Numbers 3:12
3:12 “Look,
I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of
every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,
Numbers 3:40-41
The Substitution for the Firstborn
3:40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
3:41 And take 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.”