Numbers 3:5-13 - The Assignment Of The Levites

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ "Bring near the tribe of Levi, and {set the tribe} {before Aaron} the priest, and they will minister to him. ⁷ They shall observe his duties and the duties of the entire community before the tent of assembly, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁸ And they will keep all the vessels of the tent of assembly and the responsibilities of the {Israelites}, to do the work of the tabernacle. ⁹ You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his descendants; they [are] surely assigned to him from among the {Israelites}. ¹⁰ But you will count Aaron and his descendants; they will keep their priesthood, and the stranger who approaches will be put to death."

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, ¹² "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 ¹³ 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."