Numbers 8

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	1 And the Lord spoke to 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 to Aaron, and you shall say to him: When you place the seven lamps, let the lampstand be set up on the south side. Therefore, give this instruction: that the lamps should look out from the region opposite the north, toward the table of the bread of the presence; they shall give light opposite that area, toward the area that the lampstand faces.”
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, and he placed the lamps on the lampstand, just as the Lord had instructed 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 Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand: it was of ductile gold, both the main shaft and all that originated from both sides of the branches. According to the example that the Lord revealed to Moses, so did he make the lampstand.
5 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6 'Separate the Levites from the Israelites and purify them.	6 “Take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and you shall 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 according to this ritual: Let them be sprinkled with the water of illumination, and let them shave off all the hairs of their body. And when they have washed their garments and have been cleansed,
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 an ox from the herd, with its libation of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil; then you shall receive another ox from the herd for sin.
9 You wil then bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting, and assemble the whole community ofIsraelites.	9 And you shall bring forward the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the sons of Israel.
10 Once you have brought the Levites before Yahweh, the Israelites wil lay their hands on them.	10 And when the Levites are before the Lord, the sons of Israel shall place 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 And Aaron shall offer the Levites as a gift in the sight of the Lord, from the sons of Israel, so that they may serve in his ministry.
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 Likewise, the Levites shall place their hands upon the heads of the oxen; you shall make use of one of these for sin, and the other as a holocaust to the Lord, so that you may intercede for them.
13 Having brought the Levites before Aaron and his sons, you wil present them to Yahweh with thegesture of offering.	13 And you shall set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and his sons, and you shall consecrate those being offered to the Lord,
14 That is how you wil set the Levites apart from the Israelites, for them to be mine.	14 and you shall separate them from the midst of the sons of Israel, so that they may be for me.
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 this, they shall enter the tabernacle of the covenant, in order to serve me. And so shall you purify and consecrate them as an oblation to the Lord. For they were given to me as a gift from the sons of Israel.
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 I have accepted them in place of the firstborn which open every womb in Israel.
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 sons of Israel, as much from men as from beasts, are mine. From the day when I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I have sanctified them to 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 in place of all the firstborn of the sons 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 delivered them as a gift to Aaron and his sons, from the midst of the people, in order to serve me, for Israel, in the tabernacle of the covenant, and in order to pray for them, lest there be a scourge among the people, if they were to dare to approach to my 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 multitude of the sons of Israel, accomplished all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
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 they were purified, and they washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and he prayed for 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 so that, having been purified, they might enter to their duties in the tabernacle of the covenant before Aaron and his sons. Just as the Lord had instructed Moses about the Levites, so was it done.
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	23 And the Lord spoke to 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 the law of the Levites: From twenty-five years and above, they shall enter to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.
25 After the age of fifty, he is no longer bound to the ministry; he wil have no further duties;	25 And when they will have completed the fiftieth year of age, they shall cease to serve.
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 And they shall be the ministers of their brothers in the tabernacle of the covenant, in order to care for the things that have been commended to them, but not to perform the works themselves. So shall you assign the Levites in their duties.”