Numbers 18:2–7

²“But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^ajoined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

³“And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but ^athey shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^bthe altar, or both they and you will die.

⁴“They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an ¹outsider may not come near you.

⁵“So you shall attend to the ^aobligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, ^bso that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

⁶“Behold, I Myself ^ahave taken your ¹fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^ba gift to you, ²dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.

⁷“But you and your sons with you shall ^aattend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^ba ¹bestowed service, but ^cthe ²outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”