Numbers 8:12–26

¹²And the Levites ^lshall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer ^mthe one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites. ¹³And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. ¹⁴Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be ⁿmine. ¹⁵And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. ¹⁶For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; ^oinstead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. ^17pFor all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. ¹⁸And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. ¹⁹And ^qI 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 tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: ^rthat there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary. ²⁰And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. ²¹And the Levites ^swere purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

²³And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²⁴This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: ^tfrom twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: ²⁵and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more: ²⁶but shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, ^uto keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

IX.