39. All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
40. The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
41. You shall take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn amongst the livestock of the children of Israel.”
42. Moses counted, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn amongst the children of Israel.
43. All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand and two hundred and seventy-three.
44. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
45. “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord.