Numbers 7–8

The Offerings of the Leaders

7On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the Lord’s presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. ²Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, ³brought their offerings to the Lord: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, ⁴the Lord said to Moses, ⁵“Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” ⁶So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. ⁷He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, ⁸and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. ⁹But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, ¹¹the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”

^12–83They presented their offerings in the following order:

Day

Tribe

Leader

1st

Judah

Nahshon son of Amminadab

2nd

Issachar

Nethanel son of Zuar

3rd

Zebulun

Eliab son of Helon

4th

Reuben

Elizur son of Shedeur

5th

Simeon

Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai

6th

Gad

Eliasaph son of Deuel

7th

Ephraim

Elishama son of Ammihud

8th

Manasseh

Gamaliel son of Pedahzur

9th

Benjamin

Abidan son of Gideoni

10th

Dan

Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai

11th

Asher

Pagiel son of Ochran

12th

Naphtali

Ahira son of Enan

The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 1.5 kilogrammes and one silver basin weighing 800 grammes, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 110 grammes, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs for the fellowship offering.

^84–88The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:

—twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 27.6 kilogrammes

—twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 1.32 kilogrammes, filled with incense

—twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, together with the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings

—twelve goats for the sin offerings

—24 bulls, 60 rams, 60 goats, 60 one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings

⁸⁹When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the Lord, he heard the Lord speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.^b

Placing the Lamps

8^*The Lord said to Moses, ^2*“Tell Aaron that when he puts the seven lamps on the lamp-stand, he should place them so that the light shines towards the front.” ^3*Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps facing the front of the lamp-stand. ^4*From top to bottom the lamp-stand was made of hammered gold, according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses.

The Purification and Dedication of the Levites

⁵The Lord said to Moses, ⁶“Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them ⁷in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and tell them to shave their whole bodies and to wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean. ⁸Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering. ⁹Then assemble the whole community of Israel and make the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence. ¹⁰The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites, ¹¹and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work. ¹²The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.

¹³“Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them. ¹⁴Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me. ¹⁵After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent. ¹⁶I have claimed them in the place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone. ^17*When I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the eldest son of each Israelite family and the firstborn of every animal. ¹⁸I am now taking the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites, ¹⁹and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”

²⁰So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the Lord. He also performed the ritual of purification for them. ²²The people did everything the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.

²³The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴“From the age of 25 each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, ²⁵and at the age of 50 he shall retire. ²⁶After that, he may help his fellow-Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.”