Consecrating the Levites

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶ Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷ Thus you will do to them to cleanse them: Splash purifying water on them, and let them shave their whole body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. ⁸ Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering, also fine flour mixed with oil, and you will take another young bull as a sin offering. ⁹ You will bring the Levites before the tent of meeting. And you will gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together. ¹⁰ And you will bring the Levites before the Lord. And the children of Israel will put their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ And Aaron will offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering of the children of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord.

¹² The Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites. ¹³ You will set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Thus will you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites will be Mine.

¹⁵ And afterwards the Levites will go in to do the service of the tent of meeting, and you will cleanse them and offer them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are completely set aside for Me by the children of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them for Myself. ¹⁷ For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸ I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to serve the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, so there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel approach the sanctuary.

²⁰ Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ²¹ The Levites cleansed themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.