Numbers 18

1 And YHWH says to Aaron, “You, and your sons, and the house of your father with you, bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

And the Lord said to Aaron: Thou, and thy sons, and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

2 and also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring near with you, and they are joined to you, and serve you, even you and your sons with you, before the Tent of the Testimony.

And take with thee thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, and the sceptre of thy father, and let them be ready in hand, and minister to thee: but thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the testimony.

3 And they have kept your charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, they do not come near to the vessels of the holy place and to the altar, and they do not die, either they or you;

And the Levites shall watch to do thy commands, and about all the works of the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary nor the altar, lest both they die, and you also perish with them.

4 and they have been joined to you and have kept the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the tent; and a stranger does not come near to you;

But let them be with thee, and watch in the charge of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. A stranger shall not join himself with you.

5 and you have kept the charge of the holy place and the charge of the altar, and there is no more wrath against the sons of Israel.

Watch ye in the charge of the sanctuary, and in the ministry of the altar: lest indignation rise upon the children of Israel.

6 And I, behold, have taken your brothers the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; they are a gift given to you by YHWH to do the service of the Tent of Meeting;

I have given you your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel, and have delivered them for a gift to the Lord, to serve in the ministries of the tabernacle.

7 and you and your sons with you keep your priesthood for everything of the altar and within the veil, and you have served; I make your priesthood a gift [for] service; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.”

But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood: and all things that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil, shall be executed by the priests. If any stranger shall approach, he shall be slain.

8 And YHWH speaks to Aaron: “And I, behold, have given to you the charge of My raised-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel—I have given them to you and to your sons for the anointing, by a continuous statute.

And the Lord said to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the charge of my firstfruits. All things that are sanctified by the children of Israel, I have delivered to thee and to thy sons for the priestly office, by everlasting ordinances.

9 This is yours from the most holy things, from the fire: all their offering, of all their present, and of all their sin-offering, and of all their guilt-offering, which they give back to Me, is most holy to you and to your sons;

These therefore shalt thou take of the things that are sanctified, and are offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacrifice, and whatsoever is rendered to me for sin and for trespass, and becometh holy of holies, shall be for thee and thy sons.

10 you eat it among the most holy things; every male eats it; it is holy to you.

Thou shalt eat it in the sanctuary: the males only shall eat thereof, because it is a consecrated thing to thee.

11 And this [is] yours: the raised-offering of their gift, with all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you, and to your sons, and to your daughters with you, by a continuous statute; every clean one in your house eats it;

But the firstfruits, which the children of Israel shall vow and offer, I have given to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters, by a perpetual law. He that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.

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

All the best of the oil, and of the wine, and of the corn, whatsoever firstfruits they offer to the Lord, I have given them to thee.

13 The first-fruits of all that [is] in their land, which they bring to YHWH, are yours; every clean one in your house eats it;

All the firstripe of the fruits, that the ground bringeth forth, and which are brought to the Lord, shall be for thy use: he that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.

14 every devoted thing in Israel is yours;

Every thing that the children of Israel shall give by vow, shall be thine.

15 everyone opening a womb of all flesh which they bring near to YHWH, among man and among beast, is yours; only, you certainly ransom the firstborn of man, and you ransom the firstling of the unclean beast.

Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed,

16 And their ransomed ones from a son of a month, you ransom with your valuation [for] five shekels of silver, by the shekel of the holy place; it [is] twenty gerahs.

And the redemption of it shall be after one month, for five sicles of silver, by the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

17 Only, the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you do not ransom, they [are] holy: you sprinkle their blood on the altar, and you make incense of their fat [as] a fire-offering of refreshing fragrance to YHWH;

But the firstling of a cow and of a sheep and of a goat thou shalt not cause to be redeemed, because they are sanctified to the Lord. Their blood only thou shalt pour upon the altar, and their fat thou shalt burn for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

18 and their flesh is yours, as the breast of the wave-offering and as the right leg are yours.

But the flesh shall fall to thy use, as the consecrated breast, and the right shoulder shall be thine.

19 All the raised-offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel lift up to YHWH, I have given to you, and to your sons, and to your daughters with you, by a continuous statute—a covenant of salt; it [is] continuous before YHWH to you and to your seed with you.”

All the firstfruits of the sanctuary which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and daughters, by a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, to thee and to thy sons.

20 And YHWH says to Aaron, “You do not inherit in their land, and you do not have a portion in their midst: I [am] your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel;

And the Lord said to Aaron: You shall possess nothing in their land, neither shall you have a portion among them: I am thy portion and inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.

21 and to the sons of Levi, behold, 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.

And I have given to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel for a possession for the ministry wherewith they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant:

22 And the sons of Israel no longer come near to the Tent of Meeting, to bear sin, to die,

That the children of Israel may not approach any more to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin,

23 and the Levites have done the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they bear their iniquity; [it is] a continuous statute throughout your generations that they have no inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel;

But only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle, and bear the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. They shall not possess any other thing,

24 but the tithe of the sons of Israel which they lift up to YHWH, a raised-offering, I have given to the Levites for inheritance; therefore I have said of them, They have no inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.”

But be content with the oblation or tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.

25 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

26 “And you speak to the Levites, and you have said to them: When you take the tithe from the sons of Israel which I have given to you from them for your inheritance, then you have lifted up the raised-offering of YHWH from it, a tithe of the tithe;

Command the Levites, and declare unto them: When you shall receive of the children of Israel the tithes, which I have given you, offer the firstfruits of them to the Lord, that is to say, the tenth part of the tenth:

27 and your raised-offering has been reckoned to you as grain from the threshing-floor and as the fullness from the wine-vat;

That it may be reckoned to you as an oblation of firstfruits, as well of the barnfloors as of the winepresses:

28 so you lift up—you also—the raised-offering of YHWH from all your tithes which you receive from the sons of Israel; and you have given the raised-offering of YHWH from it to Aaron the priest;

And of all the things of which you receive tithes, offer the firstfruits to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.

29 out of all your gifts you lift up every raised-offering of YHWH, out of all its fat—its hallowed part—out of it.

All the things that you shall offer of the tithes, and shall separate for the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best and choicest things.

30 And you have said to them: In your lifting up its fat out of it, then it has been reckoned to the Levites as increase of a threshing-floor and as increase of a wine-vat;

And thou shalt say to them: If you offer all the goodly and the better things of the tithes, it shall be reckoned to you as if you had given the firstfruits of the barnfloor and the winepress:

31 and you have eaten it in every place, you and your households, for it [is] your hire in exchange for your service in the Tent of Meeting;

And you shall eat them in all your places, both you and your families: because it is your reward for the ministry, wherewith you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.

32 and you bear no sin for it in your lifting up its fat out of it, but you do not defile the holy things of the sons of Israel, and you do not die.”

And you shall not sin in this point, by reserving the choicest and fat things to yourselves, lest you profane the oblations of the children of Israel, and die.