Numbers 18

1 And Yahweh said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and the house of thy father with thee, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, —and, thou, and thy sons with thee, shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and the other members of your father’s family are the ones (who will be punished/whom I will punish) [if anything bad happens to the things] inside the Sacred Tent. But only you and your sons will be punished if the priests do something bad.

2 Therefore also thy brethren of the tribe of Levi the stem of thy father, bring thou near with thee, and let them be joined unto thee, and let them wait upon thee, —both on thee and on thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

Require that those who belong to your tribe, the tribe of Levi, must assist you and your sons while you perform your work at the Sacred Tent.

3 So shall they keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tent, —only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary, and unto the altar, shall they not come near, lest they die—both they, and ye.

But while they do that work, they must not go near the sacred items inside the tent or near the altar. If they do that, they will die, and you will die, too!

4 So shall they be joined unto thee, and shall keep the charge of the tent of meeting, as to all the laborious work of the tent, —but a stranger, shall not come near unto you.

They may assist you in doing all the work to take care of the Sacred Tent, but no one else is permitted to come near the place where you are working.

5 So shall ye keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, —that there no more be wrath against the sons of Israel.

“You are the ones who will do the sacred work inside the Sacred Tent and at the altar. If you obey these instructions, I will not become very angry with the Israeli people again.

6 I, therefore, lo! I have taken your brethren the Levites, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —unto you, as a gift are they given, unto Yahweh, to do the laborious work of the tent of meeting.

I myself have chosen the descendants of Levi from the other Israelis in order that they may be your special helpers. They are like a gift that I have given you to work at the Sacred Tent.

7 But thou and thy sons with thee, shall keep the charge of your priesthood, as to every matter of the altar and as to the interior of the veil, and shall do the laborious work, as a laborious service of gifts, do I give your priesthood, and, the stranger who cometh near shall be put to death.

But it is you and your sons, who are the priests, who must perform all the rituals concerning the altar and with what happens inside the Very Holy Place. I am giving to you this work of serving as priests. So anyone else who tries to do that work must be executed.”

8 And Yahweh spake unto Aaron, I, therefore, lo! I have given unto thee the charge of my heave-offerings, —as to all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel—unto thee, have I given them. as pertaining to the anointing, and unto thy sons. for a statute age-abiding,

Yahweh also said to Aaron, “I myself have appointed you to take care of all the sacred offerings that the Israeli people bring to me. I have given all these sacred offerings to you and to your sons. You and your descendants will get a share of these offerings permanently.

9 This, shall be thine, out of the things most holy, out of the fire, —their every oblation—to the extent of their every meal-offering, and their every sin-bearer, and their every guilt-bearer wherewith they make amends unto me, most holy unto thee, shall it be and unto thy sons.

The parts of the offerings that are not completely burned on the altar belong to you. Those parts of the sacred offerings, including the offerings of grain, the offerings for sins and for the people to be forgiven for not giving me what they are required to give, are set apart, and are to be given to you and your sons.

10 As something most holy, shall ye eat it, —every male, shall eat it, holy, shall it be unto thee.

You must eat those offerings in a sacred place, [near the Sacred Tent]. You and all of the other males [in your clan] may eat them, but you must consider those offerings to be holy/dedicated to me.

11 This, therefore, shall be thine—the heave-offering of their gift even all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel, unto thee, have I given them and unto thy sons and unto thy daughters with thee by a statute age-abiding, —every one that is clean in thy house, shall eat it.

“The priests lift up high the sacred offerings while they are standing in front of the altar. All of those offerings that the Israelis offer to me belong to you and your sons and daughters. They will always be your share. All the members of your family who [have performed the rituals to cause them to] be acceptable to me are permitted to eat from these offerings.

12 All the best of oil, and all the best of new-wine and corn, —the firstfruits thereof which they shall give unto Yahweh, unto thee, have I given them.

“am [also] giving to you the first food that people harvest each year and bring to me—the best [olive] oil and new wine and grain.

13 The firstfruits of all that is in their land which they shall bring in unto Yahweh, thine, shall it be, —every one that is clean in thy house, shall eat it:

All of the first crops that people harvest and bring to me belong to you. Anyone in your family who has [performed the ritual to] become acceptable to me is permitted to eat that food.

14 every devoted thing in Israel, thine, shall it be:

“Everything in Israel that is set apart to belong to me also belongs to you.

15 every thing that is born first of all flesh that may be offered unto Yahweh among men and among beasts, shall be thine, —only thou shalt, redeem, the firstborn of men, and the firstborn of unclean beasts, shalt thou redeem.

The firstborn males, both humans and domestic animals, that are offered to me, will be yours. But people must buy back their firstborn sons and the firstborn animals that may not be used for sacrifices.

16 And, as to the redemption price thereof, from a month old, shalt thou redeem, by thine estimate five shekels of silver by the shekel of the sanctuary, —twenty gerahs, it is.

They must buy them back when they are one month old. The price that they must pay [for each one] is five pieces of silver. They must weigh the silver on the scales that are in the Sacred Tent.

17 Only a firstling ox or a firstling sheep or a firstling goat, shalt thou not redeem, hallowed, they are, —their blood, shalt thou dash against the altar and of their fat, shalt thou make a perfume, an altar-flame, for a satisfying odour unto Yahweh:

“But they are not permitted to buy back the firstborn cattle or sheep or goats. They are holy and have been set apart for me. [Slaughter them and] sprinkle their blood on the altar. Then completely burn the fat of those animals [on the altar] to be an offering to me. The smell as they burn will be very pleasing to me.

18 and their flesh, shall be thine, —as the wave-breast and as the right leg, thine, shall it be:

The meat from those offerings will be yours, just like the breast and right thigh of animals that are presented to me to maintain fellowship with me as the priest lifts them up high in front of the altar are yours.

19 all the heave-offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall heave up unto Yahweh, have I given unto thee and unto thy sons and unto thy daughters with thee by a statute age-abiding, —an age-abiding covenant of salt, it is before Yahweh, for thee and for thy seed with thee.

Anything that the Israeli people present to me as holy/sacred gifts, I am giving to you. They are for you and your sons and daughters [to eat]. They will always be your share. This is an agreement that I am making with you, an agreement that will (last forever/never be changed). I am also making this agreement with your descendants.”

20 Then said Yahweh unto Aaron: In their land, thou shalt have no inheritance, and no allotted portion, shalt thou have in their midst, —I, am thine allotted portion and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

Yahweh also said to Aaron, “You priests will not receive any of the land or the property like the [other] Israeli people will receive. I am what you will receive.

21 And unto the sons of Levi, lo! I have given all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, —the allotted portion for their laborious work which, they are performing, the laborious work of the tent of meeting:

“Then the Israeli people bring to me a tenth of all [the crops and of their newborn animals], I will give that to you descendants of Levi. That will be your payment for the work you do at the Sacred Tent.

22 that the sons of Israel come near no more, unto the tent of meeting, —to bear sin, to die.

The other Israelis must not go near that tent. If they go near it, [I will consider that their doing that is a sin, and] they will die for committing that sin.

23 So shall the Levites themselves perform the laborious work of the tent of meeting, and, they, shall bear their iniquity, a statute age-abiding, unto your generations, and in the midst of the sons of Israel, shall they take no inheritance.

Only the descendants of Levi are permitted to work at the Sacred Tent, and they will be punished if anything bad happens to it. That is a law that will never be changed. You descendants of Levi will not receive any land among the other Israeli people,

24 Because the tenth of the sons of Israel which they shall offer up unto Yahweh as a heave-offering, have I given unto the Levites as an inheritance, —for this cause, said I regarding them, In the midst of the sons of Israel, shall they take no inheritance.

because I will give you one tenth of all the [crops and animals] that the Israelis bring to be offerings to me. That is why I said that you will not receive any land like the other Israelis will receive.”

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh said to Moses/me,

26 Unto the Levites, therefore shalt thou speak and shalt say unto them, When ye shall take of the sons of Israel the tenth which I have given unto you from them as your inheritance, then shall ye offer up therefrom the heave-offering of Yahweh, a tenth of the tenth.

“Tell this to the descendants of Levi: ‘When you receive one tenth of all [the crops and animals] from the Israeli people, you must give one tenth of all that to me to be a sacred offering.

27 So shall your heave-offering be reckoned your own, —as corn out of the threshing-floor, and as the abundance out of the wine-press.

Just like the other Israelis give one tenth of the grain and wine that they produce,

28 Thus, shall ye also, offer up the heave-offering of Yahweh, out of all your tenths which ye shall take from the sons of Israel, —and give therefrom the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Aaron the priest.

you must give to me one tenth of all that you receive from them. That will be your sacred offering to me. You must present it to Aaron.

29 Out of all your gifts, shall ye offer up every heave-offering of Yahweh, —out of all the best thereof, the hallowed pert thereof out of it.

Select the best parts of the things that are given to you to give them to me.’

30 And thou shalt say unto them, —When ye offer the best thereof out of it, then shall it be reckoned to belong unto the Levites, as the increase of the threshing-floor and as the increase of the wine-press,

“Also, tell this to the descendants of Levi: ‘When you present those best portions of grain and wine as your offering to me, I will consider that those gifts are as though they came from your own grain fields and vineyards.

31 And ye shall eat it in any place, ye, and your household, —for a reward, it is unto you, the allotted portion for your laborious work in the tent of meeting.

You descendants of Levi and your families are permitted to eat [the rest of] that food, and you may eat it wherever [you want to], because it is your payment for the work that you do at the Sacred Tent.

32 And ye shall not by reason of it bear sin, when ye offer up the best thereof, out of it; and the hallowed things of the sons of Israel, shall ye not profane neither shall ye die.

If you give to the priests the best portions of what you receive, you will not be punished [by me] for accepting one tenth of the gifts that the people bring to me. But you must consider those gifts to be sacred/holy. If you sin [by eating those things in ways that are contrary to these regulations that I have given to you], you will be executed.’”