Numbers 8:5-22
World English Bible
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7 You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8 Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9 You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10 You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.
12 “The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. 14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.
15 “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16 For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. 17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 19 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 Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”
20 Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 21 The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
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Numbers 8:5-22
International Standard Version
Purifying the Descendants of Levi
5 Then the Lord told Moses, 6 “Take the descendants of Levi from the Israelis and purify them. 7 This is what you are to do for them in order to purify them: Sprinkle purifying water over them, have them shave their skin, and then have them wash their garments, and they will be purified. 8 They are to take a young bull along with its meal offering made of flour mixed with oil. Then you are to take a second young bull as a sin offering. 9 Assemble the descendants of Levi in front of the appointed place of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of Israel, too. 10 Bring the descendants of Levi into the Lord’s presence and have the Israelis lay their hands on the descendants of Levi.
11 “Then Aaron is to present the descendants of Levi as a wave offering before the Lord from the Israelis, because they are to work in the service of the Lord. 12 The descendants of Levi are then to lay their hands on the head of the bulls, offering one for a sin offering and the other one for a burnt offering to the Lord to atone for the descendants of Levi. 13 You are to make the descendants of Levi stand in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Then you are to wave them as wave offerings to the Lord. 14 This is how you are to separate the descendants of Levi from among the Israelis. The descendants of Levi belong to me.
15 “After this, the descendants of Levi are to come to serve at the appointed place of meeting, after you have purified them and presented them as wave offerings, 16 since they’ve been set apart for me from among the Israelis. I’ve taken them for myself instead of the first to open the womb—every firstborn of the Israelis, 17 since every firstborn of Israel belongs to me, from human beings to livestock. On the same day that I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated them to myself, 18 taking the descendants of Levi instead of every firstborn of the Israelis. 19 I’ve set the descendants of Levi apart from the Israelis so that Aaron and his sons would work in service at the appointed place of meeting, making atonement on behalf of the Israelis so that there won’t be a plague among the Israelis whenever they approach the sanctuary.”
20 So Moses and Aaron and the Israelis did this on behalf of the descendants of Levi. The Israelis did everything that the Lord commanded concerning the descendants of Levi. 21 The descendants of Levi therefore purified themselves, washed their clothes, and then Aaron presented them as wave offerings to the Lord. Aaron provided atonement for them to purify them. 22 After this, the descendants of Levi entered into their work of service at the appointed place, in the presence of Aaron and his sons. They did everything that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the descendants of Levi.
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