Numbers 8:13-20

New International Version

¹³ Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering^(A) to the Lord. ¹⁴ In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.^(B)

¹⁵ “After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering,^(C) they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.^{(D) 16} They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn,^(E) the first male offspring^(F) from every Israelite woman. ¹⁷ Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal,^(G) is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.^{(H) 18} And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.^{(I) 19} From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons^(J) to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites^(K) and to make atonement for them^(L) so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.