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N U MBERS 9
clean. 8 Have them bring a young bull and
a grain offering of choice flour moistened with
olive oil, along with a second young bull for a
sin offering. 9 Then assemble the whole community of Israel, and present the Levites at the
entrance of the Tabernacle.* 10 When you present the Levites before the Lord, the people of
Israel must lay their hands on them. 11 Raising
his hands, Aaron must then present the Levites
to the Lord as a special offering from the people
of Israel, thus dedicating them to the Lord’s
service.
12 “Next the Levites will lay their hands on the
heads of the young bulls. Present one as a sin
offering and the other as a burnt offering to the
Lord, to purify the Levites and make them right
with the Lord.* 13 Then have the Levites stand
in front of Aaron and his sons, and raise your
hands and present them as a special offering to
the Lord. 14 In this way, you will set the Levites
apart from the rest of the people of Israel, and
the Levites will belong to me. 15 After this, they
may go into the Tabernacle to do their work,
because you have purified them and presented
them as a special offering.
16 “Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are
reserved for me. I have claimed them for myself
in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites; I have taken the Levites as their substitutes. 17 For all the firstborn males among the
people of Israel are mine, both of people and of
animals. I set them apart for myself on the day
I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. 18 Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place
of all the firstborn sons of Israel. 19 And of all the
Israelites, I have assigned the Levites to Aaron
and his sons. They will serve in the Tabernacle
on behalf of the Israelites and make sacrifices to
purify* the people so no plague will strike them
when they approach the sanctuary.”
20 So Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel dedicated the Levites, carefully
following all the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
21 The Levites purified themselves from sin and
washed their clothes, and Aaron lifted them up
and presented them to the Lord as a special
offering. He then offered a sacrifice to purify
them and make them right with the Lord.*
22 After that the Levites went into the Tabernacle to perform their duties, assisting Aaron
and his sons. So they carried out all the commands that the Lord gave Moses concerning
the Levites.
23 The Lord also instructed Moses, 24 “This
is the rule the Levites must follow: They must
begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age
of twenty-five, 25 and they must retire at the
age of fifty. 26 After retirement they may assist
their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the
Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the
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service. This is how you must assign duties to
the Levites.”
The Second Passover
A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt,
the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness
of Sinai. In the first month* of that year he said,
2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover
at the prescribed time, 3 at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.* Be sure to follow
all my decrees and regulations concerning this
celebration.”
4 So Moses told the people to celebrate the
Passover 5 in the wilderness of Sinai as twilight
fell on the fourteenth day of the month. And
they celebrated the festival there, just as the
Lord had commanded Moses. 6 But some of the
men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they could not celebrate
the Passover that day. They came to Moses and
Aaron that day 7 and said, “We have become
ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body.
But why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord’s offering at the proper time with
the rest of the Israelites?”
8 Moses answered, “Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the Lord.”
9 This was the Lord’s reply to Moses. 10 “Give
the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover
time because of touching a dead body, or if they
are on a journey and cannot be present at the
ceremony, they may still celebrate the Lord’s
Passover. 11 They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month.* They must eat
the Passover lamb at that time with bitter salad
greens and bread made without yeast. 12 They
must not leave any of the lamb until the next
morning, and they must not break any of its
bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.
13 “But those who neglect to celebrate the
Passover at the regular time, even though
they are ceremonially clean and not away on a
trip, will be cut off from the community of Israel. If they fail to present the Lord’s offering
at the proper time, they will suffer the consequences of their guilt. 14 And if foreigners living
among you want to celebrate the Passover to
the Lord, they must follow these same decrees
and regulations. The same laws apply both to
native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.”
9
8:9 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; also in 8:15, 19, 22, 24, 26.
8:12 Or to make atonement for the Levites. 8:19 Or make
atonement for. 8:21 Or then made atonement for them to purify
them. 9:1 The first month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar
usually occurs within the months of March and April. 9:3 This
day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March,
April, or early May. 9:11 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar occurred in late April, May, or early June.