Numbers 8:18-19

English Standard Version

¹⁸ and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ^19 (A)And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and ^(B)to make atonement for the people of Israel, ^(C)that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”