Numbers 18

1 The Lord told Aaron, “You and your sons and the other Levites bear the responsibility for sins relating to the sanctuary. You and your sons alone bear the responsibility for sins relating to your priesthood.

And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, do bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou, and thy sons with thee, do bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

2 Have your brothers from the tribe of Levi, your father's tribe, join you to help you and your sons with your service in the Tent of the Testimony.

and also thy brethren, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, and they are joined unto thee, and serve thee, even thou and thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

3 They will take care of your responsibilities and those relating to the Tent, but they must not come too close to the sacred objects of the sanctuary or the altar, otherwise they will die, and you will too.

'And they have kept thy charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar they do not come near, and they die not, either they or you;

4 They are to help you and take care of the responsibilities of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent, but they are not allowed to be with you during your priestly ministry.

and they have been joined unto thee, and have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and a stranger doth not come near unto you;

5 You are to carry out the responsibilities relating to the sanctuary and the altar, so that my anger will not fall on the Israelites again.

and ye have kept the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, and there is no more wrath against the sons of Israel.

6 Look, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from the Israelites as my gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work that relates the Tent of Meeting.

'And I, lo, I have taken your brethren the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; to you a gift they are given by Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting;

7 But only you and your sons are responsible for your priesthood, doing all that concerns the altar and is behind the veil. Only you are to perform that service. I am giving you the gift of your priesthood, but anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be executed.”

and thou, and thy sons with thee, do keep your priesthood, for everything of the altar, and within the vail, and ye have served; a service of gift I make your priesthood; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.'

8 The Lord told Aaron, “Listen, I have put you in charge of officiating at my offerings. All the holy contributions of the Israelites that they bring are reserved for you, and this is a permanent rule.

And Jehovah speaketh unto Aaron: 'And I, lo, I have given to thee the charge of My heave-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel — to thee I have given them for the anointing, and to thy sons, by a statute age-during.

9 Part of the most holy offerings taken from the burnt offerings are yours. Part of all the offerings they give me as most holy offerings, whether it's grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

This is thine of the most holy things, from the fire: all their offering, to all their present, and to all their sin-offering, and to all their guilt-offering, which they give back to Me, is most holy to thee, and to thy sons;

10 You shall eat it in a most holy place. Every male is allowed to eat it. You are to regard it as something holy.

in the holy of holies thou dost eat it; every male doth eat it; holy it is to thee.

11 The following also belongs to you: the voluntary gifts as well as all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent rule. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean is allowed to eat it.

'And this [is] thine: the heave-offering of their gift, to all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel, to thee I have given them, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute age-during; every clean one in thy house doth eat it;

12 I am giving you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain that the Israelites give as firstfruits to the Lord.

all the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and wheat — their first -[fruits] which they give to Jehovah — to thee I have given them.

13 The firstfruits of all the crops they produce in their land that they bring to the Lord are yours. Everyone in your family who is ceremonially clean is allowed to eat them.

'The first-fruits of all that [is] in their land, which they bring in to Jehovah, are thine; every clean one in thy house doth eat it;

14 Everything in Israel that is dedicated to the Lord is yours.

every devoted thing in Israel is thine,

15 Every firstborn, whether human or animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must buy back every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

every one opening a womb of all flesh which they bring near to Jehovah, among man and among beast, is thine; only, thou dost certainly ransom the first-born of man, and the firstling of the unclean beast thou dost ransom.

16 When they are one month old you shall pay the redemption price of five shekels of silver, (using the sanctuary shekel standard), equivalent to twenty gerahs.

'And their ransomed ones from a son of a month, thou dost ransom with thy valuation, of silver, five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary, twenty gerahs it [is].

17 But you are not allowed to redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat because they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as a burnt offering accepted by the Lord.

'Only, the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou dost not ransom, holy they [are]: their blood thou dost sprinkle on the altar, and of their fat thou makest perfume, a fire-offering of sweet fragrance to Jehovah,

18 Their meat is yours, in the same way that the breast and right thigh of the wave offering are yours.

and their flesh is thine, as the breast of the wave-offering, and as the right leg, it is thine;

19 I am giving all the voluntary gifts that the Israelites present to the Lord to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent rule. It is a permanent agreement of salt before the Lord for you and your descendants.”

all the heave-offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel lift up to Jehovah I have given to thee and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute age-during, a covenant of salt, age-during it [is] before Jehovah, to thee and to thy seed with thee.'

20 “You won't possess property in their country, and you won't have a share in their land. I am your share and your possession among the Israelites.

And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'In their land thou dost not inherit, and a portion thou hast not in their midst: I [am] thy portion, and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel;

21 Instead I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel as compensation for the service they provide in doing the work in the Tent of Meeting.

and to the sons of Levi, lo, I have given all the tenth in Israel for inheritance in exchange for their service which they are serving — the service of the tent of meeting.

22 The Israelites are no longer allowed to approach the Tent of Meeting, or they will commit an offense and die.

'And the sons of Israel come no more near unto the tent of meeting, to bear sin, to die,

23 The Levites are to carry out the work in the Tent of Meeting, and they must take responsibility for any sins involved. This is a permanent rule for all future generations. The Levites won't receive a share of land among the Israelites.

and the Levites have done the service of the tent of meeting, and they — they bear their iniquity; a statute age-during to your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they have no inheritance;

24 Instead I have given to the Levites as their compensation the tithe that the Israelites give to the Lord as a contribution. That's why I told them that they wouldn't receive a share of land among the Israelites.”

but the tithe of the sons of Israel which they lift up to Jehovah, a heave-offering, I have given to the Levites for inheritance; therefore I have said of them, In the midst of the sons of Israel they have no inheritance.'

25 The Lord told Moses,

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

26 “Talk to the Levites and explain to them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your compensation, you must return part of it as an offering to the Lord: a tithe of the tithe.

'And unto the Levites thou dost speak; and thou hast said unto them, When ye take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given to you from them, for your inheritance, then ye have lifted up from it the heave-offering of Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe;

27 Your offering will be considered as if it were the firstfruits of grain from your threshing floor or grape juice from the winepress.

and your heave-offering hath been reckoned to you as corn from the threshing-floor, and as fulness from the wine-vat;

28 In this way you are to contribute an offering to the Lord from every tithe you receive from the Israelites, giving the Lord's offering to Aaron the priest.

so ye do lift up — ye also — the heave-offering of Jehovah from all your tithes which ye receive from the sons of Israel; and ye have given from it the heave-offering of Jehovah to Aaron the priest;

29 From all the gifts you receive you are to contribute as the Lord's offering the very best, the holiest part of every gift.’

out of all your gifts ye do lift up the whole heave-offering of Jehovah; out of all its fat, — its hallowed part — out of it.

30 So tell the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be considered as your contribution produced by your threshing floor or winepress.

'And thou hast said unto them, In your lifting up its fat out of it, then it hath been reckoned to the Levites, as increase of a threshing-floor, and as increase of a wine-vat;

31 You and your families may eat it anywhere because it's compensation for your service in the Tent of Meeting.

and ye have eaten it in every place, ye and your households, for it [is] your hire in exchange for your service in the tent of meeting;

32 You will not be considered to have sinned if you have presented the best part of it. But if you treat the sacred offerings of the Israelites with disrespect you will die.’”

and ye bear no sin for it, in your lifting up its fat out of it, and the holy things of the sons of Israel ye do not pollute, and ye die not.'