Numbers 8:5–22

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them,

⁷According to this rite: Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification, and let them shave all the hairs of their flesh. And when they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed,

⁸They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof fine flour tempered with oil: and thou shalt take another ox of the herd for a sin offering:

⁹And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel:

¹⁰And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them:

¹¹And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry.

¹²The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the oxen, of which thou shalt sacrifice one for sin, and the other for a holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them.

¹³And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his, and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord,

¹⁴And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of Israel, to be mine.

¹⁵And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the covenant, to serve me. And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them for an oblation of the Lord: for as a gift they were given me by the children of Israel.

¹⁶I have taken them instead of the firstborn that open every womb in Israel,

¹⁷For all the firstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and of beasts, are mine. From the day that I slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, have I sanctified them to myself:

¹⁸And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel:

¹⁹And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of the covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary.

²⁰And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses

²¹And they were purified, and washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them,

²²That being purified they might go into the tabernacle of the covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done.