1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to Aaron, and thou shalt say to him: When thou shalt place the seven lamps, let the candlestick be set up on the south side. Give orders therefore that the lamps look over against the north, towards the table of the loaves of proposition, over against that part shall they give light, towards which the candlestick looketh. 3 And Aaron did so, and he put the lamps upon the candlestick, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 Now this was the work of the candlestick, it was of beaten gold, both the shaft in the middle, and all that came out of both sides of the branches: according to the pattern which the Lord had shown to Moses, so he made the candlestick.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them, 7 According to this rite: Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification, and let them shave all the hairs of their flesh. And when they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed, Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification... This was the holy water mixed with the ashes of the red cow, Numbers 19, appointed for purifying all that were unclean. It was a figure of the blood of Christ, applied to our souls by his holy sacraments. 8 They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof fine flour tempered with oil: and thou shalt take another ox of the herd for a sin offering: 9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel: 10 And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them: 11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry. 12 The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the oxen, of which thou shalt sacrifice one for sin, and the other for a holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them. 13 And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his, and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord, 14 And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of Israel, to be mine. 15 And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the covenant, to serve me. And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them for an oblation of the Lord: for as a gift they were given me by the children of Israel. 16 I have taken them instead of the firstborn that open every womb in Israel, 17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and of beasts, are mine. From the day that I slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, have I sanctified them to myself: 18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel: 19 And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of the covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary. 20 And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses, 21 And they were purified, and washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them, 22 That being purified they might go into the tabernacle of the covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done. 23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 24 This is the law of the Levites: From twenty-five years old and upwards, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant. 25 And when they shall have accomplished the fiftieth year of their age, they shall cease to serve: 26 And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the tabernacle of the covenant, to keep the things that are committed to their care, but not to do the works. Thus shalt thou order the Levites touching their charge.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
1 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 2 Loquere Aaron, et dices ad eum: Cum posueris septem lucernas, candelabrum in australi parte erigatur. Hoc igitur præcipe ut lucernæ contra boream e regione respiciant ad mensam panum propositionis, contra eam partem, quam candelabrum respicit, lucere debebunt. 3 Fecitque Aaron, et imposuit lucernas super candelabrum, ut præceperat Dominus Moysi. 4 Hæc autem erat factura candelabri, ex auro ductili, tam medius stipes, quam cuncta quæ ex utroque calamorum latere nascebantur: juxta exemplum quod ostendit Dominus Moysi, ita operatus est candelabrum.
5 Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 6 Tolle Levitas de medio filiorum Israël, et purificabis eos 7 juxta hunc ritum: aspergantur aqua lustrationis, et radant omnes pilos carnis suæ. Cumque laverint vestimenta sua, et mundati fuerint, 8 tollent bovem de armentis, et libamentum ejus similam oleo conspersam: bovem autem alterum de armento tu accipies pro peccato: 9 et applicabis Levitas coram tabernaculo fœderis, convocata omni multitudine filiorum Israël. 10 Cumque Levitæ fuerint coram Domino, ponent filii Israël manus suas super eos. 11 Et offeret Aaron Levitas, munus in conspectu Domini a filiis Israël, ut serviant in ministerio ejus. 12 Levitæ quoque ponent manus suas super capita boum, e quibus unum facies pro peccato, et alterum in holocaustum Domini, ut depreceris pro eis. 13 Statuesque Levitas in conspectu Aaron et filiorum ejus, et consecrabis oblatos Domino, 14 ac separabis de medio filiorum Israël, ut sint mei. 15 Et postea ingredientur tabernaculum fœderis, ut serviant mihi. Sicque purificabis et consecrabis eos in oblationem Domini: quoniam dono donati sunt mihi a filiis Israël. 16 Pro primogenitis quæ aperiunt omnem vulvam in Israël, accepi eos. 17 Mea sunt enim omnia primogenita filiorum Israël, tam ex hominibus quam ex jumentis. Ex die quo percussi omne primogenitum in terra Ægypti, sanctificavi eos mihi: 18 et tuli Levitas pro cunctis primogenitis filiorum Israël, 19 tradidique eos dono Aaron et filiis ejus de medio populi, ut serviant mihi pro Israël in tabernaculo fœderis, et orent pro eis ne sit in populo plaga, si ausi fuerint accedere ad sanctuarium. 20 Feceruntque Moyses et Aaron et omnis multitudo filiorum Israël super Levitas quæ præceperat Dominus Moysi: 21 purificatique sunt, et laverunt vestimenta sua. Elevavitque eos Aaron in conspectu Domini, et oravit pro eis, 22 ut purificati ingrederentur ad officia sua in tabernaculum fœderis coram Aaron et filiis ejus. Sicut præceperat Dominus Moysi de Levitis, ita factum est. 23 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 24 Hæc est lex Levitarum: a viginti quinque annis et supra, ingredientur ut ministrent in tabernaculo fœderis. 25 Cumque quinquagesimum annum ætatis impleverint, servire cessabunt, 26 eruntque ministri fratrum suorum in tabernaculo fœderis, ut custodiant quæ sibi fuerunt commendata: opera autem ipsa non faciant. Sic dispones Levitis in custodiis suis.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
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