The Lamps of the Tabernacle

¹YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lamp stand.’”

³Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as YHWH commanded Moses.

⁴This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which YHWH had shown Moses.

Consecration of the Levites

⁵YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

⁷You are to do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.

⁸Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you are to take for a sin offering.

⁹You are to bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

¹⁰You are to present the Levites before YHWH, and the children of Israel are to lay their hands on the Levites,

¹¹and Aaron is to present the Levites before YHWH for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of YHWH.

¹²“The Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to YHWH, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³You are to set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to YHWH.

¹⁴In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the children of Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵“After that, the Levites are to go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You are to cleanse them and offer them as a wave offering.

¹⁶For they are given-given to me from among the children of Israel. I have taken them to myself, instead of taking from those who open the womb first, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.

¹⁷For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself.

¹⁸I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

¹⁹I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”

²⁰Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that YHWH commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

²¹The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before YHWH and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as YHWH had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“Regarding the Levites: from twenty-five years old or more they are to enter to perform the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;

²⁵and from the age of fifty years they must retire from service and work no more,

²⁶but may assist their brothers at the Tent of Meeting, to performing the duty, but not perform the work. This is how you are to assign the duties of the Levites.”