9. Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him from the Israelites.
10. You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
11. The Lord spoke to Moses:
12. “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to Me,
13. because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yahweh.”
14. The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai:
15. “Register the Levites by their ancestral houses and their clans. You are to register every male one month old or more.”
16. So Moses registered them in obedience to the Lord as he had been commanded:
17. These were Levi’s sons by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.