Numbers 18

1 And the Lord said to Aaron: “You, and your sons, and the house of your father with you, shall carry the iniquity of the Sanctuary. And you and your sons together shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestor's clan will be responsible for all sins committed against the sanctuary. But only you and your sons with you will be responsible for all sins committed by anyone in the priesthood.

2 But take to yourselves also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, and the scepter of your father, and may they be prepared, and may they minister to you. Then you and your sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the testimony.

As for your fellow members of the tribe of Levi, your ancestors' tribe, you must bring them with you so they may join you and help you when you and your sons serve in front of the tent of the covenant decrees.

3 And the Levites shall stand watch by your precepts, and for all the works of the tabernacle; yet in such a manner that they shall not approach the vessels of the Sanctuary and of the altar, lest both they die, and you perish, at the same time.

They must serve you and the whole tent. However, they must not come near to anything in the holy place or connected with the altar, or they and also you will die.

4 But they may be with you, and they may watch over the care of the tabernacle and all its ceremonies. A foreigner shall not be mixed with you.

They must join you and take care of the tent of meeting, for all the work connected with the tent. A foreigner must not come near you.

5 Watch over the care of the Sanctuary, and over the ministry of the altar, lest an indignation may rise over the sons of Israel.

You must take responsibility for the holy place and for the altar so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again.

6 I have given your brothers, the Levites, to you from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have delivered them as a gift to the Lord, in order to serve in the ministries of his tabernacle.

Look, I myself have chosen your fellow members of the Levites from among the descendants of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to me to do the work connected to the tent of meeting.

7 But as for you and your sons: guard the priesthood. For all that pertains to the service of the altar and of what is beyond the veil shall be exercised by the priests. If any outsider will approach, he shall be killed.”

But only you and your sons may exercise the priesthood regarding everything connected with the altar and everything inside the curtain. You yourselves must fulfill those responsibilities. I am giving you the priesthood as a gift. Any foreigner who approaches must be put to death.”

8 And the Lord said to Aaron: “Behold, I have given you custody of my first-fruits. Everything that is sanctified by the sons of Israel I have delivered to you and your sons, for the office of the priesthood, by everlasting ordinances.

Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Look, I have given you the duty of handling the offerings raised up to me, and all the holy offerings that the people of Israel give to me. I have given these offerings to you and your sons as your ongoing share.

9 Therefore, you shall receive these, from the things that are sanctified and offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacrifice, and whatever is repaid to me, on behalf of sin and also for offenses, and which becomes the Holy of holies, shall be for you and for your sons.

This will belong to you from the most holy things that is kept from the fire. From every offering of theirs—every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering—they are set apart to you and to your sons.

10 You shall eat it in the Sanctuary. Only the males shall eat from it, because it has been consecrated for you.

These offerings are very holy; every male must eat it, for they are holy to you.

11 But the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel shall vow and offer, I have given to you, and to your sons, as well as to your daughters, by a perpetual right. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.

These are the offerings that will belong to you, set apart out of all their gifts of the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, your sons, and your daughters, as your portion forever. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your family may eat any of these offerings.

12 All the innermost of the oil, and of the wine, and of the grain, whatever first-fruits they offer to the Lord, I have given to you.

All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and grain, the firstfruits that the people give to me—all these things I have given to you.

13 All the first of the crops, which the soil produces and which are carried to the Lord, shall fall to your use. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.

The first ripe produce of all that is in their land, which they bring to me, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your family may eat these things.

14 All that the sons of Israel shall repay by vow shall be yours.

Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours.

15 Whatever goes out first from the womb, of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether from men or from cattle, shall be your right; yet only in so far as, for the firstborn of man, you shall accept a price. And every animal that is unclean you shall cause to be redeemed.

Everything that opens the womb, all the firstborn which the people offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the people must certainly buy back every firstborn son, and they must buy back the firstborn male of unclean animals.

16 And its redemption shall be, after one month, five shekels of silver, by the weight of the Sanctuary. A shekel has twenty obols.

Those that are to be bought back by the people must be bought back after becoming one month old. Then the people may buy them back, for the price of five shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.

17 But the firstborn of a cow, or of a sheep, or of a goat, you shall not cause to be redeemed, because they have been sanctified to the Lord. Thus, their blood you shall pour out upon the altar, and their fat you shall burn as a most sweet odor to the Lord.

But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat—you must not buy back these animals; they are set apart to me. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahweh.

18 Yet truly, the flesh shall fall to your use, just as the consecrated breast and the right shoulder shall be yours.

Their meat will be yours. Like the raised breast and the right thigh, their meat will be yours.

19 All the first-fruits of the Sanctuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons as well as to your daughters, as a perpetual right. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and for your sons.”

All the holy offerings that the people of Israel present to Yahweh, I have given to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a continual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt, a binding covenant forever, before Yahweh for both you and your descendants with you.”

20 And the Lord said to Aaron: “In their land, you shall possess nothing; neither shall you have a portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in the people's land, nor will you have any share of property among the people. I am your share and inheritance among the people of Israel.

21 But I have given, to the sons of Levi, all the tithes of Israel as a possession, for the ministry by which they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant,

To the descendants of Levi, look, I have given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the service that they provide in working at the tent of meeting.

22 so that the sons of Israel may no longer approach to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin.

From now on the people of Israel must not come near the tent of meeting, or they will be responsible for this sin and die.

23 Only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle and may carry the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. They shall possess nothing else;

The Levites must do the work connected to the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sin regarding it. This will be a permanent law throughout your people's generations. Among the people of Israel they must have no inheritance.

24 being content with the oblation of tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.”

For the tithes of the people of Israel, which they offer as a contribution to me—it is these that I have given to the Levites as their inheritance. That is why I said to them, 'They must have no inheritance among the people of Israel.'”

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

26 “Instruct the Levites, and also declare to them: When you will receive, from the sons of Israel, the tithes, which I have given to you, offer their first-fruits to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of a tenth,

“You must speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive from the people of Israel the tenth that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, you will present a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tenth of the tithe.

27 so that it may be accounted to you as an oblation of the first-fruits, as much from the threshing floors as from the oil and wine presses.

Your contribution must be considered by you as if it were a tenth of the grain from the threshing floor or of the production from the winepress.

28 And offer the first-fruits of everything, from which you receive tithes, to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.

So you also must make a contribution to Yahweh from all the tithes that you receive from the people of Israel. From them you must give his contribution to Aaron the priest.

29 Everything which you shall offer from the tithes, and which you shall separate as gifts to the Lord, shall be the finest and most select.

Out of all the gifts you receive, you must make every contribution to Yahweh. You must do this from all the best and the holiest things that have been given to you.'

30 And you shall say to them: ‘If you offer the noble and the better of the tithes, it shall be accounted to you as if you had given from the first-fruits of the threshing floor and of the oil and wine presses.’

Therefore you must say to them, 'When you present the best of it, then it must be credited to the Levites as the product from the threshing floor and the winepress.

31 And you shall eat these in all your places, both you and your families, because it is your price for the ministry, by which you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.

You may eat the rest of your gifts in any place, you and your families, because it is your pay in return for your work in the tent of meeting.

32 And you shall not sin in this way: by reserving the excellent and fat things for yourselves, lest you pollute the oblations of the sons of Israel, and lest you die.”

You will not incur any guilt by eating and drinking it, if you have presented to Yahweh the best of what you have received. But you must not profane the holy offerings of the people of Israel, or you will die.'”