⁶ “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and ^(A)cleanse them. ⁷ Thus you shall do to them, for their ^[a]cleansing: sprinkle ^[b]purifying ^(B)water on them, and let them ^[c](C)use a razor over their whole ^[d]body and ^(D)wash their clothes, and they will be clean. ⁸ Then let them take a ^[e]bull with ^(E)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second ^[f]bull you shall take for a sin offering. ⁹ So ^(F)you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. ^(G)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel ^(H)shall lay their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ Aaron then shall ^[g]present the Levites before the Lord as a ^(I)wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may ^[h]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. ¹² Now ^(J)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴ “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and ^(K)the Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵ Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and ^(L)present them as a wave offering; ¹⁶ for they are ^(M)wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself ^(N)instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷ For ^(O)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸ But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. ^19 (P)I have given the Levites as ^[i]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no ^(Q)plague among the sons of Israel by ^[j]their coming near to the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. ^21 (R)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall ^(A)bear the guilt ^[a]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[b]in connection with your priesthood. ² But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^(B)joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but ^(C)they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(D)the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an ^[c]outsider may not come near you. ⁵ So you shall attend to the ^(E)obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, ^(F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself ^(G)have taken your ^[d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(H)a gift to you, ^[e]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall ^(I)attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(J)a ^[f]bestowed service, but ^(K)the ^[g]outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

^8 (A)At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord ^(B)to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.