Numbers 8
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Seven Lamps
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you [a]mount the lamps, the seven lamps will (A)give light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3 Aaron therefore did so; he [b]mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 (B)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; (C)according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing the Levites
5 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (D)cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them, for their [c]cleansing: sprinkle [d]purifying (E)water on them, and let them [e](F)use a razor over their whole [f]body and (G)wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 8 Then let them take a [g]bull with (H)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second [h]bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9 So (I)you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. (J)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel (K)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [i]present the Levites before the Lord as a (L)wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may [j]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12 Now (M)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (N)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (O)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (P)wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (Q)instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (R)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 (S)I have given the Levites as [k]a 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 (T)plague among the sons of Israel by [l]their coming near to the sanctuary.”
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (U)The 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. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement
23 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from (V)twenty-five years old and upward [m]they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall [n]retire from service in the work and not work any more. 26 They may, however, [o]assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, (W)to keep an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:2 Lit raise up
- Numbers 8:3 Lit raised up
- Numbers 8:7 Lit this their cleansing
- Numbers 8:7 Lit water of sin
- Numbers 8:7 Lit cause to pass
- Numbers 8:7 Lit flesh
- Numbers 8:8 Or bull of the herd
- Numbers 8:8 Or bull of the herd
- Numbers 8:11 Lit wave, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 8:11 Lit be able
- Numbers 8:19 Lit given ones
- Numbers 8:19 Lit the sons of Israel’s
- Numbers 8:24 Lit he
- Numbers 8:25 Lit return
- Numbers 8:26 Lit serve
Psalm 80:8-19
New American Standard Bible 1995
8 You removed a (A)vine from Egypt;
You (B)drove out the [a]nations and (C)planted it.
9 You (D)cleared the ground before it,
And it (E)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [b]the cedars of God with its (F)boughs.
11 It was sending out its branches (G)to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You (H)broken down its [c]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (I)eats it away
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, (J)turn again now, we beseech You;
(K)Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 Even the [d](L)shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And on the [e]son whom You have [f]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (M)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the (N)rebuke of Your countenance.
17 Let (O)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (P)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not (Q)turn back from You;
(R)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Lord God of hosts, (S)restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
Footnotes
- Psalm 80:8 Or Gentiles
- Psalm 80:10 Or its boughs are like the cedars of God
- Psalm 80:12 Or walls, fences
- Psalm 80:15 Or root
- Psalm 80:15 Or figuratively: branch
- Psalm 80:15 Or secured
- Psalm 80:19 Or that we may
Matthew 25:1-13
New American Standard Bible 1995
Parable of Ten Virgins
25 “Then (A)the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their (B)lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were (C)prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the (D)prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the (E)prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were (F)ready went in with him to (G)the wedding feast; and (H)the door was shut. 11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘(I)Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 (J)Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
