Numbers 8
Legacy Standard Bible
The Seven Lamps
8 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you [a]mount the lamps, the seven lamps will (A)give light in the front of the lampstand.’” 3 Aaron therefore did so; he [b]mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 4 (B)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; (C)according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
Cleansing of the Levites
5 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (D)cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them, for their [c]cleansing: sprinkle [d]purifying (E)water on them, and let them [e](F)use a razor over their whole [f]body and (G)wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 8 Then let them take a bull from the herd with (H)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull from the herd you shall take for a sin offering. 9 So (I)you shall bring the Levites near before the tent of meeting. (J)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and bring the Levites near before Yahweh; and the sons of Israel (K)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [g]present the Levites before Yahweh as a (L)wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may be qualified to perform the service of Yahweh. 12 Now (M)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to Yahweh.
14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (N)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (O)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (P)wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (Q)instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (R)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 (S)And I have given the Levites as [h]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no (T)plague among the sons of Israel by [i]their coming near to the sanctuary.”
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (U)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Yahweh. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement of the Levites
23 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from (V)twenty-five years old and upward [j]they shall enter to perform their duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall [k]retire from their duty in the service and not serve anymore. 26 They may, however, minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting (W)in order to keep up their responsibility, but they themselves shall perform no service. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their responsibilities.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:2 Lit raise up
- Numbers 8:3 Lit raised up
- Numbers 8:7 Lit this their cleansing
- Numbers 8:7 Lit water of sin
- Numbers 8:7 Lit cause to pass
- Numbers 8:7 Lit flesh
- Numbers 8:11 Lit wave, so in ch
- Numbers 8:19 Lit given ones
- Numbers 8:19 Lit the sons of Israel’s
- Numbers 8:24 Lit he
- Numbers 8:25 Lit return
Numbers 8
Tree of Life Version
Parashat Beha’alotecha
Dedication of the Levites
8 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you erect the lamps, the seven lamps are to illuminate the area in front of the menorah.” 3 Aaron did so. He erected the lamps facing forward so they illuminated the area in front of the menorah, just as Adonai had commanded Moses. 4 Now this is how the menorah was made: hammered gold from its base to its blossoms. Just as was the pattern that Adonai had shown to Moses, so he made the menorah.
5 Again Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among Bnei-Yisrael and ceremonially cleanse them. 7 This is what you must do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle the purifying water on them,[a] then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, thus purifying themselves.
8 “Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and gather the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael. 10 Bring the Levites before Adonai, Bnei-Yisrael will lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron will present the Levites before Adonai as a wave offering from Bnei-Yisrael. Then they may go about the work of the service of Adonai.
12 “The Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Adonai to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to Adonai. 14 In this way you are to set apart the Levites from Bnei-Yisrael to be Mine. 15 After you have purified them and presented them as a wave offering, the Levites will come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. 16 For they are the ones from among Bnei-Yisrael given to Me in place of all the first from the wombs of Bnei-Yisrael. I have taken them for Myself.
17 “For every firstborn among Bnei-Yisrael is Mine, whether human or animal. On the day I struck down the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. [b] 18 So I am taking the Levites in place of the firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael, 19 and I am giving the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among Bnei-Yisrael, to do the work on behalf of Bnei-Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for them—so that there would be no plague among them for coming too close to the Sanctuary.”
20 So Moses, Aaron and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael did so with the Levites. All that Adonai had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so Bnei-Yisrael did to them. 21 The Levites also purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Adonai, and, he made atonement for them to purify them. 22 After that, the Levites came to do their tasks before Aaron and his sons in the Tent of Meeting, just as Adonai had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
23 Adonai again spoke to Moses saying, 24 “This is for the Levites. Men 25 years old and upward are to present themselves for service to work in the Tent of Meeting. 25 But at the age of 50 he is to retire from his service and work no longer. 26 He may assist his brothers in the Tent of Meeting to do their duties, but he himself will no longer do the work. Thus, you are to assign to the Levites their responsibilities.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:7 cf. Heb. 9:13-14.
- Numbers 8:18 cf. Luke 2:23.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.