Deuteronomy 10:8

⁵The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the LORD’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided.

⁵For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the LORD’s name, him and his sons forever.

¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

²³“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them, ²⁴‘The LORD bless you, and keep you. ²⁵The LORD make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. ²⁶The LORD lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’

¹⁶You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

¹⁹Therefore the LORD says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.

²⁷Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.

⁹Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?

¹The LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ²Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. ³They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. ⁴They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you.

⁵“You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁸The LORD spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. ⁹This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall give to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹“This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹²“I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to the LORD. ¹³The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹⁴“Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to the LORD, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. ¹⁶You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel^[+] of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs.

¹⁷“^[+] But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to the LORD. ¹⁸Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. ¹⁹All the wave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD to you and to your offspring with you.”

²⁰The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹“To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²²Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’”

²⁵The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶“Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to the LORD of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give the LORD’s wave offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering to the LORD, of all its best parts, even the holy part of it.’

³⁰“Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. ³¹You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting. ³²You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.’”