5The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,6Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and purify them.7Thus you shall do to them to purify them: sprinkle the water of sin upon them, and pass a razor over all their flesh, and wash their garments, and let them purify themselves.8And take a bullock, and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and take a second bullock, for a sin offering.9Present the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel.10Present the Levites before the LORD, and let the sons of Israel lay their hands upon the Levites.11Aaron shall wave the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, and they shall be for service at the service of the LORD.12The Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and make the one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering to the LORD to make atonement for the Levites.13Station the Levites before Aaron and his sons and wave them as a wave offering to the LORD.14Separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.15Afterward the Levites shall come to serve at the tent of meeting; purify them and wave them as a wave offering.16For they are given to me from among the sons of Israel; in place of every firstborn that opens every womb, the firstborn of all from the sons of Israel, I have taken them to myself.17For to me belongs every firstborn among the sons of Israel, among man and among animal; on the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them to myself.18I took the Levites in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel.19I gave the Levites, given to Aaron and his sons from among the sons of Israel, to serve the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the sons of Israel, so that there may be no plague among the sons of Israel when the sons of Israel approach the holiness.20Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites; thus the sons of Israel did to them.21The Levites purified themselves and washed their garments, and Aaron waved them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.22Afterward the Levites came to serve their service at the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons, just as the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites; thus they did to them.23The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,24This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years of age and upward he shall come to perform duty, an army, in the service of the tent of meeting.25From fifty years of age he shall return from the army of the service and shall serve no longer.26He shall minister to his brothers at the tent of meeting by keeping the charge, but he shall not perform service; thus you shall do to the Levites in their charges.