41 They belong to me, but I will accept the Levites as substitutes for them, and I will accept the Levites' livestock as substitutes for the Israelites' first-born livestock.”
42 Moses obeyed the Lord and counted the first-born sons;
43 there were 22,273 of them.
44 Then the Lord said,
45 “The Levites will belong to me and will take the place of the first-born sons; their livestock will take the place of the Israelites' first-born livestock.
46 But since there are more first-born sons than Levites, the extra 273 men and boys must be bought back from me.
47 For each one, you are to collect five pieces of silver, weighed according to the official standards.