Numbers 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8
The Menorah. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to Aaron and say: “When you set up the menorah-lamps,(A) have the seven lamps throw their light in front of the menorah.”[a] 3 Aaron did so, setting up the menorah-lamps to face the area in front of the menorah, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 This is the construction of the menorah: hammered gold,(B) from its base to its bowls[b] it was hammered; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the menorah.
Purification of the Levites. 5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.[c] 7 This is what you shall do to them to cleanse them. Sprinkle them with the water of purification, have them shave their whole bodies and wash their garments, and so cleanse themselves. 8 Then they shall take a bull from the herd, along with its grain offering of bran flour mixed with oil; and you shall take another bull from the herd for a purification offering. 9 Bringing the Levites before the tent of meeting, you shall assemble also the whole community of the Israelites. 10 When you have brought the Levites before the Lord, the Israelites shall lay their hands upon them. 11 Aaron shall then present the Levites before the Lord as an elevated offering from the Israelites, that they may perform the service of the Lord. 12 The Levites in turn shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offering one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you shall present them as an elevated offering to the Lord; 14 thus you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites shall belong to me.(C)
15 Only then shall the Levites enter upon their service in the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and presented them as an elevated offering. 16 For they, among the Israelites, are totally dedicated to me; I have taken them for myself in place of everyone that opens the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites.(D) 17 Indeed, all the firstborn among the Israelites, human being and beast alike, belong to me; I consecrated them to myself on the day I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.(E) 18 But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn Israelites; 19 and from among the Israelites I have given to Aaron and his sons these Levites, who are to be dedicated,(F) to perform the service of the Israelites in the tent of meeting and to make atonement for them, so that no plague may strike among the Israelites should they come too near the sanctuary.
20 This, then, is what Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites did with respect to the Levites; the Israelites did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning them. 21 When the Levites had purified themselves[d] and washed their garments, Aaron presented them as an elevated offering before the Lord, and made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Only then did they enter upon their service in the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. Exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so it was done with regard to them.
Age Limits for Levitical Service. 23 The Lord said to Moses: 24 This is the rule for the Levites. Everyone twenty-five years old or more shall join the personnel in the service of the tent of meeting.(G) 25 But everyone fifty on up shall retire from the work force and serve no more. 26 They shall assist their fellow Levites in the tent of meeting in performing their duties, but they shall not do the work. This, then, is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.
Footnotes
- 8:2 Menorah: a seven-branched lampstand; see Ex 25:31–40; 37:17–24.
- 8:4 Bowls: lit., “blossom,” a designation for the blossom-shaped cups holding the lamps of the menorah.
- 8:6 Cleanse them: in the language of the Pentateuch only the priests were “consecrated,” that is, made sacred or set aside for the Lord, in an elaborate ceremony described in Ex 29 and in this chapter. The Levites were “cleansed,” that is, made ritually clean for their special work.
- 8:21 Purified themselves: by having the “water of purification” sprinkled on them as prescribed in v. 7.
Numbers 8
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 36: B’ha‘alotkha (When you set up) 8:1–12:16
8 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell Aharon, ‘When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to cast their light forward, in front of the menorah.’” 3 Aharon did this: he lit its lamps so as to give light in front of the menorah, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. 4 Here is how the menorah was made: it was hammered gold from its base to its flowers, hammered work, following the pattern Adonai had shown Moshe. This is how he made the menorah.
5 Adonai said to Moshe, 6 “Take the L’vi’im from among the people of Isra’el and cleanse them. 7 Here is how you are to cleanse them: sprinkle the purification water on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor, and have them wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8 Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering, which is to be fine flour mixed with olive oil; while you take another bull for a sin offering. 9 You are to present the L’vi’im in front of the tent of meeting, and assemble the entire community of the people of Isra’el. 10 You will present the L’vi’im before Adonai, the people of Isra’el will lay their hands on the L’vi’im, 11 and Aharon will offer the L’vi’im before Adonai as a wave offering from the people of Isra’el, so that they may do Adonai’s service. 12 The L’vi’im will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; the one you will offer as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to Adonai to make atonement for the L’vi’im. 13 You are to place the L’vi’im before Aharon and his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Adonai. 14 In this way you will separate the L’vi’im from the people of Isra’el, and the L’vi’im will belong to me.
(ii) 15 “After that, the L’vi’im will enter and do the service of the tent of meeting. You will cleanse them and offer them as a wave offering, 16 because they are entirely given to me from among the people of Isra’el; I have taken them for myself in place of all those who come first out of the womb, that is, the firstborn males of the people of Isra’el. 17 For all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el are mine, both humans and animals; on the day I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set them apart for myself. 18 But I have taken the L’vi’im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, 19 and I have given the L’vi’im to Aharon and his sons from among the people of Isra’el to do the service of the people of Isra’el in the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Isra’el, so that no plague will fall on the people of Isra’el in consequence of their coming too close to the sanctuary.”
20 This is what Moshe, Aharon and all the community of the people of Isra’el did to the L’vi’im. The people of Isra’el acted in accordance with everything that Adonai had ordered Moshe in regard to the L’vi’im. 21 The L’vi’im purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aharon offered them as a holy gift before Adonai and made atonement for them in order to cleanse them. 22 After that, the L’vi’im came to do their service in the tent of meeting in front of Aharon and his sons; they acted in accordance with Adonai’s orders to Moshe in regard to the L’vi’im.
23 Adonai said to Moshe, 24 “Here are instructions concerning the L’vi’im: when they reach the age of twenty-five, they are to begin performing their duties serving in the tent of meeting; 25 and when they reach the age of fifty, they are to stop performing this work and not serve any longer. 26 They will assist their brothers who are performing their duties in the tent of meeting, but they themselves will not do any of the work. This is what you are to do with the L’vi’im in regard to their duties.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.