⁶ “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and ^(A)cleanse them. ⁷ This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle ^[a]purifying ^(B)water on them, and have them ^[b](C)use a razor over their whole ^[c]body, and they shall ^(D)wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. ⁸ Then have them take a ^[d]bull with ^(E)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second ^[e]bull as a sin offering. ⁹ So ^(F)you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. ^(G)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel ^(H)shall lay their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ Aaron then shall ^[f]present the Levites before the Lord as a ^(I)wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may ^[g]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. ¹² Now ^(J)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴ “So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and ^(K)the Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵ Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and ^(L)present them as a wave offering; ¹⁶ for they are ^(M)exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself ^(N)instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷ For ^(O)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸ But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ And ^(P)I have given the Levites as ^[h]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no ^(Q)affliction among the sons of Israel due to ^[i]their approaching the sanctuary.”

²⁰ So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. ^21 (R)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall ^(A)bear the guilt ^[a]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[b]in connection with your priesthood. ² But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may ^(B)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but ^(C)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(D)the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ^[c]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. ⁵ So you shall perform the ^(E)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself ^(G)have taken your ^[d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(H)a gift to you, ^[e]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall ^(I)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(J)a ^[f]service that is a gift, and ^(K)the ^[g]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

^8 (A)At that time the Lord singled out the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord ^(B)to serve Him and to bless in His name, until this day.