^3:11Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ^3:12“Look,²⁶ I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of²⁷ every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me, ^3:13because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed²⁸ all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.”²⁹

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Footnotes

26 The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.
27 Literally “in the place of.”
28 The form הַכֹּתִי (hakkoti) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of the verb נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike, smite, attack”). Here, after the idiomatic “in the day of,” the form functions in an adverbial clause of time—“when I destroyed.”
29 In the Exodus event of the Passover night the principle of substitution was presented. The firstborn child was redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and so belonged to God, but then God chose the Levites to serve in the place of the firstborn. The ritual of consecrating the firstborn son to the Lord was nevertheless carried out, even with Jesus, the firstborn son of Mary (Luke 2:22–23).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The Lord also said to Moses, “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Lord spoke to Moses: “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to me, because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.”

NLTNew Living Translation

And the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have chosen the Levites from among the Israelites to serve as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me, for all the firstborn males are mine. On the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both of people and of animals. They are mine; I am the Lord.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, “I myself receive the Levites from the midst of the Israelites in the place of all the firstborn of the offspring of the womb from the Israelites. The Levites will be mine because all the firstborn are mine; on the day of my killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both humankind and animal; they will be mine. I am Yahweh.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

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