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;

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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 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.”

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.

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.

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;

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.

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

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

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;

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

14 every devoted thing in Israel is yours;

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.”

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.”

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;

“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.

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.

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.

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

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

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;

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.

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.”

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.”

25 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

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;

“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.

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

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

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;

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.

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.

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

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;

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.

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;

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

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.”

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.’”