New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 The LORD said to Moses,
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And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 "Speak to Aaron. Say to him, 'Set up the seven lamps. They will give light to the area that is in front of the lampstand.' "
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"Speak to Aaron, and say to him, 'When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.' "
3 So Aaron did it. He set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand. He did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses.
4 The lampstand was made out of hammered gold. From its base to its blooms it was made out of hammered gold. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.
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Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
5 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
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Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6 "Take the Levites from among the other men of Israel. Make them 'clean' in the usual way.
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"Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially.
7 Here is how to make them pure. Sprinkle the special water on them. Then have them shave their whole bodies. Also have them wash their clothes. That is how they will make themselves pure.
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Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
8 "Have them get a young bull along with its grain offering. The offering must be made out of fine flour mixed with olive oil. Then you must get a second young bull. You must sacrifice it as a sin offering.
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Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering.
9 "Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Gather the whole community of Israel together.
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And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel.
10 You must bring the Levites to me. The men of Israel must place their hands on them.
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So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;
11 Aaron must bring the Levites to me. They are a wave offering from the people of Israel. That is how they will be set apart to do my work.
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and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord, like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the Lord.
12 "I want the Levites to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. Then they must sacrifice one bull as a sin offering to me. And they must sacrifice the other as a burnt offering. The blood of the bulls will pay for the sin of the Levites.
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Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
13 "Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Then give them as a wave offering to me.
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And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord.
14 That is how I want you to set the Levites apart from the other men of Israel. The Levites will belong to me.
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Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.
15 "Make the Levites pure. Give them to me as a wave offering. Then they must come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting.
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After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them, like a wave offering.
16 They are the men of Israel who will be given to me completely. I have taken them to be my own. I have taken them in place of every son who is born first in his family in Israel.
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For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.
17 "Every male that is born first in Israel belongs to me. That is true whether it is a man or an animal. I struck down all of the males that were born first to a mother in Egypt. Then I set apart for myself all of the males that were born first in Israel.
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For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites in place of all of the sons who are born first in Israel.
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I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
19 "I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from all of the men of Israel. I have appointed them to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. They will do it in place of the men of Israel. "That is how they will keep the men of Israel from being guilty when they go near the sacred tent. Then no plague will strike the people of Israel when they go near the tent."
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And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle 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 the sanctuary."
20 So Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.
21 The Levites made themselves pure. They washed their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the LORD as a wave offering. That's how he paid for their sin to make them pure.
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And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them, like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
22 After that, the Levites came to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. They worked under the direction of Aaron and his sons. And so Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
23 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,
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Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
24 "Here is what the Levites must do. Men who are 25 years old or more must come and take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
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"This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting;
25 "But when they reach the age of 50, they must not work any longer. They must stop doing their regular work.
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and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more.
26 They can help their brothers with their duties at the Tent of Meeting. But they themselves should not do the work. That is how you must direct the Levites to do their work."
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They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties."
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.