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10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood,[a] but the unauthorized person[b] who comes near must be put to death.”

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “Look,[c] I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of[d] every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 3:10 tc The LXX includes the following words here: “and all things pertaining to the altar and within the veil.” Cf. Num 18:7.
  2. Numbers 3:10 tn The word is זָר (zar), usually rendered “stranger, foreigner, pagan.” But in this context it simply refers to anyone who is not a Levite or a priest, an unauthorized person or intruder in the tabernacle. That person would be put to death.
  3. Numbers 3:12 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.
  4. Numbers 3:12 tn Literally “in the place of.”