Numbers 民数记08

8The Lord said to Moses,
2"Speak to Aaron and say to him, 'When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.' "
3Aaron did so; he set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
4This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold-from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.
5The Lord said to Moses:
6"Take the Levites from among the other Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.
7To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing¹ on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.
8Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.
9Bring the Levites to the front of the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community.
10You are to bring the Levites before the Lord , and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.
11Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord .
12"After the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, use the one for a sin offering to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.
13Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering to the Lord .
14In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
15"After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting.
16They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman.
17Every firstborn male in Israel, whether man or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.
18And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.
19Of all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary²."
20Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.
21The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement for them to purify them.
22After that, the Levites came to do their work at the Tent of Meeting under the supervision³ of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.
23The Lord said to Moses,
24"This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting,
25but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.
26They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."

1 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

2 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。