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Responsibilities of the Levites

18 So Yahweh 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. But bring near with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be (B)joined with you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. And they shall thus keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, but (C)they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and (D)the altar, so that neither they nor you will die. And they shall be joined with you and keep the responsibility of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but [c]an outsider may not come near you. So you shall keep the (E)responsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, (F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. And behold, I Myself (G)have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (H)a gift to you, given to Yahweh, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. But you and your sons with you shall (I)keep your priesthood in everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (J)a [d]bestowed service, but (K)the [e]outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:1 Lit of the sanctuary
  2. Numbers 18:1 Lit of your priesthood
  3. Numbers 18:4 Lit a stranger
  4. Numbers 18:7 Lit service of gift
  5. Numbers 18:7 Lit stranger

18 And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers’ house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given unto Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

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