1The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
2"Speak to Aaron and say to him, 'When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.'"
3Aaron did so. He lit the lamps so that they shone in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.
4This is how the lampstand was made: it was of beaten gold. From its base to its flowers it was beaten work. Moses made the lampstand according to the pattern the LORD had shown him.
5The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
6"Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and make them clean."
7This is what you shall do to them to make them clean. Sprinkle the water of purifying on them. Let them shave off all their hair, and wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
8Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil. And you shall take another young bull for a sin offering.
9You shall bring the Levites in front of the tabernacle of the congregation, and you shall gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together.
10You shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.
11Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD as an offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the service of the LORD.
12The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. You shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.
13You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as an offering to the LORD.
14In this way you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.
15After that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. You shall make them clean and offer them as an offering.
16For they are given wholly to me from among the children of Israel. I have taken them for myself instead of all who open the womb, instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel.
17For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both people and animals. On the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.
18And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
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 tabernacle of the congregation, and to make atonement for the children of Israel. Then there will be no plague among the children of Israel when they come near the sanctuary."
20So Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites everything the LORD commanded Moses about the Levites. That is what the children of Israel did to them.
21The Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes. Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to make them clean.
22After that the Levites went in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron and before his sons. As the LORD had commanded Moses about the Levites, so they did to them.
23The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
24"This is the rule for the Levites. From twenty-five years old and upward they shall come in to take part in the service of the tabernacle of the congregation."
25From the age of fifty years they shall stop taking part in the service, and shall serve no more.
26"They shall help their brothers in the tabernacle of the congregation, keeping watch over it, but they shall do no service. This is what you shall do with the Levites about their duties."