Numbers 6-8 Dedication and Blessings

Psalm 21:5-13 Trusting For Protection and Pleasure

Psalm 21:5 “(1 The king rejoices in your strength...salvation! 2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head. 4 He asked life of you, you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.)

5 His glory is great in your salvation. You lay honor and majesty on him. 6 For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with joy in your presence.

7 For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the hesed/loyal covenantal love of the Most High, he shall not be moved. 8 Your hand will come upon all of your enemies. Your right hand will come upon those who hate you. 9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men. 11 For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed. 12 For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face. 13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power."

Observations: 21:1-4 See post on Exodus 7 for the importance of asking for the right things, which will bring enduring joy from the God who loves to bless.

21:5-13 Because David trusts in God, He blesses and helps him, giving him not only protection, but glory, honor, and joy in His presence. God's hesed to those who trust Him results in destruction for the enemies of the righteous, for which the righteous sing God's praises.

Application: Trusting God to fulfill His covenant obligations (hesed) to us opens the door to protection, prosperity, joy, and praise. If any of those items are lacking, you might want to see if you're being loyal to your obligations to God, particularly that of dependently trusting Him.

Prayer: God of all pleasure and power, I trust that You know what's best for me, and will bless me as I seek to be loyal to You; please protect me and cause me to find enduring pleasure in Your presence. Thanks. Amen.

Proverbs 6:6-11 A Large Lesson from a Little Ant

6:6 “Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise; 7 which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, 8 provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.”

Observations: A little laziness leads to a large loss (armed robbers take all your stuff). Leaders don't need someone telling them what to do, because they tell themselves what to do, like planning and getting things done before they're due.

Application: Where are you neglecting the little things? See Saga of the Sorry Sluggard for motivation in overcoming procrastination (if you can get around to it).

Prayer: God of creatures great and small, help me be wiser than an ant. Amen.

Numbers 6-8 Dedication and Blessings

Numbers 6 Nazirite Vow and Trinitarian Blessing

Hands form the letter Shin, for Shaddai,
one of the names of God (Almighty).

6:1 "Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink...4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine 5...no razor come on his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6...not come near to a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother...13 when the days of his separation are fulfilled 14 he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings. 18 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings. 20...and after that the Nazirite may drink wine. 22 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, In this way you shall bless the children of Israel: you shall tell them, 24 Yahweh bless you, and keep you: 25 Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you: 26 Yahweh put/lift up his face toward you, and give you peace. 27 So shall they put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them."

Observations: The Nazirite vow (Hebrew for “to separate”) was a voluntary vow of dedication consisting of: no wine nor grapes, no haircuts, and no contact with dead bodies, even if family members died. It parallels life in the Garden: forbidden fruit, natural grooming, and no death. Samson and Samuel were the only two examples of it in the OT. John the Baptist and Paul with some companions (Acts 21) are examples in the NT. It's interesting that one of the most famous blessings in Scripture occurs, seemingly out of context, after the Voluntary Vow of Extreme Dedication.

6:24-27 In order to be blessed, first the Israelites needed to be under the name of Yahweh (His people), then God blesses them. This blessing has three progressive parts of increasing length.

• Bless and keep/protect - A general plea, to the God who loves to bless, for blessing and protection.
• Face shine and be gracious/merciful - Three times Ps 80 equates “face shine” with salvation from the consequences of their rebellious sin (80:3,7,19 Cause us to return, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.) In saving His people from the consequences of their sins God shows Himself to be merciful (most common translation of “gracious”).
• Face lift and peace - Ps 16:11 “You will show me the path of life. In your presence/face is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” (quoted in Acts 2:28), describes the blessing of God lifting up His face upon His obedient servant. Peace is a covenantal blessing for zealous obedience (see Phinehas, the hero of Numbers 25).

So the progression goes from experiencing God's blessing, to regaining it (through repentance, after losing it through disobedience), to the incomparable delight of walking in His ways. See Digging Deeper for Trinitarian thoughts.

Application: Where are you on the Blessing Progression mentioned in the last Observation above?

Prayer: Gracious and Good God, may I be wholly dedicated to You and experience the supreme joy of living in Your presence. Amen.

Numbers 7 Twelve Days of Giving

7:1 It happened on the day that Moses finished setting up the tent, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture of it, and the altar and all the vessels of it, and had anointed them and sanctified them; 2 that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers` houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes, these are those who were over those who were numbered: 3 and they brought their offering before Yahweh, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they presented them before the tent. 4 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 5 Take it of them, that they may be [used] in doing the service of the tent of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.

89 When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him.

Observations: Second longest chapter in the Bible, records twelve days of giving the identical gifts by each tribe. ("Just what I always wanted...like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and...") The voluntary offerings of each tribal leader are publicly recorded along with its value (this the book of Numbers). See outlines on Giving to God under Digging Deeper below.

7:89 The God who spoke on Mt. Sinai, is now heard in the Holy of Holies. God is dwelling and communicating with His people who have honored Him.

Numbers 8 Purification of Levites

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to Aaron, and tell him, When you light the lamps...6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7 Thus shall you 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 shall you take for a sin- offering. 9 You shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting: and you shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel: 10 and you shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children 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 children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.

14 Thus shall you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine. 20 Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites: according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of Israel to them. 21 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 After that went the Levites 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 did they to them. 23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-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 shall you do to the Levites touching/concerning their charges.

Observations: The dedication of the Levites is less rigorous than that of the priests. The OT model of priest/clergy-laity (people who lay around?) differs from the NT model of all believers being priests, with only Christ as the mediator.

8:11 A really tragic verse. God had intended that the entire holy nation be a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:6) contingent upon covenant obedience (Ex 19:5).

Exodus 19:5 "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation."

Now, instead of the firstborn of each family representatively serving God, the Levites were their substitutes, actually guarding the unsanctified people from God. What happened after Exodus 19? The Ten Commandments and the Golden Calf. In Ex 20:19 the people don't want to directly hear God's voice (although listening to His voice was a prerequisite to blessing), and then repudiated God in worshiping the Golden Calf (Ex 32). It was in Ex 32 that the Levites demonstrated holy loyalty to God, and thus received the priesthood and its blessings..

8:21 Note the self-cleansing and purification necessary to serve God.

Application: This means you!

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: 10 who in time past were no people, but now are God's people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul”

Prayer: God of Light, thank you for not only calling me out of darkness into Your light, but entrusting me with the privilege of serving You, the Most High God. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

I'm not a real fan of missing the direct application of the text to the original audience, to make allegorical interpretations to NT audiences, but whenever I see God mentioned three times in a passage, I do pause for thought. So for those of you who like this kind of thing, one could draw the parallel between the three aspects of “The Blessing” and three aspects of a believer's relationship with the Triune God. (See 7RELATIONSHIPS in the sidebar for more.)

• God the Father – generally blesses and preserves people, especially those who believe in Him (Gen 1).
• God the Son – The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 saves those who go astray and demonstrates the mercy of God in rescuing the disciplined and repentant (Ps 80).
• God the Holy Spirit – Guides God's people in the paths that lead to Divine presence and pleasures as well as the inheritance blessings of peace and other good stuff (Ps 16).

You could have found these same correspondences by using a concordance to find out where the same words or vocabulary are used in Scripture, and looking for similar contexts to Lev

God in a nutshell: God is worthy of the best we can offer Him, not just our stuff, but more importantly, ourselves.

Us in a nutshell: We miss out on the privileges of being in God's presence by wanting to hear His word through intermediaries. We have the opportunity to engage in extreme dedication for extreme blessings.

Bonus Application: 
There is nothing in the Scriptures that says you can only read the Scriptures (or DailyTruthbase) once a day, or only in the morning. Just like God required morning and evening sacrifices, giving God some AM and PM time just might enhance your spiritual life and make enrich your service to Him, and consequential blessings.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Get a grip on getting and giving money by skimming the series on
Faithfulness with our Treasure/Money Pt 1
Faithfulness with our Money Pt 4 Giving to God
It's got five parts (you might have to hunt for all of them), but considering the amount of your time spent in the acquisition and use of money, it might be wise to have God's perspective on it. Actually, it'd be foolish not to.

Numbers 6-8 (complete text)

Numbers 6

6:1 YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: 'When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to YAHWEH, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. 5 "'All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to YAHWEH. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6 "'All the days that he separates himself to YAHWEH he shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to YAHWEH. 9 "'If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 11 The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. 12 He shall separate to YAHWEH the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. 13 "'This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, 14 and he shall offer his offering to YAHWEH, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings. 16 The priest shall present them before YAHWEH, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering. 17 He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to YAHWEH, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering. 18 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation;20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before YAHWEH. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. 21 "'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to YAHWEH for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.'"

22 YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, 23 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them, 24 YAHWEH bless you, and keep you. 25 YAHWEH make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. 26 YAHWEH lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.' 27 "So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them."

Numbers 7

7:1 It happened on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tent, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture of it, and the altar and all the vessels of it, and had anointed them and sanctified them; 2 that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers` houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes, these are those who were over those who were numbered: 3 and they brought their offering before Yahweh, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they presented them before the tent. 4 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 5 Take it of them, that they may be [used] in doing the service of the tent of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service. 6 Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. 7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service: 8 and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according 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 sanctuary belonged to them; they bore it on their shoulders. 10 The princes offered for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. 11 Yahweh said to Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar. 12 He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah: 13 and his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 14 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 15 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 16 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer: 19 he offered for his offering one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; 20 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 22 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 23 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar. 24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun.: 25 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 26 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 27 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 29 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. 30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben: 31 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; 32 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 33 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 34 one male of the goats for a sin -offering; 35 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur. 36 On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon: 37 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal- offering; 38 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 39 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 40 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 41 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad: 43 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; 44 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 45 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 46 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 47 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five helambs a year old: this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim: 49 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; 50 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 51 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 52 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 53 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud. 54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh: 55 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; 56 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 57 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 58 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 59 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin: 61 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 62 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 63 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 64 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 65 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni. 66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan: 67 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 68 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 69 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 70 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 71 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, prince of the children of Asher: 73 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 74 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 75 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 77 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran. 78 On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali: 79 his offering was one silver platter, the weight whereof was a hundred a thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a mealoffering; 80 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 81 one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82 one male of the goats for a sin-offering; 83 and for the sacrifice of peaceofferings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan. 84 This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons; 85 each silver platter [weighing] one hundred and thirty [shekels], and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand and four hundred [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary; 86 the twelve golden spoons, full of incense, [weighing] ten [shekels] apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons one hundred and twenty [shekels]; 87 all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the helambs a year old twelve, and their meal-offering; and the males of the goats for a sin-offering twelve; 88 and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace-offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the he-lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed. 89 When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him.

Numbers 8

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to Aaron, and tell him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand. 3 Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps of it [so as to give light] in front of the lampstand, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 4 This was the work of the lampstand, beaten work of gold; to the base of it, [and] to the flowers of it, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which Yahweh had showed Moses, so he made the lampstand. 5 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7 Thus shall you 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 shall you take for a sin- offering. 9 You shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting: and you shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel: 10 and you shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children 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 children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh. 12 The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls: and offer you the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt offering, to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering to Yahweh. 14 Thus shall you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine. 15 After that shall the Levites 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 children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them to me. 17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal: on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among 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 tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary. 20 Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites: according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of Israel to them. 21 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 After that went the Levites 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 did they to them. 23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-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 shall you do to the Levites touching their charges.