¹² “Now behold, ^(A)I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be ^(B)Mine,

Levites Dedicated Instead of the Firstborn

⁴⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses: ^(A)“Number^[a] all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. ^41 (B)And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.” ⁴² So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³ And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

¹⁸ I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.