Numbers 8:1-14

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps will shine in front of the lampstand.’ ” And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand: hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. This is what you shall do to them to [ceremonially] cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean. [Num 19:17, 18] Then let them take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering. You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and you shall also assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and present the Levites before the LORD, and the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites. Aaron shall present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the service of the LORD. Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to the LORD. “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine [in a very special sense].