26 He may assist his brothers to fulfill responsibilities[b] at the tent of meeting,(N) but he must not do the work. This is how you are to deal with the Levites regarding their duties.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:21 Lit waved
- Numbers 8:26 Or to keep guard
Numbers 8
New International Reader's Version
Aaron Sets Up the Lamps
8 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to Aaron, ‘Set up the seven lamps. They will light up the area in front of the lampstand.’ ”
3 So Aaron did it. He set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand. He did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 The lampstand was made out of hammered gold. From its base to its blooms it was made out of hammered gold. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.
Moses Sets Apart the Levites
5 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 6 “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites. Make them ‘clean’ in the usual way. 7 Here is how to make them pure. Sprinkle the special water on them. Then have them shave their whole bodies. Also have them wash their clothes. That is how they will make themselves pure. 8 Have them get a young bull along with its grain offering. The offering must be made out of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then you must get a second young bull. You must sacrifice it as a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting. Gather the whole community of Israel together. 10 You must bring the Levites to me. The Israelites must place their hands on them. 11 Aaron must bring the Levites to me. They are a wave offering from the Israelites. That is how they will be set apart to do my work.
12 “Then I want the Levites to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. They must sacrifice one bull as a sin offering to me. And they must sacrifice the other as a burnt offering. The blood of the bulls will pay for the sin of the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Then give them as a wave offering to me. 14 That is how I want you to set apart the Levites from the other Israelites. The Levites will belong to me.
15 “Make the Levites pure. Give them to me as a wave offering. Then they must come to do their work at the tent of meeting. 16 They are the Israelites who will be given to me completely. I have taken them to be my own. I have taken them in place of every son born first in his family in Israel. 17 Every male born first in Israel belongs to me. That is true whether it is a human or an animal. In Egypt I struck down all the males born first to their mothers. Then I set apart for myself all the males born first in Israel. 18 And I have taken the Levites in place of all the sons born first in Israel. 19 I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from among all the Israelites. I have appointed them to do the work at the tent of meeting. They will do it in place of the Israelites. That is how they will keep the Israelites from being guilty when they go near the sacred tent. Then no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the tent.”
20 So Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21 The Levites made themselves pure. They washed their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the Lord as a wave offering. That’s how he paid for their sin to make them pure. 22 After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting. They worked under the direction of Aaron and his sons. And so Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Here is what the Levites must do. Men 25 years old or more must come and take part in the work at the tent of meeting. 25 But when they reach the age of 50, they must not work any longer. They must stop doing their regular work. 26 They can help their brothers with their duties at the tent of meeting. But they themselves should not do the work. That is how you must direct the Levites to do their work.”
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