"Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites.

"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility.

You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps, among which I live."

"And say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?" Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, few or many,

and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,

The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan."

The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.'

Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now."

But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Say to them, 'As I live, says the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing.

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men

put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!"

Moses said to Korah, "Listen now, you sons of Levi!

He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also?

You must write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.

On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony -- and the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds!

"Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

The Lord said to Moses, "Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live."

Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs."

Now the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.

Moses said to them, "Have you allowed all the women to live?

"You must exact a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep.

You must dispossess the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess it.

"Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals.

The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil.

So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.

Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death.

And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

"You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites."