Numbers 8

8 ¹ Our Father spoke to Moses, saying:

² Say to Aaron: When you mount the lamps, the seven must shine before the lampstand.

³ Aaron did so, lighting its lamps to shine toward the lampstand's front, as our Father commanded Moses. ⁴ The lampstand's work: hammered gold, hammered from base to blossoms — made exactly as our Father showed Moses.

Set Apart for Our Father

⁵ Our Father spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶ "Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them." ⁷ To cleanse them, do this: sprinkle purification water on them, run a razor over their whole body, wash their clothes, and be clean. ^a a v7 The water of purification was a special cleansing water used in the Levites' setting-apart, marking them as made clean to serve in our Father's presence. ⁸ Let them take a young bull from the herd, its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take a second young bull from the herd for a sin offering. ⁹ Bring the Levites before the tent of meeting, and gather the whole community of Israel's people. ¹⁰ When you present the Levites before me, Israelites shall lay hands on the Levites, ¹¹ Aaron shall wave the Levites before me, an offering from the Israelites, to do my service. ¹² The Levites will lay their hands on the bulls' heads; offer one as a sin offering, one as a burnt offering to me, to atone for the Levites. ¹³ Set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and present them to me as a wave offering. ¹⁴ Separate the Levites from among Israel's people; the Levites are mine. ¹⁵ Then the Levites will enter to serve the tent of meeting, once you've cleansed and waved them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are fully given to me from among Israel's sons, in place of every womb-opener—firstborn of all Israel's sons—I took them for myself. ¹⁷ All Israel's firstborn, human or animal, are mine; the day I struck all Egypt's firstborn, I set them apart for myself. ¹⁸ "And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the people of Israel." ¹⁹ I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons, a gift from Israel's people, to serve Israel's people at the tent of meeting, atone for Israel's people, so no plague strikes Israel's people nearing the sanctuary.

²⁰ Moses, Aaron, and Israel's whole assembly did to the Levites all our Father commanded Moses about the Levites; Israel's people did to them. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves from sin, washed their clothes; Aaron offered them as a wave offering before our Father, atoned for them to cleanse them. ²² After that, the Levites came to serve in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; they did to the Levites as our Father commanded Moses.

²³ Our Father spoke to Moses, saying:

²⁴ This applies to the Levites: from age twenty-five, they shall come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting. ²⁵ From age fifty they must retire from service work and serve no longer. ²⁶ They may assist their brothers at the tent of meeting by standing guard, but do no work. This is how you are to assign the Levites' duties.