Numbers 8

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	1 The LORD spoke to Moses, and said,
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 "Give Aaron this command: When you set up the seven lamps, have them throw their light toward the front of the lampstand."
3 Aaron did this. He set up the lamps to the front of the lamp-stand, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.	3 Aaron did so, setting up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had 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 The lampstand was made of beaten gold in both its shaft and its branches, according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	5 The LORD said to Moses:
6 'Separate the Levites from the Israelites and purify them.	6 "Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify 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 This is what you shall do to them to purify them. Sprinkle them with the water of remission; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.
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 They shall take a young bull, along with its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; you shall take another young bull 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 Then have the Levites come forward in front of the meeting tent, where you shall assemble also the whole community of the Israelites.
10 Once you have brought the Levites before Yahweh, the Israelites wil lay their hands on them.	10 While the Levites are present before the LORD, the Israelites shall lay their hands upon them.
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 Let Aaron then offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, thus devoting them to 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 The Levites in turn shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks, which shall then be immolated, the one as a sin offering and the other as a holocaust to the LORD, in 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 Thus, then, shall you have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the LORD;
14 That is how you wil set the Levites apart from the Israelites, for them to be mine.	14 and thus shall you set aside the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, that they may 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 "Only then shall the Levites enter upon their service in the meeting tent. You shall purify them and offer them as a wave 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 because they, among the Israelites, are strictly dedicated to me; I have taken them for myself in place of every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites.
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 Indeed, all the first-born among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, belong to me; I consecrated them to myself on the day I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt.
18 and now, in place of al the first-born of the Israelites, I have taken the Levites.	18 But in place of all the first-born Israelites I have taken the Levites;
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 these dedicated Israelites to Aaron and his sons to discharge the duties of the Israelites in the meeting tent and to make atonement for them, so that no plague may strike among the Israelites should they come near 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 Thus, then, did Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites deal with the Levites, carrying out exactly the command which the LORD had given Moses concerning 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 When the Levites had cleansed themselves of sin and washed their clothes, Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and made atonement for them to purify 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 Only then did they enter upon their service in the meeting tent under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. The command which the LORD had given Moses concerning the Levites was carried out.
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	23 The LORD said to Moses:
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 the rule for the Levites. Each from his twenty-fifth year onward shall perform the required service in the meeting tent.
25 After the age of fifty, he is no longer bound to the ministry; he wil have no further duties;	25 When he is fifty years old, he shall retire from the required service and work no longer.
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 His service with his fellow Levites shall consist in sharing their responsibilities in the meeting tent, but he shall not do the work. This, then, is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites."