⁸ At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi^(A) to carry the ark of the covenant^(B) of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister^(C) and to pronounce blessings^(D) in his name, as they still do today.^{(E) 9} That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,^(F) as the Lord your God told them.)

¹⁰ Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.^(G)