Numbers 8:5-22

New International Reader's Version

Moses Sets Apart the Levites

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites. Make them ‘clean’ in the usual way. ⁷ Here is how to make them pure. Sprinkle the special water on them. Then have them shave their whole bodies. Also have them wash their clothes. That is how they will make themselves pure. ⁸ Have them get a young bull along with its grain offering. The offering must be made out of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then you must get a second young bull. You must sacrifice it as a sin offering. ⁹ Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting. Gather the whole community of Israel together. ¹⁰ You must bring the Levites to me. The Israelites must place their hands on them. ¹¹ Aaron must bring the Levites to me. They are a wave offering from the Israelites. That is how they will be set apart to do my work.

¹² “Then I want the Levites to place their hands on the heads of the bulls. They must sacrifice one bull as a sin offering to me. And they must sacrifice the other as a burnt offering. The blood of the bulls will pay for the sin of the Levites. ¹³ Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Then give them as a wave offering to me. ¹⁴ That is how I want you to set apart the Levites from the other Israelites. The Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵ “Make the Levites pure. Give them to me as a wave offering. Then they must come to do their work at the tent of meeting. ¹⁶ They are the Israelites who will be given to me completely. I have taken them to be my own. I have taken them in place of every son born first in his family in Israel. ¹⁷ Every male born first in Israel belongs to me. That is true whether it is a human or an animal. In Egypt I struck down all the males born first to their mothers. Then I set apart for myself all the males born first in Israel. ¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites in place of all the sons born first in Israel. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from among all the Israelites. I have appointed them to do the work at the tent of meeting. They will do it in place of the Israelites. That is how they will keep the Israelites from being guilty when they go near the sacred tent. Then no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the tent.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites made themselves pure. They washed their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the Lord as a wave offering. That’s how he paid for their sin to make them pure. ²² After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting. They worked under the direction of Aaron and his sons. And so Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel did with the Levites just as the Lord had commanded Moses.