13 “Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them.
14 Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me.
15 After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent.
16 I have claimed them in the place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone.
17 When I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the eldest son of each Israelite family and the firstborn of every animal.
18 I am now taking the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites,
19 and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”