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Numbers 8
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Numbers 8
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
8 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Say to Aaron, When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps shall be made to give light in front of the lampstand.
3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps of the lampstand to give light in front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
4 And this was the workmanship of the candlestick: beaten or turned gold, beaten work [of gold] from its base to its flowers; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
5 And the Lord said to Moses,
6 Take the [a]Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.
7 And thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification [water to be used in case of sin] upon them, and let them pass a razor over all their flesh and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.(A)
8 Then let them take a young bull and its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering.
9 You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and you shall assemble the whole Israelite congregation.
10 And you shall present the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites shall put their hands upon the Levites,
11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites and on their behalf, that they may do the service of the Lord.
12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
13 And you shall present the Levites before Aaron and his sons and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine [in a very special sense].
15 And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the Tent of Meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.
16 For they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites; instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites for Myself.
17 For all the firstborn of the Israelites are Mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt [not of Israel], I consecrated them and set them apart for Myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites.
19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites to do the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement for them, that there may be no plague among the Israelites if they should come near the sanctuary.
20 So Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the Israelites did thus to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning [them], so did the Israelites to them.
21 The Levites cleansed and purified themselves and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting with the attendance of Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them.
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the work of the service of the Tent of Meeting,
25 And at the age of fifty years, they shall retire from the warfare of the service and serve no more,
26 But shall help their brethren in the Tent of Meeting [attend to protecting the sacred things from being profaned], but shall do no regular or heavy service. Thus shall you direct the Levites in regard to their duties.
Footnotes
- Numbers 8:6 There are many lessons for the Christian in this section (Num. 8:5-22). He sees here the importance of each member of God’s family having his own particular task (I Cor. 12). It is necessary that special men be designated for particular duties in order that the work of God’s kingdom shall be done in orderly fashion. Those who do the work of God must be cleansed from all defilement of flesh and spirit. No one is fit in himself to serve God. It is only as we see ourselves as guilty sinners saved through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary that we can do anything that is worthwhile in God’s sight. Apart from Him, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6 kjv). (F. Davidson, ed., The New Bible Commentary).
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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