1 And the LORD spake unto 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 the LORD commanded Moses.

4And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

5And the LORD spake unto 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 water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

8Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

9And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

10And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

11And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.

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, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.

13And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.

14Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

15And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.

16For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

18And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of 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 do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.

20And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

21And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

22And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

23And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

24This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

25And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

26But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

2Speake vnto Aaron, and say vnto him, When thou lightest the lampes, the seuen lampes shall giue light, ouer against the candlesticke.

3And Aaron did so; he lighted the lampes therof, ouer against the candlestick, as the Lord comanded Moses.

4And this worke of the candlestick was of beaten gold, vnto the shaft thereof, vnto the flowres thereof was beaten worke: according vnto the paterne which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlesticke.

5 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

6Take the Leuites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

7And thus shalt thou doe vnto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle water of purifying vpon them, and let them shaue all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselues cleane.

8Then let them take a yong bullocke with his meat offering, euen fine flowre mingled with oyle, and an other yong bullock shalt thou take for a sinne offering.

9And thou shalt bring the Leuites before the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together.

10And thou shalt bring the Leuites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands vpon the Leuites.

11And Aaron shall offer the Leuites before the Lord for an offring of the children of Israel, that they may execute the seruice of the Lord.

12And the Leuites shall lay their hands vpon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sinne offering, and the other for a burnt offering vnto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Leuites.

13And thou shalt set the Leuites before Aaron, and before his sonnes, and offer them for an offering vnto the Lord.

14Thus shalt thou separate the Leuites from among the children of Israel: and the Leuites shalbe mine.

15And after that, shall the Leuites goe in; to doe the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: and thou shalt clense them, and offer them for an offering.

16For they are wholly giuen vnto me, from among the children of Israel: in stead of such as open euery wombe, euen in stead of the first borne of all the children of Israel, haue I taken them vnto me.

17For all the first borne of the children of Israel, are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote euery first borne in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for my selfe.

18And I haue taken the Leuites for all the first borne of the children of Israel.

19And I haue giuen the Leuites as a gift to Aaron, and to his sonnes, from among the children of Israel, to do the seruice of the children of Israel, in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there bee no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh vnto the Sanctuarie.

20And Moses and Aaron, and all the Congregation of the children of Israel did to the Leuites according vnto all that the Lord commanded Moses, concerning the Leuites, so did the children of Israel vnto them.

21And the Leuites were purified, and they washed their clothes: and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

22And after that, went the Leuites in, to do their seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before Aaron and and before his sonnes: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Leuites, so did they vnto them.

23 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

24This is it that belongeth vnto the Leuites: from twentie and fiue yeeres old, and vpward, they shall goe in to waite vpon the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

25And from the age of fiftie yeeres they shall cease waiting vpon the seruice thereof, and shall serue no more:

26But shall minister with their brethren in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to keepe the charge, and shall doe no seruice: thus shalt thou doe vnto the Leuites, touching their charge.

 

II == Ex 25:37 ; 40:25

 

 

 

 

IV == Ex 25:18 , 31 , 40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII == Lev 14:8-9 ; Num 19:9 , 17-18

 

 

 

VIII == Lev 2:1

 

 

 

IX == Ex 29:4 ' 40:12 ; Lev 8:3

 

 

X == Lev 1:4

 

 

 

 

XII == Ex 29:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Num 3:45 ; 16:9

 

 

 

XV == Num 8:11 , 13

 

XVI == Num 3:12 , 45

 

 

 

XVII == Ex 3:13 ; 13:2 , 12-13 , 15 ; Luke 2:23

 

 

 

 

XIX == Num 1:53 ; 3:9 ; 16:46 ; 18:5 ; 2nd Chr 26:16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXI == Num 8:7 , 11-12

 

 

XXII == Num 8:5--22

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXIV == Num 4:3 ; 1st Chr 23:3 , 24 , 27 ; 1st Tim 1:18

 

 

 

 

XXVI == Num 1:53

 

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, and said,

2 "Give Aaron this command: When you set up the seven lamps, have them throw their light toward the front of the lampstand."

3 Aaron did so, setting up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

4 The lampstand was made of beaten gold in both its shaft and its branches, according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.

5 The LORD said to Moses:

6 "Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them.

7 This is what you shall do to them to purify them. Sprinkle them with the water of remission; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.

8 They shall take a young bull, along with its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; you shall take another young bull for a sin offering.

9 Then have the Levites come forward in front of the meeting tent, where you shall assemble also the whole community of the Israelites.

10 While the Levites are present before the LORD, the Israelites shall lay their hands upon them.

11 Let Aaron then offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, thus devoting them to the service of the LORD.

12 The Levites in turn shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks, which shall then be immolated, the one as a sin offering and the other as a holocaust to the LORD, in atonement for the Levites.

13 Thus, then, shall you have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the LORD;

14 and thus shall you set aside the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, that they may be mine.

15 "Only then shall the Levites enter upon their service in the meeting tent. You shall purify them and offer them as a wave offering;

16 because they, among the Israelites, are strictly dedicated to me; I have taken them for myself in place of every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites.

17 Indeed, all the first-born among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, belong to me; I consecrated them to myself on the day I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt.

18 But in place of all the first-born Israelites I have taken the Levites;

19 and I have given these dedicated Israelites to Aaron and his sons to discharge the duties of the Israelites in the meeting tent and to make atonement for them, so that no plague may strike among the Israelites should they come near the sanctuary."

20 Thus, then, did Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites deal with the Levites, carrying out exactly the command which the LORD had given Moses concerning them.

21 When the Levites had cleansed themselves of sin and washed their clothes, Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and made atonement for them to purify them.

22 Only then did they enter upon their service in the meeting tent under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. The command which the LORD had given Moses concerning the Levites was carried out.

23 The LORD said to Moses:

24 "This is the rule for the Levites. Each from his twenty-fifth year onward shall perform the required service in the meeting tent.

25 When he is fifty years old, he shall retire from the required service and work no longer.

26 His service with his fellow Levites shall consist in sharing their responsibilities in the meeting tent, but he shall not do the work. This, then, is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites."

1 – 4 The Golden Candlestick

v 1-4. Details of the lampstand are recorded in Ex. 25:31-39 and mentioned again in Ex. 37:17-24, Ex. 40:4 and Lev. 24:4. The lamps were to be in such a way that they would light the area in front of them. At least in the beginning all seven lamps were lit, but later, according to Josephus, only three were burning in the daytime.

 

5 – 22 Purification and Presentation of the Levites

 

v 5-7. Num. 3:40-51 explains much about the setting apart of the Levites instead of the firstborn of Israel. This portion explains how they were cleansed to begin service. The water of purification in v 7 is obtained by mixing in water the ashes of the red heifer in 19:1-10, 17, 18. This water was sprinkled on the Levites, probably with hyssop as in 19:18. The Levites were to trim (better translation than shave) all the hair on their bodies and wash their clothes for their cleansing. This would be an outward cleansing insuring their was no vermin on their bodies.

 

v 8-14. The offering in verse 8 is for their confession of sin and inner cleansing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23 – 26 Age of Levitical Service
This paragraph has the period of service different than 4:3 By beginning at the age of twenty-five years instead of thirty, and active service ceases at the age of fifty, voluntary service after that age is available in 4:3