The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

⭑ King James Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

(Exodus 25:31–40; Exodus 37:17–24)

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.

And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

Cleansing the Levites

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.(a)

Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord : and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord .(b)

(c)

(d)

And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord , to make an atonement for the Levites.

And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord .

Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.

For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

And 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 tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.(e)

And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord ; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

Retirement for Levites

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:(f)

And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:(g)

But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

Footnotes

(a)8:7 let them shave…: Heb. let them cause a razor to pass over, etc

(b)8:11 offer: Heb. wave

(d)8:11 they…: Heb. they may be to execute, etc

(e)8:19 a gift: Heb. given

(f)8:24 to…: Heb. to war the warfare of, etc

(g)8:25 cease…: Heb. return from the warfare of the service

(Exodus 25:31–40; Exodus 37:17–24)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’”

Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as the LORD commanded Moses.

This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.

Cleansing the Levites

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

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.

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.

You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

You shall present the Levites before the LORD. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,

and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.

“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 the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the LORD.

Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

“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.

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.

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.

I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

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.”

Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the LORD and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement for Levites

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“This is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;

and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more,

but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties.”