Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering;
Parallel translations
- WEB “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering.
- KJV And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.
- BSB After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting.
- NKJV 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.
- NLT After this, they may go into the Tabernacle to do their work, because you have purified them and presented them as a special offering.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After being cleansed and offered, the Levites may enter to serve the Tent of Meeting. Consecration leads to active ministry.
Overview
Once purified and dedicated as a wave offering, the Levites begin their service at the tabernacle. Cleansing and consecration come first, then the work of ministry. This pattern points to Christ, who cleanses his people so that, set apart, they may serve God acceptably (Hebrews 9:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 8:11and 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.
- Num 8:13You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh.
- Exod 29:24You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
- Num 4:3–32from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Chr 23:1–32Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
- 1 Chr 25:1–26Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals. The number of those who did the work according to their service was:
- Num 3:23–37The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.
- Num 3:12“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine:
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 8:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.