Numbers 3:5–13

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. ⁷They are to perform duties for ^ohim and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁸They are to take care of ^pall the furnishings of the tent of meeting ^qand perform duties for ^rthe Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. ⁹Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him ^sfrom the Israelites. ^t10You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” ^u

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹²“See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. ^vThe Levites belong to Me, ¹³because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^wI consecrated every firstborn in Israel to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yahweh.” ^x