Numbers 8:5-26

Thomson^{(i) 5} Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and purify them. ⁷ And in this manner thou shalt perform their purification. Thou shalt sprinkle them with the water of purification, and a razor shall pass over their whole body, and they shall wash their clothes, and they will be clean. ⁸ Then they shall take a young bull from the herd, with his sacrifice, to wit, fine flour mixed up with oil; and thou shalt take a yearling bull from the herd for a sin offering, ⁹ and bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the testimony, and assemble all the congregation of Israel's sons, ¹⁰ and present the Levites before the Lord. And the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites; ¹¹ and Aaron shall set the Levites apart before the Lord, as a gift from the sons of Israel; and they shall be set apart to perform the works of the Lord. ¹² Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the head of the young bulls. And thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a whole burnt offering, to make atonement for them. ¹³ Then thou shalt place the Levites before the Lord, and before Aaron and before his sons, and give them as a gift before the Lord. ¹⁴ thou shalt separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and they shall belong to me. ¹⁵ And after this, the Levites shall go in to do the works of the tabernacle of the testimony, when thou hast purified them, and given them up before the Lord. ¹⁶ Because they are solemnly given up to me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for myself from among the children of Israel, instead of all the males who are the first born of their mothers. ¹⁷ Because every first born among the children of Israel, whether of man or beast, belongeth to me [on the day when I smote all the first born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed them for myself] ¹⁸ and I have taken the Levites instead of all the first born among the children of Israel, ¹⁹ and have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons, from among the children of Israel, to do the works of the children of Israel at the tabernacle of the testimony, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; therefore none among the children of Israel shall come near the Holies. ²⁰ So Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites as the Lord commanded Moses in respect to them. ²¹ Now when the children of Israel had done so to them, and the Levites were purified, and had washed their clothes, and Aaron had solemnly given them up in the presence of the Lord, and had made atonement for them to purify them; ²² and, after this, the Levites had gone in to perform their service in the tabernacle of the testimony, in the presence of Aaron and his sons; when they had done thus for the Levites, as the Lord had commanded Moses in respect to them; ²³ then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ There is this further in respect to the Levites; from twenty five years and upwards, they shall go in to perform service at the tabernacle of the testimony; ²⁵ but after fifty years of age, they are to be withdrawn from the service, and work no more. ²⁶ As brothers, they are to keep watch at the tabernacle of the testimony, but not to perform laborious work. In this manner thou shalt dispose of the Levites among their watches.