Numbers 8

¹And the Lord spak to Moises, and seide, Speke thou to Aaron,

²and thou schalt seie to hym, Whanne thou hast sett seuene launternes, the candilstike be reisid in the south part; therfor comaunde thou this, that the lanternes biholde euene ayens the north to the boord of looues of `settyng forth, tho schulen schyne ayenus that part which the candilstike biholdith.

³And Aaron dide, and puttide lanternes on the candilstike, as the Lord comaundide to Moises.

⁴Sotheli this was the makyng of the candilstike; it was of gold betun out with hameris, as wel the myddil stok as alle thingis that camen forth of euer eithir side of the yeerdis; bi the saumple `whych the Lord schewide to Moises, so he wrouyte the candilstike.

⁵And the Lord spak to Moises,

⁶and seide, Take thou Leuytis fro the myddis of the sones of Israel;

⁷and thou schalt clense hem bi this custom. Be thei spreynt with watir of clensyng, and schaue thei alle the heeris of her fleisch. And whanne thei han waische her clothis and ben clensid, take thei an oxe of drooues,

⁸and the fletyng sacrifice therof, flour spreynt to gidere with oile; forsothe thou schalt take another oxe of the drooue for synne;

⁹and thou schalt present the Leuytis bifor the tabernacle of boond of pees, whanne al the multitude of the sones of Israel is clepid togidere.

¹⁰And whanne the Leuytis ben bifor the Lord, the sones of Israel schulen sette her hondis on hem;

¹¹and Aaron schal offre the Leuytis in the siyt of the Lord, a yifte of the sones of Israel, that thei serue in the seruice `of hym.

¹²Also the Leuytis schulen sette her hondis on the heedis of the oxun, of whiche oxun thou schalt make oon for synne, and the tother in to brent sacrifice of the Lord, that thou preye for hem.

¹³And thou schalt ordeyne the Leuytis in the siyt of Aaron, and of hise sones, and thou schalt sacre hem offrid to the Lord;

¹⁴and thou schalt departe hem fro the myddis of the sones of Israel, that thei be myne.

¹⁵And aftirward entre thei in to the tabernacle of boond of pees, that thei serue me; and so thou schalt clense and schalt halewe hem, in to an offryng of the Lord, for bi fre yifte thei ben youun to me of the sones of Israel.

¹⁶Y haue take hem for the firste gendrid thingis that openen ech wombe in Israel;

¹⁷for alle the firste gendrid thingis of the sones of Israel ben myne, as wel of men as of beestis, fro the dai in which Y smoot ech firste gendrid thing in the loond of Egipt, Y halewide hem to me.

¹⁸And Y took the Leuytis for alle the firste gendrid children of the sones of Israel;

¹⁹and Y yaf hem bi fre yifte to Aaron and hise sones, fro the myddis of the puple, that thei serue me for Israel, in the tabernacle of boond of pees, and that thei preie for hem, lest veniaunce be in the puple, if thei ben hardi to neiye to the seyntuarye.

²⁰And Moises and Aaron, and al the multitude of the sones of Israel, diden on the Leuitis tho thingis that the Lord comaundide to Moyses.

²¹And thei weren clensid, and thei waischiden her clothis; and Aaron reiside hem in the siyt of the Lord, and preiede for hem,

²²that thei schulen be clensid, and schulden entre to her offices in to the tabernacle of boond of pees, bifor Aaron and hise sones; as the Lord comaundide to Moises of the Leuytis, so it was don.

²³And the Lord spak to Moises, and seide, This is lawe of Leuytis;

²⁴fro fyue and twentithe yeer and aboue thei schulen entre, for to mynystre in the tabernacle of boond of pees;

²⁵and whanne thei han fillid the fiftithe yeer of age, thei schulen ceesse to serue.

²⁶And thei schulen be the mynystris of her bretheren in the tabernacle of boond of pees, that thei kepe tho thingis that ben bitakun to hem; sothely thei schulen not do tho werkis; thus thou schalt dispose Leuytis in her kepyngis.

Numbers 8

¹And 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.