¹⁹ And ^(A)I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, ^(B)that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

^53 (A)but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no ^(B)wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall ^(C)keep^[a] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁴⁶ So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make ^[a]atonement for them; ^(A)for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.”

¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, ^(A)as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; ^(B)they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(C)they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and ^(D)caused^[a] the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have ^(E)raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. ^13 (F)And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall ^(G)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will make them ^(H)keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

The Penalty for Uzziah’s Pride^(A)

¹⁶ But ^(B)when he was strong his heart was ^(C)lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God ^(D)by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ So ^(E)Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men. ¹⁸ And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It ^(F)is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the ^(G)priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, ^(H)leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also ^(I)hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.

²⁸ because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹ both with ^(A)the showbread and ^(B)the fine flour for the grain offering, with ^(C)the unleavened cakes and ^(D)what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of ^(E)measures and sizes; ³⁰ to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; ³¹ and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord ^(F)on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the ^(G)set^[a] feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; ³² and that they should ^(H)attend to the ^(I)needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the ^(J)needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.

¹⁹ Then ^(A)He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. ^[a]He ^(B)struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

² Also bring with you your brethren of the ^(A)tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^(B)joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of ^[a]witness. ³ They shall attend to your ^[b]needs and ^(C)all the needs of the tabernacle; ^(D)but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, ^(E)lest they die—they and you also. ⁴ They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; ^(F)but an outsider shall not come near you. ⁵ And you shall attend to ^(G)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(H)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself have ^(I)taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; ^(J)they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting.

^6 (A)“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. ⁷ And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do ^(B)the work of the tabernacle. ⁸ Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹ And ^(C)you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to ^[a]him from among the children of Israel.