Numbers 18

1 And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests.

And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, You and your sons and your father's house shall bear the sins of the holy things, and you and your sons shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness.

And take to yourself your brethren the tribe of Levi, the family of your father, and let them be joined to you, and let them minister to you; and you and your sons with you [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness.

3 They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you.

And they shall keep your 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 be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you.

And they shall be joined to you, and shall keep the charges of the tabernacle of witness, in all the services of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not approach to you.

5 You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel.

And you 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 Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of 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 And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.

And you and your sons after you shall keep up your priestly ministration, according to the whole manner of the altar, and that which is within the veil; and you shall minister in the services as the office of your priesthood; and the stranger that comes near shall die.

8 And the Lord said to Aaron, See, I have given into your care my lifted offerings; even all the holy things of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons as your right for ever, because you have been marked with the holy oil.

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 you as an honor, and to your sons after you for a perpetual ordinance.

9 This is to be yours of the most holy things, out of the fire offerings; every offering of theirs, every meal offering and sin-offering, and every offering which they make on account of error, is to be most holy for 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 your and your sons'.

10 As most holy things they are to be your food: let every male have them for food; it is to be holy to you.

In the most holy place shall you eat them; every male shall eat them, you and your sons: they shall be holy to you.

11 And this is yours: the lifted offering which they give and all the wave offerings of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as your right for ever: everyone in your house who is clean may have them for food.

And this shall be to you of the first fruits of their gifts, of all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; to you have I given them and to your sons and your daughters with you, a perpetual ordinance; every clean person in your house shall eat them.

12 All the best of the oil and the wine and the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to the Lord, to you have I given them.

Every first-offering of oil, and every first-offering of wine, their first fruits of corn, whatever they may give to the Lord, to you have I given them.

13 The earliest produce from their land which they take to the Lord is to be yours; everyone in your house who is clean may have it for his food.

All the first fruits that are in their land, whatever they shall offer to the Lord, shall be your: every clean person in your house shall eat them.

14 Everything given by oath to the Lord in Israel is to be yours.

Every devoted thing among the children of Israel shall be your.

15 The first birth of every living thing which is offered to the Lord, of man or beast, is to be yours; but for the first sons of man payment is to be made, and for the first young of unclean beasts.

And every thing that opens the womb of all flesh, whatever they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be your: only the firstborn of men shall be surely redeemed, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean cattle.

16 Payment is to be made for these when they are a month old, at the value fixed by you, a price of five shekels by the scale of the holy place, that is, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

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 no such payment may be made for the first birth of an ox or a sheep or a goat; these are holy: their blood is to be dropped on the altar, and their fat burned for an offering made by fire, a sweet smell to the Lord.

But you shall not redeem the firstborn of calves and the firstborn of sheep and the firstborn of goats; they are holy: and you shall pour their blood upon the altar, and you shall offer the fat as a burnt offering for a smell of sweet savor to the Lord.

18 Their flesh is to be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and the right leg, it is to be yours.

And the flesh shall be your, as also the breast of the wave-offering and as the right shoulder, it shall be your.

19 All the lifted offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as a right for ever. This is an agreement made with salt before the Lord, to you and to your seed for ever.

Every special offering of the holy things, whatever the children of Israel shall specially offer to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, a perpetual ordinance: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, for you and your seed after you.

20 And the Lord said to Aaron, You will have no heritage in their land, or any part among them; I am your part and your heritage among the children of Israel.

And the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; for I [am] your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.

21 And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work 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, whenever they perform ministry in the tabernacle of witness.

22 In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin.

And the children of Israel shall no more draw near to the tabernacle of witness to incur fatal guilt.

23 But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

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 the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

Because I have given as a distinct portion to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the children of Israel, whatever 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 said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

26 Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord.

You shall also speak to the Levites, and shall say to them, If you take the tithe from the children of Israel, which I have given you from them for an inheritance, then shall you separate from it a heave-offering to the Lord, a tenth of the tenth.

27 And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines.

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 make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest.

So shall you also separate them from all the offerings of the Lord out of all your tithes, whatever you shall receive from the children of Israel; and you shall give of them an offering to the Lord to Aaron the priest.

29 From everything given to you, let the best of it, the holy part of it, be offered as a lifted offering to the Lord.

Of all your gifts you shall offer an offering to the Lord, and of every first-fruit the consecrated part from it.

30 Say to them, then, When the best of it is lifted up on high, it is to be put to the account of the Levites as the increase of the grain-floor and of the place where the grapes are crushed.

And you shall say to them, When you 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 It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting.

And you shall eat it in any place, you and your families; for this is your reward for your services in the tabernacle of witness.

32 And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.

And you shall not bear sin by reason of it, for you shall have offered an offering of first fruits from it, and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you die not.