[1] And the Lord said to Moses, [2] Say to Aaron, When you put the lights
in their places, the seven lights will give light in front of the support.
[3] And Aaron did so; he put the lights in their places so that they gave
light in front of the support, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. [4] The
support for the lights was of hammered gold work, from its base to its
flowers it was of hammered work; from the design which the Lord had given
to Moses, he made the support for the lights. [5] And the Lord said to
Moses, [6] Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make
them clean. [7] And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy
water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their
bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and
their bodies made clean. [8] Then let them take a young ox and its meal
offering, crushed grain mixed with oil, and take another ox for a
sin-offering. [9] And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of
meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together: [10] And you are
to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put
their hands on them: [11] And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a
wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's
work. [12] And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen,
and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a
burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites. [13] Then
the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a
wave offering to the Lord. [14] So you are to make the Levites separate
from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine. [15] After that,
the Levites will go in to do whatever has to be done in the Tent of
meeting; you are to make them clean and give them as a wave offering. [16]
For they have been given to me from among the children of Israel; in place
of every mother's first son, the first to come to birth in Israel, I have
taken them for myself. [17] For every mother's first son among the children
of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I
sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine.
[18] And in place of the first sons among the children of Israel, I have
taken the Levites. [19] And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons,
from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of
the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so
that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place. [20] All
these things Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel did to the Levites;
as the Lord gave orders to Moses about the Levites, so the children of
Israel did. [21] And the Levites were made clean from sin, and their
clothing was washed, and Aaron gave them for a wave offering before the
Lord; and Aaron took away their sin and made them clean. [22] And then the
Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of meeting before Aaron and
his sons: all the orders which the Lord had given Moses about the Levites
were put into effect. [23] And the Lord said to Moses, [24] This is the
rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in
and do the work of the Tent of meeting; [25] But after they are fifty years
old, they are to give up their work and do no more; [26] But be with their
brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This
is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
