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¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,² Speak to Aaron, and say to him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick.³ And Aaron did so; he lit the lamps thereof [so as to give light] in front of the candlestick, as Yahweh commanded Moses.⁴ And this was the work of the candlestick, [a] beaten work of gold; to the base thereof, up to its flower, it was [a] beaten work: according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the candlestick.

⁵ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,⁶ Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and cleanse them.⁷ And thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of expiation on them, and let them cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.⁸ Then let them take a young bull, and its meal-offering, fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin-offering.⁹ And you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting: and you shall assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel:¹⁰ and you shall present the Levites before Yahweh. And the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites:¹¹ and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave-offering, on the behalf of the sons of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks: and he [Aaron] shall make of one of them a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites.¹³ And you shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering to Yahweh.¹⁴ Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine.¹⁵ And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering.¹⁶ For they are wholly given to me from among the sons of Israel; instead of all that opens the womb, even the first-born of all the sons of Israel, I have taken them to me.¹⁷ For all the first-born among the sons of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the sons of Israel.¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to do the service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the sons of Israel; that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel, when the sons of Israel come near to the sanctuary.²⁰ Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the Levites: according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the sons of Israel to them.²¹ And 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.²² And 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.²³ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,²⁴ This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the tent of meeting:²⁵ and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more,²⁶ but shall minister with their brothers in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus you shall do to the Levites concerning their charges.