In Context

15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave offering.

16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of all that openeth the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.

20 Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the Levites: according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

Numbers 8:18 in Other Translations