Numbers Chapter 8

Numbers Chapter 8
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him,
When thou lightest the lamps, the seven
lamps shall give light toward the
forefront of the candlestick. 3 And
Aaron did so, lighting the lamps thereof
toward the forefront of the candlestick,
as the Lord had commanded Moses.
4 And this was the work of the
candlestick, even of gold beaten out with
the hammer, both the shaft, and the
flowers thereof was beaten out with the
hammer: according to the pattern, which
the Lord had showed Moses, so made he
the candlestick.
5 And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying,
6 Take the Levites from among the
children of Israel, and purify them. 7
And thus shalt thou do unto them, when
thou purifiest them, sprinkle water of
purification upon them, and let them
shave all their flesh, and wash their
clothes: so they shall be clean.
8 Then they shall take a young bullock
with his meat offering of fine flour,
mingled with oil, and another young
bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
9 Then thou shalt bring the Levites
before the tabernacle of the
congregation, and assemble all the
congregation of the children of Israel.
10 Thou shalt bring the Levites also
before the Lord, and the children of
Israel shall put their hands upon the
Levites.
11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites
before the Lord, as a shake offering of
the children of Israel, that they may
execute the service of the Lord. 12 And
the Levites shall put their hands upon the
heads of the bullocks, and make thou the
one a sin offering, and the other a burnt
offering unto the Lord, that thou mayest
make an atonement for the Levites.
13 And thou shalt set the Levites before
Aaron and before his sons, and offer
them as a shake offering to the Lord.
14 Thus thou shalt separate the Levites
from among the children of Israel, and
the Levites shall be mine.
15 And afterward shall the Levites go in,
to serve in the tabernacle of the
congregation, and thou shalt purify them
and offer them, as a shake offering. 16
For they are freely given unto me from
among the children of Israel, for such as
open any womb: for all the firstborn of
the children of Israel have I taken them
unto me.
17 For all the firstborn of the children of
Israel are mine, both of man and of
beast: since the day that I smote every
firstborn in the land of Egypt, I
sanctified them for myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites for all
the firstborn of the children of Israel, 19
And have given the Levites as a gift unto
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
near unto the sanctuary.
20 Then Moses and Aaron and all the
congregation of the children of Israel did
with the Levites, according unto all that
the Lord had commanded Moses
concerning the Levites: so did the
children of Israel unto them. 21 So the
Levites were purified, and washed their
clothes, and Aaron offered them as a
shake offering before the Lord, and
Aaron made an atonement for them, to
purify them.
22 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 they
did unto them.
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying,
24 This also belongeth to the Levites:
from five and twenty year old and
upward, they shall go in, to execute their
office in the service of the tabernacle of
the congregation.
25 And after the age of fifty year, they
shall cease from executing the office,
and shall serve no more:
26 But they shall minister with their
brethren in the tabernacle of the
congregation, to keep things committed
to their charge, but they shall do no
service: thus shalt thou do unto the
Levites touching their charges.