5 Then Yahweh told Mosheh, 6 “Summon the Levites to come and stand in front of Aharon the priest, so they can assist him. 7 They must perform duties for him and for the entire community at and around the sacred tent, 8 including looking after all of its equipment and fulfilling the obligations of the Israelis. 9 You must assign the Levites to Aharon—out of all the Israelis it’s them who are assigned to serve the priests. 10 Appoint Aharon and his sons as priests and to preserve the priesthood. Any other person who tries to act as a priest must be executed.”

11 Then Yahweh told Mosheh, 12 “Out of all the Israelis, I’ve taken the Levites instead of the oldest son from every family. The Levites will be the ransom for those sons, and so they belong to me, 13 because every firstborn male person and animal is set aside as belonging to me ever since I killed those firstborn males in Egypt. I am Yahweh.”