¹² you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.^{(A) 13} Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey,^(B) but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.^(C) Redeem^(D) every firstborn among your sons.^(E)

¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’^(A)

²⁹ “Do not hold back offerings^(A) from your granaries or your vats.^[a]

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons.^(B)

²⁶ “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord;^(A) whether an ox^[a] or a sheep, it is the Lord’s.

¹³ for all the firstborn are mine.^(A) When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”^(B)

¹⁶ They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn,^(A) the first male offspring^(B) from every Israelite woman. ¹⁷ Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal,^(C) is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.^{(D) 18} And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.^{(E) 19} From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons^(F) to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites^(G) and to make atonement for them^(H) so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.^(I) Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord and made atonement^(J) for them to purify them.^{(K) 22} After that, the Levites came to do their work^(L) at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more^(M) shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,^{(N) 25} but at the age of fifty,^(O) they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. ²⁶ They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work.^(P) This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”

¹⁵ The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours.^(A) But you must redeem^(B) every firstborn^(C) son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.^(D)

The Firstborn Animals

¹⁹ Set apart for the Lord^(A) your God every firstborn male^(B) of your herds and flocks.^(C) Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.^(D)

²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[a]),^(A)