And the Lord spake unto Moses Continued to speak unto him, and give him the reason of his appointing the Levites to minister to the priests and serve the tabernacle:
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And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;
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Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.