< Numbers 18 >
1 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 And thy brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined to thee, and minister to thee, but thou and thy sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony.
3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tent. Only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor ye.
4 And they shall be joined to thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, and a stranger shall not come near to you.
5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, that there be no more wrath upon the sons of Israel.
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
7 And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil, and ye shall serve. I give you the priesthood as a service of gift. And the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.
8 And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of my heave offerings, even all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel. I have given them to thee by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, as a portion forever.
9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
10 As the most holy things thou shall eat of it; every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to thee.
11 And this is thine: the heave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to Jehovah, I have given them to thee.
13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Jehovah, shall be thine. Everyone who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
14 Everything devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Jehovah, both of man and beast shall be thine. Nevertheless the firstborn of man thou shall surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts thou shall redeem.
16 And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shall thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs).
17 But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shall not redeem. They are holy. Thou shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor to Jehovah.
18 And the flesh of them shall be thine. As the wave-breast and as the right thigh, it shall be thine.
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to Jehovah, I have given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah to thee and to thy seed with thee.
20 And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall thou have any portion among them. I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the sons of Israel.
21 And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.
22 And henceforth the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. And among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as a heave offering to Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, Among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
26 Moreover thou shall speak to the Levites, and say to them, When ye take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave offering of it for Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe.
27 And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing-floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.
28 Thus ye also shall offer a heave offering to Jehovah of all your tithes, which ye receive of the sons of Israel. And from it ye shall give Jehovah's heave offering to Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of Jehovah, of all the best of it, even the hallowed part of it out of it.
30 Therefore thou shall say to them, When ye heave the best of it from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the wine-press.
31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.
32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it. And ye shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, that ye not die.