8The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to Aaron. Say to him, ‘Set up the seven lamps. They will give light to the area that is in front of the lampstand.’ ”

³So Aaron did it. He set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand. He did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁴The lampstand was made out of hammered gold. From its base to its blooms it was made out of hammered gold. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.

Moses Sets the Levites Apart

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶“Take the Levites from among the other men of Israel. Make them ‘clean’ in the usual way. ⁷Here is how to make them pure. Sprinkle the special water on them. Then have them shave their whole bodies. Also have them wash their clothes. That is how they will make themselves pure.

⁸“Have them get a young bull along with its grain offering. The offering must be made out of fine flour mixed with olive oil. Then you must get a second young bull. You must sacrifice it as a sin offering.

⁹“Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Gather the whole community of Israel together. ¹⁰You must bring the Levites to me. The men of Israel must place their hands on them. ¹¹Aaron must bring the Levites to me. They are a wave offering from the people of Israel. That is how they will be set apart to do my work.

¹²“I want the Levites to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. Then they must sacrifice one bull as a sin offering to me. And they must sacrifice the other as a burnt offering. The blood of the bulls will pay for the sin of the Levites.

¹³“Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Then give them as a wave offering to me. ¹⁴That is how I want you to set the Levites apart from the other men of Israel. The Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵“Make the Levites pure. Give them to me as a wave offering. Then they must come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁶They are the men of Israel who will be given to me completely. I have taken them to be my own. I have taken them in place of every son who is born first in his family in Israel.

¹⁷“Every male that is born first in Israel belongs to me. That is true whether it is a man or an animal. I struck down all of the males that were born first to a mother in Egypt. Then I set apart for myself all of the males that were born first in Israel. ¹⁸And I have taken the Levites in place of all of the sons who are born first in Israel.

¹⁹“I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from all of the men of Israel. I have appointed them to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. They will do it in place of the men of Israel.

“That is how they will keep the men of Israel from being guilty when they go near the sacred tent. Then no plague will strike the people of Israel when they go near the tent.”

²⁰So Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²¹The Levites made themselves pure. They washed their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the Lord as a wave offering. That’s how he paid for their sin to make them pure.

²²After that, the Levites came to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. They worked under the direction of Aaron and his sons. And so Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²³The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁴“Here is what the Levites must do. Men who are 25 years old or more must come and take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

²⁵“But when they reach the age of 50, they must not work any longer. They must stop doing their regular work. ²⁶They can help their brothers with their duties at the Tent of Meeting. But they themselves should not do the work. That is how you must direct the Levites to do their work.”

Israel Celebrates the Passover Feast

9The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. It was the first month of the second year after the people came out of Egypt. He said, ²“Tell the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover Feast. Have them do it at the appointed time. ³Celebrate it when the sun goes down on the 14th day of this month. Obey all of its rules and laws.”

⁴So Moses told the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover Feast. ⁵They did it in the Desert of Sinai. They celebrated it when the sun went down on the 14th day of the first month. The people of Israel did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶But some of them couldn’t celebrate the Passover Feast on that day. That’s because they weren’t “clean.” They had gone near a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day. ⁷They said to Moses, “We went near a dead body. So we aren’t ‘clean.’ But why should we be kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at the appointed time? Why shouldn’t we bring it along with the other people of Israel?”

⁸Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord wants you to do.”

⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁰“Tell the people of Israel, ‘Suppose any of you or your children are not “clean” because you have gone near a dead body. Or suppose you are away on a journey. You can still celebrate the Lord’s Passover.

¹¹“ ‘I want you to celebrate it on the 14th day of the second month. You have to do it when the sun goes down. You have to eat the lamb together with bread that is made without yeast. Eat it with bitter plants. ¹²Do not leave any of it until morning. Do not break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover Feast, follow all of the rules.

¹³“ ‘But suppose a man is “clean.” He is not on a journey. And he fails to celebrate the Passover Feast. Then he must be cut off from the community of Israel. He did not bring the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. He will be punished for his sin.

¹⁴“ ‘What if there is an outsider living among you? And what if he wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover? Then he must obey its rules and laws. You must have the same laws for outsiders as you do for the people of Israel.’ ”

The Cloud Covers the Holy Tent

¹⁵The holy tent was set up. It was the tent where the tablets of the covenant were kept. On the day it was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening until morning the cloud that was above the tent looked like fire. ¹⁶That’s what continued to happen. The cloud covered the tent. At night the cloud looked like fire.

¹⁷When the cloud lifted from its place above the tent, the people of Israel started out. Where the cloud settled, the people of Israel camped. ¹⁸When the Lord gave the command, the people of Israel started out. And when he gave the command, they camped. As long as the cloud stayed above the holy tent, they remained in camp.

¹⁹Sometimes the cloud remained above the tent for a long time. Then the people of Israel obeyed the Lord’s order. They didn’t start out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud was above the tent for only a few days. When the Lord would give the command, they would camp. Then when he would give the command, they would start out.

²¹Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening until morning. When it lifted in the morning, they started out. It didn’t matter whether it was day or night. When the cloud lifted, the people started out. ²²It didn’t matter whether the cloud stayed above the holy tent for two days or a month or a year. The people of Israel would remain in camp. They wouldn’t start out. But when the cloud lifted, they would start out.

²³When the Lord gave the command, they camped. And when he gave the command, they started out. They obeyed the Lord’s order. They obeyed him, just as he had commanded them through Moses.

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