Numbers 8

₁The Lord said to Moses: ₂‘You must talk to Aaron and tell him that when he puts the lamps on the lamp-stand, the 7 lights must shine to the front.’

₃Aaron did it. He put 7 lamps at the front of the lamp-stand as the Lord told Moses. ₄They made the lamp-stand from gold which they beat with a hammer. The bottom, the flowers and the flower-buds on the lamps were made of gold. Moses made the lamp-stand as the Lord had shown him.

₅The Lord said to Moses: ₆‘You must take all the Levites who live among the Israelites away and you must purify them. ₇This is how you must purify them: You must take water and sprinkle it over them. They must shave off all the hair on their bodies and they must wash their clothes and clean themselves. ₈Then they must take a young bull with the grain-offering. It must be the best flour that they have and they must mix it with olive oil, and you must take a young bull for the sin-offering. ₉Let the Levites come to you in front of the tent where I appear to the Israelites and you must call all the people of the congregation of the Israelites to come together. ₁₀When the Levites come to Me, the Israelites must put their hands on the Levites ₁₁and Aaron must make the Levites move in front of Me as a move-offering, so that they can work for Me. ₁₂The Levites must put their hands on the heads of the bulls and Aaron must sacrifice the bulls for Me. One bull is for a sin-offering and the other bull is for a burnt-offering. These offerings are to make atonement for the Levites. ₁₃You must tell the Levites to work for Aaron and his sons and you must make them move to the side, and then to the other side, as a move-offering for Me.

₁₄This is how you must take the Levites away from the other Israelites. The Levites must belong to Me. ₁₅After you have purified the Levites and made them move in front of Me as a move-offering, they may go and work in the tent where I appear to the Israelites, ₁₆because the Levites belong to Me. The Israelites gave them to Me in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel. I have taken the Levites to belong to Me. ₁₇All the firstborn sons and firstborn animals of the Israelites are mine. I consecrated them for Myself when I killed the firstborn sons and firstborn animals of the Egyptians. ₁₈But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, ₁₉and I have taken the Levites away from the other Israelites. I have given them to Aaron and his sons to work in the tent where I appear to the Israelites. I have given the Levites to make atonement for the Israelites, but if the Israelites come too near the tent of the Lord, they will die.’

₂₀Moses and Aaron and the all the people of the congregation of Israel did everything to the Levites that the Lord had told them to do. ₂₁The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes and Aaron made them move in front of the Lord as a move-offering to the Lord. Aaron made atonement for the Levites to purify them. ₂₂After that, the Levites came to Aaron and his sons to work in the tent of the Lord. They did with the Levites as the Lord had told Moses. ₂₃The Lord said to Moses: ₂₄‘There is a law and all the Levites must obey this law. This law says that everyone who is 25 years old or older must work at the tent where I appear to the Israelites, ₂₅but everyone who is 50 years old or older must stop working. ₂₆They may help the other Levites to do the work, but they must not do the work themselves. This is what you must tell the Levites about how they must do their work.’