The Setting Apart of the Levites

The Lord said to Moses: “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.(A) To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing(B) on them; then have them shave their whole bodies(C) and wash their clothes.(D) And so they will purify themselves.(E) Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil;(F) then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.[a](G) Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting(H) and assemble the whole Israelite community.(I) 10 You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.(J) 11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering(K) from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord.

12 “Then the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls,(L) using one for a sin offering(M) to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering,(N) to make atonement(O) for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering(P) to the Lord. 14 In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.(Q)

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

20 Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.(AB) Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement(AC) for them to purify them.(AD) 22 After that, the Levites came to do their work(AE) at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 8:8 Or purification offering; also in verse 12

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10 You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.

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

15 “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16 For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. 17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among 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 do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”

20 Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 21 The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

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