February 13

Numbers 7:1 — 8:26

7 Now it came about on the day that Moses finished setting up the tabernacle that he proceeded to anoint it and to sanctify it and all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils. Thus he anointed them and sanctified them. 2 Then the chieftains of Israel, the heads of the house of their fathers, made a presentation, they being the chieftains of the tribes and standing over the ones registered, 3 and they brought their offering before Jehovah, six covered wagons and twelve cattle, a wagon for two chieftains and a bull for each one; and they presented them before the tabernacle. 4 At this Jehovah said to Moses: 5 “Accept them from them, as they must serve for carrying on the service of the tent of meeting, and you must give them to the Levites, each one in proportion to his own service.”

6 So Moses accepted the wagons and the cattle and gave them to the Levites. 7 Two wagons and four cattle he gave to the sons of Gershon in proportion to their service, 8 and four wagons and eight cattle he gave to the sons of Merari in proportion to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the holy place was upon them. They did their carrying on the shoulder.

10 Now the chieftains made their presentation at the inauguration of the altar on the day of its being anointed, and the chieftains proceeded with presenting their offering before the altar. 11 So Jehovah said to Moses: “One chieftain on one day and another chieftain on another day is the way they will present their offering for the inauguration of the altar.”

12 Now the one presenting his offering on the first day proved to be Nahshon the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah. 13 And his offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 14 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 15 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 16 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 17 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, the chieftain of Issachar, made a presentation. 19 He presented as his offering one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 20 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 22 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 23 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day there was the chieftain for the sons of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon. 25 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 26 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 27 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 28 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 29 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

30 On the fourth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur. 31 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 32 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 33 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 34 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 35 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

36 On the fifth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 37 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 38 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 39 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 40 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 41 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

42 On the sixth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 43 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 44 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 45 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 46 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 47 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

48 On the seventh day there was the chieftain for the sons of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud. 49 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 50 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 51 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 52 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 53 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 55 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 56 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 57 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 58 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 59 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni. 61 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 62 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 63 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 64 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 65 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 67 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 68 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 69 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 70 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 71 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

72 On the eleventh day there was the chieftain for the sons of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran. 73 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 74 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 75 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 76 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 77 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

78 On the twelfth day there was the chieftain for the sons of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan. 79 His offering was one silver dish, its weight being a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the shekel of the holy place, both of them full of fine flour moistened with oil for a grain offering; 80 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 81 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; 82 one kid of the goats for a sin offering; 83 and for a communion sacrifice two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, five male lambs each a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was the inauguration offering of the altar on the day of its being anointed, on the part of the chieftains of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold cups; 84 a hundred and thirty shekels to each silver dish, and seventy to each bowl, all the silver of the vessels being two thousand four hundred shekels by the shekel of the holy place; 86 the twelve gold cups full of incense being ten shekels respectively to a cup by the shekel of the holy place, all the gold of the cups being a hundred and twenty shekels; 87 all the cattle for the burnt offering being twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs each a year old and their grain offerings, and twelve kids of the goats for a sin offering; 88 and all the cattle of the communion sacrifice being twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty he-goats, sixty male lambs each a year old. This was the inauguration offering of the altar after its being anointed.

89 Now whenever Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he would hear the voice conversing with him from above the cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubs; and he would speak to him.

8 And Jehovah proceeded to speak to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to Aaron, and you must say to him, ‘Whenever you light up the lamps, the seven lamps should shine on the area in front of the lampstand.’” 3 And Aaron began to do so. He lit up its lamps for the area in front of the lampstand, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses. 4 Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand. It was hammered work of gold. Up to its sides and up to its blossoms it was hammered work. According to the vision that Jehovah had shown Moses, so he had made the lampstand.

5 And Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying: 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and you must cleanse them. 7 And this is what you should do to them to cleanse them: Spatter sin-cleansing water upon them, and they must have a razor pass over all their flesh and must wash their garments and cleanse themselves. 8 Then they must take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour moistened with oil, and you will take another young bull for a sin offering. 9 And you must present the Levites before the tent of meeting and congregate all the assembly of the sons of Israel. 10 And you must present the Levites before Jehovah, and the sons of Israel must lay their hands upon the Levites. 11 And Aaron must cause the Levites to move to and fro before Jehovah as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, and they must serve for carrying on the service of Jehovah.

12 “Then the Levites will lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls. After that, render up the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to Jehovah to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you must have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and must cause them to move to and fro as a wave offering to Jehovah. 14 And you must separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites must become mine. 15 And afterward the Levites will come in to serve at the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them and cause them to move to and fro as a wave offering. 16 For they are given ones, given to me from among the sons of Israel. In place of those opening all wombs, all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, I must take them for myself. 17 For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is mine, among man and among beast. On the day of my striking every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to myself. 18 And I shall take the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 And I shall give the Levites as given ones to Aaron and his sons from among the sons of Israel, to carry on the service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the sons of Israel, that no plague may occur among the sons of Israel because the sons of Israel approach the holy place.”

20 And Moses and Aaron and all the assembly of the sons of Israel proceeded to do so to the Levites. In accord with all that Jehovah had commanded Moses as regards the Levites, that is the way the sons of Israel did to them. 21 So the Levites purified themselves and washed their garments, after which Aaron caused them to move to and fro as a wave offering before Jehovah. Then Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 First after that the Levites came in to carry on their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons. Just as Jehovah had commanded Moses respecting the Levites, so they did to them.

23 Jehovah now spoke to Moses, saying: 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: From twenty-five years old upward he will come to enter into the company in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 But after the age of fifty years he will retire from the service company and serve no longer. 26 And he must minister to his brothers in the tent of meeting in taking care of the obligation, but he must render no service. In accord with this you will do to the Levites in their obligations.”