Numbers

8 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

2 Speak unto Aaron, and thou shalt say unto him,—When thou lightest up the lamps over against the front of the lampstand, shall the seven lamps give light.

3 And Aaron did so, over against the front of the lampstand lighted he up the lamps thereof,—As Yahweh commanded Moses.

4 Now, this was the work of the lampstand—beaten work of gold, both in the shaft thereof and in the flowers thereof was it beaten work, according to the appearance which Yahweh caused to appear unto Moses, so made he the lampstand.

5 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

6 Take the Levites, out of the midst of the sons of Israel,—and thou shalt purify them.

7 And thus shalt thou do unto them to purify them, sprinkle upon them sin-cleansing water,—then shall they cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and shall wash their clothes and so make themselves pure.

8 Then shall they take a choice young bullock, with the meal-offering thereof, even fine meal overflowed with oil,—and a second choice young bullock shalt thou take as a sin-bearer.

9 Then shalt thou bring the Levites near before the tent of meeting,—and shalt call together all the assembly of the sons of Israel;

10 and shalt bring the Levites near before Yahweh,—and the sons of Israel shall lean their hands upon the Levites;

11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites as a wave-offering before Yahweh, from among the sons of Israel,—so shall they be for performing the laborious work of Yahweh.

12 And the Levites shall lean their hands upon the head of the bullocks; then make thou of the one a sin-bearer, and of the other an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh, to put a propitiatory-covering over the Levites.

13 Thus shalt thou cause the Levites to stand before Aaron and before his sons,—thus shalt thou offer them as a wave-offering unto Yahweh;

14 thus shalt thou separate the Levites out of the midst of the sons of Israel,—thus shall the Levites become mine.

15 And after that shall the Levites enter to do the labour of the tent of meeting,—so shalt thou purify them, and offer them as a wave-offering.

16 For given, given they are unto me, out of the midst of the sons of Israel,—instead of every firstborn that a mother beareth from among the sons of Israel have I taken them unto me.

17 For mine is every firstborn among the sons of Israel, among men and among beasts,—on the day when I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, did I hallow them unto me.

18 Therefore have I taken the Levites,—instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel;

19 therefore have I given the Levites as a gift unto Aaron and unto his sons out of the midst of the sons of Israel, to do the laborious work of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to put a propitiatory-covering over the sons of Israel,—so shall there be among the sons of Israel no plague, by the coming nigh of the sons of Israel unto the sanctuary.

20 And Moses and Aaron and all the assembly of the sons of Israel did thus unto the Levites,—according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses as touching the Levites, so did the sons of Israel unto them.

21 And the Levites accepted the cleansing from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave-offering before Yahweh,—and Aaron put a propitiatory-covering over them to make them pure.

22 And after that, went the Levites in to do their laborious work in the tent of meeting, before Aaron and before his sons,—as Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

23 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying;

24 This is what concerneth the Levites,—from twenty-five years old and upwards shall they enter to take rank in the host, for doing the laborious work of the tent of meeting;

25 but from the age of fifty years shall they retire from taking rank in the labour, and shall do laborious work no more;

26 yet shall they wait upon their brethren in the tent of meeting by keeping charge, but laborious work shall they not perform,—thus shalt thou do unto the Levites as touching their charges.