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Numbers 8
EasyEnglish Bible
Numbers 8
EasyEnglish Bible
The special lampstand
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you put the lamps on the lampstand, the seven lamps must give light in front of the lampstand.” ’
3 So Aaron did that. He put its lamps at the front of the lampstand, as the Lord had said to Moses. 4 A worker had made the lampstand from one piece of gold that he had made flat with a hammer. From its base to the flowers at the top, he had made it in that way. It was completely like the lampstand that the Lord had shown to Moses.[a]
The Levites must be ready to serve God
5 Again the Lord spoke to Moses and he said, 6 ‘Take the Levites from among the Israelites and make them clean. 7 You will make them clean like this: Put on them the special water that makes people clean. They must remove all the hair from their whole body, and they must wash their clothes. Then they will be clean. 8 Then they must take a bull with the proper grain offering and oil. And you must take another bull for a sin offering. 9 Then you must bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting. You must also bring all the Israelites there. 10 You must bring the Levites in front of the Lord. Then the Israelites must put their hands on the Levites' heads. 11 Aaron must give the Levites to the Lord as a special offering from the Israelites. Then they will be ready to do the Lord's work.
12 Then the Levites must put their hands on the heads of the bulls. Then offer one bull for a sin offering and the other one for a burnt offering to the Lord.[b] That will make peace with the Lord for the Levites sin. 13 And you must cause the Levites to stand in front of Aaron and his sons. So they will be a special gift to the Lord. 14 That is how you will make the Levites separate from the other Israelites. And then the Levites will be mine.
15 Then after that the Levites can go in to work in the Tent of Meeting. But you must make them clean and you must bring them to me as a special gift. 16 That is because all the Levites among the Israelites are mine. All the Israelites' firstborn sons are mine. But I have taken the Levites for myself instead. 17 Every firstborn son among the Israelites is mine. And all the firstborn male animals are mine too. On the day that I killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt I made them special for myself. 18 But now I have not taken all the firstborn sons among the Israelites. I have taken the Levites instead. 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites. They will work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites. And they will make peace with me on behalf of the Israelites. So there will not be a bad disease among the Israelites when they go near to God's Holy Tent.’
20 So Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites did those things to the Levites. The Israelites did everything that the Lord had said to Moses about the Levites. 21 The Levites, too, made themselves clean and they washed their clothes. And Aaron brought them in front of Lord as a special gift. Aaron also burnt sacrifices to make them clean. 22 After that, the Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of Meeting. They helped Aaron and his sons. The Israelites did everything with the Levites that the Lord had said to Moses about them.
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses again and he said, 24 ‘These are the rules about the Levites: The men who are 25 years old or older must go in to work in the Tent of Meeting. 25 But they must stop that work when they are 50 years old. And they must not do that work after that. 26 But they can help the other Levites in the Tent of Meeting. They can help them to do their jobs. But they themselves must not have any jobs. Those are the rules about the Levites and about their jobs.’
Footnotes
- 8:4 The lampstand was the shape of a tree with 3 branches on the left of it and 3 branches on the right of it. There were models of flowers on the branches. Each branch held one lamp.
- 8:12 The burnt offering showed that Levi's tribe were giving themselves to God completely. The sin offering made them clean from sin.
Numbers 8
New International Version
Numbers 8
New International Version
Setting Up the Lamps
8 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up the lamps, see that all seven light up the area in front of the lampstand.(A)’”
3 Aaron did so; he set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand, just as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold(B)—from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern(C) the Lord had shown Moses.
The Setting Apart of the Levites
5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.(D) 7 To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing(E) on them; then have them shave their whole bodies(F) and wash their clothes.(G) And so they will purify themselves.(H) 8 Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil;(I) then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.[a](J) 9 Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting(K) and assemble the whole Israelite community.(L) 10 You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.(M) 11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering(N) from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord.
12 “Then the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls,(O) using one for a sin offering(P) to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering,(Q) to make atonement(R) for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering(S) to the Lord. 14 In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.(T)
15 “After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering,(U) they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.(V) 16 They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn,(W) the first male offspring(X) from every Israelite woman. 17 Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal,(Y) is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.(Z) 18 And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.(AA) 19 From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons(AB) to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites(AC) and to make atonement for them(AD) so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”
20 Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.(AE) Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement(AF) for them to purify them.(AG) 22 After that, the Levites came to do their work(AH) at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more(AI) shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,(AJ) 25 but at the age of fifty,(AK) they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. 26 They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work.(AL) This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:8 Or purification offering; also in verse 12
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