Numbers 8

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 'Speak to Aaron and say, "When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps must throw their light towardsthe front of the lamp-stand." '	2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
3 Aaron did this. He set up the lamps to the front of the lamp-stand, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.
4 This lamp-stand was worked in beaten gold, including its stem and its petals, which were also ofbeaten gold. This lamp-stand had been made according to the pattern Yahweh had shown to Moses.	4 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.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
6 'Separate the Levites from the Israelites and purify them.	6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
7 This is how you must purify them: you wil sprinkle them with purifying water, and they wil shave theirbodies al over and wash their clothes. They will then be clean.	7 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.
8 They wil then take a young bul , with the accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, andyou wil take a second young bull for a sacrifice for sin.	8 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.
9 You wil then bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting, and assemble the whole community ofIsraelites.	9 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:
10 Once you have brought the Levites before Yahweh, the Israelites wil lay their hands on them.	10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
11 Aaron wil then offer the Levites, making the gesture of offering before Yahweh on behalf of theIsraelites, admitting them to Yahweh's service.	11 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.
12 'The Levites will then lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, one of which you wil offer as asacrifice for sin, and the other as a burnt offering to Yahweh, to perform the rite of expiation for the Levites.	12 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.
13 Having brought the Levites before Aaron and his sons, you wil present them to Yahweh with thegesture of offering.	13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.
14 That is how you wil set the Levites apart from the Israelites, for them to be mine.	14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.
15 The Levites wil then begin their ministry in the Tent of Meeting. 'You wil purify them and offer themwith the gesture of offering	15 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.
16 because, of the Israelites, they have been dedicated to me in place of al those who first emerge fromthe womb, instead of the first-born; of al the Israelites, I have taken them for my own.	16 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.
17 For al the first-born of the Israelites, whether human or animal, do indeed belong to me: the day Istruck down al the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated them to myself,	17 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.
18 and now, in place of al the first-born of the Israelites, I have taken the Levites.	18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
19 Of the Israelites, I give the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as dedicated men, to minister in the Tent ofMeeting on behalf of the Israelites and perform the rite of expiation for them, so that no disaster befal s theIsraelites when the Israelites come close to the sanctuary.'	19 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.
20 Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israelites dealt with the Levites exactly as Yahweh hadordered Moses concerning them; this is what the Israelites did with them.	20 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.
21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them with thegesture of offering before Yahweh. He then performed the rite of expiation for them to purify them.	21 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.
22 The Levites were then al owed to perform their ministry in the Tent of Meeting in the presence ofAaron and his sons. As Yahweh had ordered Moses concerning the Levites, so it was done with 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 did they unto them.
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 'This concerns the Levites. From the age of twenty-five onwards, the Levite will exercise his ministryand do duty in the Tent of Meeting.	24 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:
25 After the age of fifty, he is no longer bound to the ministry; he wil have no further duties;	25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:
26 but he will stil help his brothers to assure the services in the Tent of Meeting, though he himself willno longer have any ministry. That is how you wil act as regards the ministry of the Levites.'	26 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.