Numbers 8–9

The Seven Lamps

8Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” ³And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. ⁴And ⁱthis was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing of the Levites

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the ^jwater of purification upon them, and ^klet them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. ⁸Then let them take a bull from the herd and ^lits grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, ^mand you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. ⁹ⁿAnd you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting ^oand assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. ¹⁰When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel ^pshall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. ¹²Then the Levites ^qshall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer ^rthe one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as ^sa wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and ^tthe Levites shall be mine. ¹⁵And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a ^swave offering. ¹⁶For they are ^uwholly given to me from among the people of Israel. ^vInstead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. ^17wFor all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ^19uAnd I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and ^xto make atonement for the people of Israel, ^ythat there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. ²¹And ^zthe Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and ^aAaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

²³And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“This applies to the Levites: ^bfrom twenty-five years old and upward they¹ shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. ²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. ²⁶They minister² to their brothers in the tent of meeting ^cby keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

The Passover Celebrated

9And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, ^din the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²“Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. ^3eOn the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” ⁴So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. ⁵And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. ⁶And there were certain men who were ^funclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and ^gthey came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord’s ^hoffering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” ⁸And Moses said to them, “Wait, that ⁱI may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”

⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. ^11jIn the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. ^kThey shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ^12lThey shall leave none of it until the morning, ^mnor break any of its bones; ⁿaccording to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. ¹³But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, ^othat person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord’s ^poffering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. ¹⁴And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. ^qYou shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”

The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle

^15rOn the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And ^sat evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. ¹⁶So it was always: the cloud covered it by day¹ and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷And whenever the cloud ^tlifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. ¹⁸At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. ^uAs long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. ¹⁹Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel ^vkept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. ²¹And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. ²²Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel ^wremained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. ²³At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. ^vThey kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.