them to be a heaveoffering unto the LORD. And thou shalt separate the Levites, from among the children of Israel, that they be mine: and after that let them go and do the service of the tabernacle of witness. Cleanse them and wave them, for they are given unto me from among the children of Israel: for I have taken them unto me for all the firstborn that open any matrice among the children of Israel. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine both man and beast: because the same time that I smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself: and I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and have given them unto Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of witness and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel, if they come nye unto the sanctuary. And Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did unto the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses. And the Levites purified them selves, and washed their clothes. And Aaron waved them before the LORD, and made an atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that they went in to do their service in the tabernacle of witness, before Aaron and his sons. And according as the LORD had commanded Moses as concerning the Levites, even so they did unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: this shall be the manner of the Levites: from twenty five years upward they shall go in to wait upon the service in the tabernacle of witness, and at fifty they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall labour no more: but shall minister unto their brethren in the tabernacle of witness, and there wait, but shall do no more service. And see that thou do after this manner unto the Levites in their waiting times. Chapter .ix.