The Descendants of Levi as Substitutes for the First-born

¹¹ Later, the Lord told Moses, 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 ¹³ because all the first-born belong to me. When^[b] I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated all the first-born in Israel for myself—from human beings to livestock. They belong to me, since^[c] I am the Lord.”