Numbers 8:13-20

New King James Version

¹³“And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord. ¹⁴Thus you shall ^(A)separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be ^(B)Mine. ¹⁵After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and ^(C)offer them like a wave offering. ¹⁶For they are ^(D)wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself ^(E)instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel. ¹⁷^(F)For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I ^[a]sanctified them to Myself. ¹⁸I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. ¹⁹And ^(G)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, ^(H)that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus 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.

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Footnotes

Numbers 8:17 set them apart

Numbers 8:13-20

New International Version

¹³Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering^(A) to the Lord. ¹⁴In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.^(B)

¹⁵“After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering,^(C) they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.^(D) ¹⁶They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn,^(E) the first male offspring^(F) from every Israelite woman. ¹⁷Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal,^(G) is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.^(H) ¹⁸And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.^(I) ¹⁹From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons^(J) to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites^(K) and to make atonement for them^(L) so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”