¹² “I’m taking the descendants of Levi for myself from among the Israelis in place of every first-born who opens the womb.^[a] The descendants of Levi belong to me

Numbering Israel’s First-born

⁴⁰ Later the Lord instructed Moses: “Number all the first-born males of Israel from a month old and above and list their names. ⁴¹ Separate^[a] the descendants of Levi for me—since^[b] I am the Lord—in place of all the first-born sons of Israel. Also separate^[c] the livestock of the descendants of Levi in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of Israel.” ⁴² So Moses numbered all the firstborn from the sons of Israel just as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³ All the first-born males according to the list of their names from a month old and above numbered 22,273.