“‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the Lord. ¹ 

If, however, ¹  it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according to ²  its conversion value and must add one fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.

And take ¹  the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

For they are entirely given ¹  to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of ²  all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed ¹  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.

And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

¹ When the people complained, ²  it displeased ³  the Lord. When the Lord heard ⁴  it, his anger burned, ⁵  and so ⁶  the fire of the Lord ⁷  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

but a whole month, ¹  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ²  because you have despised ³  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ⁴  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

The Lord ¹  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ²  I the Lord ³  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

“Send out men to investigate ¹  the land of Canaan, which I am giving ²  to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, ³  each one a leader among them.”

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ¹  me, and how long will they not believe ²  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

One statute must apply ¹  to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent ²  statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike ³  before the Lord.

So Aaron did ¹  as Moses commanded ²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ¹  according to their tribes ²  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

I myself have chosen ¹  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²  of the tent of meeting.

But the Levites must perform the service ¹  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ²  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ³  have no inheritance. ⁴ 

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

For from the top of the rocks I see them; ¹  from the hills I watch them. ²  Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned ³  among the nations.

He ¹  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ²  nor has he seen trouble ³  in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation ⁴  as king is among them.