⁵ My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.^(A)

²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless^[a] them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.^(A)

¹² Therefore say, ‘I hereby grant him my covenant of peace.^{(A) 13} It shall be for him and for his descendants after him a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’ ”^(B)

²⁵ I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely.^(A)

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.^(A)

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!

²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.”^{(A) 28} The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. ²⁹ Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”

⁸ And of Levi he said,