⁴⁸ and their kindred the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

The Temple Musicians

25 David and the officers of the army also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:^{(A) 2} Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³ Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,^[a] Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.^{(B) 4} Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth.^{(C) 5} All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ They were all under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king.^{(D) 7} They and their kindred, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all of whom were skillful, numbered two hundred eighty-eight. ⁸ And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.^(E)

⁹ The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him and his brothers and his sons, twelve;^{(F) 10} the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹¹ the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹² the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹³ the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh to Jesarelah,^[b] his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;^{(G) 17} the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁸ the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁰ to the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²¹ to the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²² to the fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²³ to the sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;^{(H) 24} to the seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁵ to the eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve;^{(I) 26} to the nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve;

² David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.

Responsibility of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.^{(A) 2} So bring with you also your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, in order that they may be joined to you and serve you while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent of the covenant.^{(B) 3} They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, or else both they and you will die.^{(C) 4} They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you.^{(D) 5} You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites.^{(E) 6} It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting.^{(F) 7} But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift;^[a] any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.”^(G)

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ The Lord spoke to Aaron, “I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due you in perpetuity.^{(H) 9} This shall be yours from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs that they render to me as a most holy thing, whether grain offering, purification offering, or guilt offering, shall belong to you and your sons.^{(I) 10} As a most holy thing you shall eat it; every male may eat it; it shall be holy to you.^{(J) 11} This also is yours: I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due, whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the elevation offerings of the Israelites; everyone who is clean in your house may eat them.^{(K) 12} All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the choice produce that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.^{(L) 13} The first fruits of all that is in their land that they bring to the Lord shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it.^{(M) 14} Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.^{(N) 15} The first issue of the womb of all creatures, human and animal, that is offered to the Lord shall be yours, but the firstborn of human beings you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.^{(O) 16} Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs).^{(P) 17} But the firstborn of a cow or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall dash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire^[b] for a pleasing odor to the Lord,^{(Q) 18} but their flesh shall be yours, just as the breast that is elevated and as the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹ All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well.”^{(R) 20} Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites.^(S)

²¹ “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting.^{(T) 22} From now on the Israelites shall no longer approach the tent of meeting, or else they will incur guilt and die.^{(U) 23} But the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their own offenses; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment,^{(V) 24} because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the Lord. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no allotment among the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “You shall say to the Levites: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.^{(W) 27} It shall be reckoned to you as your gift, the same as the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites, and from them you shall give the Lord’s offering to the priest Aaron.^{(X) 29} Out of all the gifts to you, you shall set apart every offering due to the Lord; the best of all of them is the part to be consecrated. ³⁰ Say also to them: When you have set apart the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor and as produce of the winepress. ³¹ You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your payment for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² You shall incur no guilt by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the Israelites, on pain of death.”^(Y)

⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to allow you to approach him in order to perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the congregation and serve them?^{(A) 10} He has allowed you to approach him, and all your brother Levites with you, yet you seek the priesthood as well!

Consecration and Service of the Levites

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them. ⁷ Thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification on them; have them shave their whole body with a razor and wash their clothes and so cleanse themselves.^{(A) 8} Then let them take a young bull and its grain offering of choice flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a purification offering.^{(B) 9} You shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the Israelites.^{(C) 10} When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹ and Aaron shall present the Levites before the Lord as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may do the service of the Lord. ¹² The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and he shall offer the one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.^{(D) 13} Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you shall present them as an elevation offering to the Lord.

¹⁴ “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the other Israelites, and the Levites shall be mine.^{(E) 15} Thereafter the Levites may go in to do service at the tent of meeting, once you have cleansed them and presented them as an elevation offering.^{(F) 16} For they are unreservedly given to me from among the Israelites; I have taken them for myself, in place of all that open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites.^{(G) 17} For all the firstborn among the Israelites are mine, both human and animal. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸ but I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the Israelites. ¹⁹ Moreover, I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the service for the Israelites at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the Israelites, in order that there may be no plague among the Israelites for coming too close to the sanctuary.”^(H)

²⁰ Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the Israelites did with the Levites accordingly; the Israelites did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning them. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them as an elevation offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.^{(I) 22} Thereafter the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in attendance on Aaron and his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did with them.

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and up they shall begin to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting;^{(J) 25} and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the duty of the service and serve no more. ²⁶ They may assist their brothers in the tent of meeting in carrying out their duties, but they shall perform no service. Thus you shall do with the Levites in assigning their duties.”

The Sons of Aaron

3 This is the lineage of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar;^{(A) 3} these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered unholy fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron.^(B)