Numbers 8

Consecration of the Levites Numbers 8:5–14

⁵Verse 5. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶Verse 6. “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. ⁷Verse 7. You shall do this to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. ⁸Verse 8. Then let them take a young bull, and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. ⁹Verse 9. You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ¹⁰Verse 10. You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,

¹¹Verse 11. and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh. ¹²Verse 12. “The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³Verse 13. You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴Verse 14. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

The Role of the Levites Numbers 8:15–19

¹⁵Verse 15. “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. ¹⁶Verse 16. For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. ¹⁷Verse 17. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. ¹⁸Verse 18. I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

¹⁹Verse 19. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do 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 come near to the sanctuary.”

Obedience to Command Numbers 8:20–22

²⁰Verse 20. Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ²¹Verse 21. The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²Verse 22. After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Service Age Requirements Numbers 8:23–26

²³Verse 23. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴Verse 24. “This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; ²⁵Verse 25. and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more, ²⁶Verse 26. but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. You shall do thus to the Levites concerning their duties.”