Numbers 8:12–26

¹²“Then the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls,^b using one for a sin offering^c to the Lord and the other for a burnt offering,^d to make atonement^e for the Levites. ¹³Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering^f to the Lord. ¹⁴In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.^g

¹⁵“After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering,^h they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.^{i 16}They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn,^j the first male offspring^k from every Israelite woman. ¹⁷Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal,^l is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.^{m 18}And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.^{n 19}From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons^o to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites^p and to make atonement for them^q so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.^r Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement^s for them to purify them.^{t 22}After that, the Levites came to do their work^u at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.

²³The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more^v shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,^{w 25}but at the age of fifty,^x they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. ²⁶They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work.^y This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”