< Numbers 18 >
1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house shall bear the sins of the holy things, and thou and thy sons shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.
And take to thyself thy brethren the tribe of Levi, the family of thy father, and let them be joined to thee, and let them minister to thee; and thou and thy sons with thee [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness.
3 And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.
And they shall keep thy charges, and the charges of the tabernacle; only they shall not approach the holy vessels and the altar, so both they and you shall not die.
4 They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.
And they shall be joined to thee, and shall keep the charges of the tabernacle of witness, in all the services of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not approach to thee.
5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.
And ye shall keep the charges of the holy things, and the charges of the altar, and [so] there shall not be anger among the children of Israel.
6 Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.
And I have taken your brethren the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, a present given to the Lord, to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.
7 But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
And thou and thy sons after thee shall keep up your priestly ministration, according to the whole manner of the altar, and that which is within the veil; and ye shall minister in the services as the office of your priesthood; and the stranger that comes near shall die.
8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.
And the Lord said to Aaron, And, behold, I have given you the charge of the first-fruits of all things consecrated to me by the children of Israel; and I have given them to thee as an honour, and to thy sons after thee for a perpetual ordinance.
9 A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.
And let this be to you from all the holy things that are consecrated [to me, even] the burnt-offerings, from all their gifts, and from all their sacrifices, and from every trespass-offering of theirs, and from all their sin-offerings, whatever things they give to me of all their holy things, they shall be thine and thy sons'.
10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.
In the most holy place shall ye eat them; every male shall eat them, thou and thy sons: they shall be holy to thee.
11 And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it.
And this shall be to you of the first-fruits of their gifts, of all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them and to thy sons and thy daughters with thee, a perpetual ordinance; every clean person in thy house shall eat them.
12 I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
Every first-offering of oil, and every first-offering of wine, their first-fruits of corn, whatsoever they may give to the Lord, to thee have I given them.
13 The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.
All the first-fruits that are in their land, whatsoever they shall offer to the Lord, shall be thine: every clean person in thy house shall eat them.
14 Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you.
Every devoted thing among the children of Israel shall be thine.
15 The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.
And every thing that opens the womb of all flesh, whatsoever they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be thine: only the first-born of men shall be surely redeemed, and thou shalt redeem the first-born of unclean cattle.
16 You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
And the redemption of them [shall be] from a month old; their valuation of five shekels—it is twenty oboli according to the holy shekel.
17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
But thou shalt not redeem the first-born of calves and the first-born of sheep and the first-born of goats; they are holy: and thou shalt pour their blood upon the altar, and thou shalt offer the fat as a burnt-offering for a smell of sweet savour to the Lord.
18 And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you.
And the flesh shall be thine, as also the breast of the wave-offering and as the right shoulder, it shall be thine.
19 All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
Every special offering of the holy things, whatsoever the children of Israel shall specially offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, a perpetual ordinance: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, for thee and thy seed after thee.
20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
And the Lord said to Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any portion among them; for I [am] thy portion and thine inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.
21 Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
And, behold, I have given to the sons of Levi every tithe in Israel for an inheritance for their services, whereinsoever they perform ministry in the tabernacle of witness.
22 No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
And the children of Israel shall no more draw nigh to the tabernacle of witness to incur fatal guilt.
23 The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.
And the Levite himself shall perform the service of the tabernacle of witness; and they shall bear their iniquities, it is a perpetual statute throughout their generations; and in the midst of the children of Israel they shall not receive an inheritance.
24 For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”
Because I have given as a distinct portion to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the children of Israel, whatsoever they shall offer to the Lord; therefore I said to them, In the midst of the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And the LORD instructed Moses,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe.
Thou shalt also speak to the Levites, and shalt say to them, If ye take the tithe from the children of Israel, which I have given you from them for an inheritance, then shall ye separate from it a heave-offering to the Lord, a tenth of the tenth.
27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.
And your heave-offerings shall be reckoned to you as corn from the floor, and an offering from the wine-press.
28 So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.
So shall ye also separate them from all the offerings of the Lord out of all your tithes, whatsoever ye shall receive from the children of Israel; and ye shall give of them an offering to the Lord to Aaron the priest.
29 You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’
Of all your gifts ye shall offer an offering to the Lord, and of every first-fruit the consecrated part from it.
30 Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress.
And thou shalt say to them, When ye shall offer the first-fruits from it, then shall it be reckoned to the Levites as produce from the threshing-floor, and as produce from the wine-press.
31 And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting.
And ye shall eat it in any place, ye and your families; for this is your reward for your services in the tabernacle of witness.
32 Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”
And ye shall not bear sin by reason of it, for ye shall have offered an offering of first-fruits from it, and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that ye die not.