Numbers 3:5-13 ▼

5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Israel.

10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that opens the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: my shall they be: I am the LORD.