Numbers 8:5–26

Cleansing of the Levites

⁵And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the ^jwater of purification upon them, and ^klet them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. ⁸Then let them take a bull from the herd and ^lits grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, ^mand you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. ⁹ⁿAnd you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting ^oand assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. ¹⁰When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel ^pshall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. ¹²Then the Levites ^qshall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer ^rthe one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as ^sa wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and ^tthe Levites shall be mine. ¹⁵And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a ^swave offering. ¹⁶For they are ^uwholly given to me from among the people of Israel. ^vInstead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. ^17wFor all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ^19uAnd I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and ^xto make atonement for the people of Israel, ^ythat there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. ²¹And ^zthe Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and ^aAaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

²³And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“This applies to the Levites: ^bfrom twenty-five years old and upward they¹ shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. ²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. ²⁶They minister² to their brothers in the tent of meeting ^cby keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”