Numbers 8

1 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you set the lamps in place, the seven lamps are to give their light out in front of the lampstand.” 3 And Aaron did so: he lit its lamps on the one side, out in front of the lampstand, as the Lord had ordered Moses. 4 And this is how the lampstand was made: hammered gold — its stem and its lilies, all of it hammered work. Moses made the lampstand according to the pattern the Lord had shown him. [a]

5 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 6 “Take the Levites out of the middle of the children of Israel and make them clean. 7 And this is how you are to do their cleansing: sprinkle them with the water of cleansing, and let a razor go over their whole body, and let them wash their clothes; and they will be clean. [b] 8 And they are to take one young bull from the herd, and with it its sacrifice of fine flour mixed with oil; and you are to take a year-old bull from the herd for the sin. 9 And you are to bring the Levites in front of the tent of witness, and gather the whole gathering of the children of Israel; 10 and you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel are to lay their hands on the Levites. 11 And Aaron is to set the Levites apart before the Lord as a gift from the children of Israel, and they are to be ready to do the work of the Lord. 12 And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; and you are to make one of them for the sin and the other a whole burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them. 13 And you are to set the Levites before the Lord and before Aaron and before his sons, and give them as a gift before the Lord. 14 And you are to set the Levites apart from the middle of the children of Israel, and they are to be mine. 15 And after that the Levites are to go in to do the work of the tent of witness; and you are to make them clean and present them before the Lord.

16 For they are given to me as a gift out of the middle of the children of Israel. I have taken them for myself in place of all the firstborn of the children of Israel, all that open the womb. 17 For every firstborn among the children of Israel is mine, of man and of animal alike. On the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I made them holy to myself, 18 and I took the Levites in place of every firstborn among the children of Israel. 19 And I gave the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the middle of the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tent of witness and to make atonement for the children of Israel — so that there will be no one among the children of Israel who comes near the holy things.”

20 And Moses and Aaron and the whole gathering of the children of Israel did to the Levites everything the Lord had commanded Moses about the Levites. That is what the children of Israel did to them. 21 So the Levites made themselves clean and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a gift before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to make them clean. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of witness before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had ordered Moses about the Levites, so they did to them.

23 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites. From twenty-five years old and up they are to go in and work in the tent of witness; 25 and from fifty years old a Levite is to stand down from the work of the service and work no longer. 26 And his brother is to do the work of the service in the tent of witness, keeping the charge — but the older man is not to do the work. This is how you are to deal with the Levites in their charges.” [c]