Numbers 18:1–7

The Duties of the Priests and Levites

18Yahweh said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your family with you will bear the guilt of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the guilt of your priesthood. ²Moreover, bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi the tribe of your father, that they may be joined to you and minister to you, you and your sons with you before the tent of testimony. ³They will keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, only they may not come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, so both you and they will not die. ⁴They will be joined to you, and they will keep the responsibility of the tent of assembly for the entire service of the tent; a stranger may not come near you. ⁵You will keep the responsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, and there will no longer be wrath on the Israelites.^{a 6}Look, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from the midst of the children. They are a gift to you given from Yahweh to perform the work of the tent of assembly. ⁷But you with your sons will keep your priesthood to perform your priestly duties for everything at the altar^b and for the area behind the curtain.^c I give you the priesthood as a gift, but the stranger who approaches will be put to death.”