1 T he Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord said to Moses,

2 “ Say to Aaron, ‘When you put the seven lamps on the lamp-stand, they should give light in front of the lamp-stand.’”

Say to Aaron, When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps shall be made to give light in front of the lampstand.

3 A nd Aaron did so. He put the lamps so they would give light in front of the lamp-stand, as the Lord had told Moses.

And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps of the lampstand to give light in front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.

4 N ow this is the way the lamp-stand was made. It was made of beaten gold from the base to its flowers. He made the lamp-stand the way the Lord had shown Moses. The Levites Are Set Apart

And this was the workmanship of the candlestick: beaten or turned gold, beaten work from its base to its flowers; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

5 T hen the Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord said to Moses,

6 “ Take the Levites from among the people of Israel, and make them clean.

Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.

7 T o make them clean, put holy water on them that takes away sin. Let them cut all the hair from their body, and wash their clothes, and they shall be clean.

And thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them pass a razor over all their flesh and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

8 T hen let them take a young bull and its grain gift of fine flour mixed with oil. Take another young bull for a sin gift.

Then let them take a young bull and its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering.

9 B ring the Levites in front of the meeting tent and gather together all the people of Israel also.

You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and you shall assemble the whole Israelite congregation.

10 B ring the Levites before the Lord and the people of Israel will lay their hands on the Levites.

And you shall present the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites shall put their hands upon the Levites,

11 A aron will give the Levites to the Lord as a wave gift from the people of Israel so they will be able to do the work of the Lord.

And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites and on their behalf, that they may do the service of the Lord.

12 T he Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. They will give one for a sin gift and the other for a burnt gift to the Lord, to pay for the sins of the Levites.

Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

13 T hen have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, to give them as a wave gift to the Lord.

And you shall present the Levites before Aaron and his sons and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.

14 “ So you will divide the Levites from the people of Israel. And the Levites will be Mine.

Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine.

15 A fter that the Levites may go in to work in the meeting tent. But you must make them clean and give them as a wave gift.

And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the Tent of Meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.

16 F or they are all given to Me from among the people of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first child to be born, the first-born of all the people of Israel.

For they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites; instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites for Myself.

17 F or every first-born among the people of Israel is Mine, both of man and animal. I set them apart for Myself on the day that I killed all the first-born in the land of Egypt.

For all the firstborn of the Israelites are Mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated them and set them apart for Myself.

18 B ut I have taken the Levites instead of every first-born among the people of Israel.

And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites.

19 A nd I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel. They will do the work of the people of Israel at the meeting tent. By this they take away the sins of the people of Israel. So no trouble will come upon the people of Israel if they come near the meeting tent.”

And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites to do the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement for them, that there may be no plague among the Israelites if they should come near the sanctuary.

20 M oses and Aaron and all the people of Israel did this to the Levites. The people of Israel did to them all the things the Lord had told Moses about the Levites.

So Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the Israelites did thus to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning, so did the Israelites to them.

21 T he Levites made themselves pure, putting away their sin. And they washed their clothes. Aaron gave them as a wave gift before the Lord. He did what had to be done to pay for their sin so they would be clean.

The Levites cleansed and purified themselves and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

22 A fter that the Levites went in to do their work in the meeting tent in front of Aaron and his sons. So they did to the Levites just what the Lord had told Moses to do.

And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting with the attendance of Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them.

23 T he Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord said to Moses,

24 “ This is the rule for the Levites. Those who are twenty-five years old and older will go in to do the work of the meeting tent.

This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the work of the service of the Tent of Meeting,

25 B ut when they are fifty years old they will stop these duties and not work any more.

And at the age of fifty years, they shall retire from the warfare of the service and serve no more,

26 T hey may help their brothers in the meeting tent to do what needs to be done but they themselves must not do the work. These are the rules for the Levites when giving them their duties.”

But shall help their brethren in the Tent of Meeting, but shall do no regular or heavy service. Thus shall you direct the Levites in regard to their duties.