Numbers 8:5–22

The Setting Apart of the Levites

⁵The Lord said to Moses: ⁶“Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.^{q 7}To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing^r on them; then have them shave their whole bodies^s and wash their clothes.^t And so they will purify themselves.^{u 8}Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil;^v then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.^{aw 9}Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting^x and assemble the whole Israelite community.^{y 10}You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.^{z 11}Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering^a from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord.

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.