Numbers 8–9

Chapter 8

¹And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, ²Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick. ³And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. ⁴And this was the work of the candlestick: it was of beaten gold; from its base to its flowers was it beaten work; according to the form which Jehovah had shewn Moses, so had he made the candlestick.

⁵And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. ⁷And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle upon them water of purification from sin; and they shall pass the razor over all their flesh, and shall wash their garments, and make themselves clean. ⁸And they shall take a young bullock and its oblation of fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering. ⁹And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tent of meeting; and thou shalt gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel. ¹⁰And thou shalt bring the Levites before Jehovah; and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. ¹¹And Aaron shall offer the Levites as a wave-offering before Jehovah from the children of Israel, and they shall perform the service of Jehovah. ¹²And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave-offering to Jehovah. ¹⁴And thou shalt separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, that the Levites may be mine. ¹⁵And afterwards shall the Levites come in to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them as a wave-offering. ¹⁶For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of every one that breaketh open the womb, instead of every firstborn among the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. ¹⁷For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed them to myself. ¹⁸And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ¹⁹And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to perform the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel draw near to the sanctuary. ²⁰And Moses and Aaron, and all the assembly of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites: so did the children of Israel to them. ²¹And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their garments; and Aaron offered them as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²And afterwards the Levites came in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and before his sons; as Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them. ²³And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴This is that which concerneth the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward shall he come to labour in the work of the service of the tent of meeting. ²⁵And from fifty years old he shall retire from the labour of the service, and shall serve no more; ²⁶but he shall minister with his brethren in the tent of meeting, and keep the charge, but he shall not serve in the service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites with regard to their charges.

Chapter 9

¹And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after their departure from the land of Egypt, saying, ²Let the children of Israel also hold the passover at its set time; ³on the fourteenth day in this month between the two evenings, ye shall hold it at its set time; according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ordinances thereof shall ye hold it. ⁴And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should hold the passover. ⁵And they held the passover in the first month on the fourteenth day of the month, between the two evenings, in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. ⁶And there were men, who were unclean through the dead body of a man, and could not hold the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. ⁷And those men said to him, We are unclean by reason of the dead body of a man: why are we kept back, that we may not present the offering of Jehovah at its set time among the children of Israel? ⁸And Moses said to them, Stay, and I will hear what Jehovah commands concerning you. ⁹And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your generations be unclean by reason of a dead body or be on a journey afar off, yet he shall hold the passover to Jehovah. ¹¹In the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the two evenings, shall they hold it; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it. ¹²They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone thereof: according to every ordinance of the passover shall they hold it. ¹³But a man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to hold the passover, that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples; because he presented not the offering of Jehovah at its set time: that man shall bear his sin. ¹⁴And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and would hold the passover to Jehovah, according to the rite of the passover, and according to the ordinance thereof, so shall he do. Ye shall have one rite, both for the stranger and for him that is born in the land.

¹⁵And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle of the tent of testimony; and at even it was upon the tabernacle as the appearance of fire, until the morning. ¹⁶So it was continually: the cloud covered it, and at night it was as the appearance of fire. ¹⁷And when the cloud rose from the tent, then the children of Israel journeyed; and at the place where the cloud stood still, there the children of Israel encamped. ¹⁸According to the commandment of Jehovah the children of Israel journeyed, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they remained encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelt upon the tabernacle they encamped. ¹⁹And when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of Jehovah, and journeyed not. ²⁰And if it were so that the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed. ²¹And if it were so that the cloud was there from the evening until the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; or a day and a night, and the cloud was taken up, they journeyed; ²²or two days, or a month, or many days, when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle, dwelling upon it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed. ²³At the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and at the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed: they kept the charge of Jehovah according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses.