1. AND THE Lord said to Moses,
2. Say to Aaron, When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps shall be made to give light in front of the lampstand.
3. And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps of the lampstand to give light in front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
4. And this was the workmanship of the candlestick: beaten or turned gold, beaten work [of gold] from its base to its flowers; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
5. And the Lord said to Moses,
6. Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.
7. And thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification [water to be used in case of sin] upon them, and let them pass a razor over all their flesh and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. [Num. 19:17, 18.]
8. Then let them take a young bull and its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering.
9. You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and you shall assemble the whole Israelite congregation.
10. And you shall present the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites shall put their hands upon the Levites,
11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites and on their behalf, that they may do the service of the Lord.
12. Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
13. And you shall present the Levites before Aaron and his sons and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine [in a very special sense].
15. And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the Tent of Meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.
16. For they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites; instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites for Myself.
17. For all the firstborn of the Israelites are Mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt [not of Israel], I consecrated them and set them apart for Myself.