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:
12
"Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine.
13
"For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD ."