⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes ^(A)to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.

⁸ At that time ^(A)the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ^(B)to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(C)to stand before the Lord to minister to him and ^(D)to bless in his name, to this day.

¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^(A)they shall guard their priesthood. But if ^(B)any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹² The man who ^(A)acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest ^(B)who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So ^(C)you shall purge the evil from Israel.

⁵ And the staff of the man ^(A)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me ^(B)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in ^(C)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff.

⁹ is it ^(A)too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has ^(B)separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?

⁵ and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show ^(A)who is his,^[a] and who is ^(B)holy, and will bring him near to him. The one ^(C)whom he chooses he will ^(D)bring near to him.

The Priests' Garments

28 “Then bring near to you ^(A)Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, ^(B)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^2 (C)And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all the ^(D)skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. ⁴ These are the garments that they shall make: a ^(E)breastpiece, an ^(F)ephod, ^(G)a robe, ^(H)a coat of checker work, ^(I)a turban, and ^(J)a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁵ They shall receive ^(K)gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

^6 (L)“And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. ⁷ It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. ⁸ And the ^(M)skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ⁹ You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. ¹² And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And ^(N)Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders ^(O)for remembrance. ¹³ You shall make settings of gold filigree, ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

¹³ and it shall be to him and to ^(A)his descendants after him the covenant of ^(B)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”