And they shall be to me, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day in which I shall make, into a special treasure; and I shall spare them, as a man spareth his son serving to him.
Lo! I have given to you your brethren, the deacons [or Levites], from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have given you them a free gift of the Lord, that they serve in the services of the tabernacle.
I have taken the Levites of the sons of Israel for each first engendered thing that openeth the womb in the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine,
Take thou the Levites for the first begotten of the sons of Israel, and take the beasts of the Levites for the beasts of them, and the Levites shall be mine; I am the Lord.
Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When a man either a woman maketh a vow, that they be hallowed, and they will hallow themselves to the Lord,
for all the first begotten things of the sons of Israel be mine, as well of men as of beasts, from the day in which I smote each first engendered thing in the land of Egypt, I [have] hallowed them to me.
In that time I separated the lineage of Levi, that it should bear the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and it should stand before him in service, and should bless in his name, into this present day.