Numbers 18

1 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.

And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house shall bear the sins of the holy things, and thou and thy sons shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 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.

And take to thyself thy brethren the tribe of Levi, the family of thy father, and let them be joined to thee, and let them minister to thee; and thou and thy sons with thee [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness.

3 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!

And they shall keep thy charges, and the charges of the tabernacle; only they shall not approach the holy vessels and the altar, so both they and you shall not die.

4 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.

And they shall be joined to thee, and shall keep the charges of the tabernacle of witness, in all the services of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not approach to thee.

5 “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.

And ye shall keep the charges of the holy things, and the charges of the altar, and [so] there shall not be anger among the children of Israel.

6 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.

And I have taken your brethren the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, a present given to the Lord, to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

7 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.”

And thou and thy sons after thee shall keep up your priestly ministration, according to the whole manner of the altar, and that which is within the veil; and ye shall minister in the services as the office of your priesthood; and the stranger that comes near shall die.

8 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.

And the Lord said to Aaron, And, behold, I have given you the charge of the first-fruits of all things consecrated to me by the children of Israel; and I have given them to thee as an honour, and to thy sons after thee for a perpetual ordinance.

9 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.

And let this be to you from all the holy things that are consecrated [to me, even] the burnt-offerings, from all their gifts, and from all their sacrifices, and from every trespass-offering of theirs, and from all their sin-offerings, whatever things they give to me of all their holy things, they shall be thine and thy sons'.

10 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.

In the most holy place shall ye eat them; every male shall eat them, thou and thy sons: they shall be holy to thee.

11 “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.

And this shall be to you of the first-fruits of their gifts, of all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them and to thy sons and thy daughters with thee, a perpetual ordinance; every clean person in thy house shall eat them.

12 “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.

Every first-offering of oil, and every first-offering of wine, their first-fruits of corn, whatsoever they may give to the Lord, to thee have I given them.

13 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.

All the first-fruits that are in their land, whatsoever they shall offer to the Lord, shall be thine: every clean person in thy house shall eat them.

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

Every devoted thing among the children of Israel shall be thine.

15 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.

And every thing that opens the womb of all flesh, whatsoever they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be thine: only the first-born of men shall be surely redeemed, and thou shalt redeem the first-born of unclean cattle.

16 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.

And the redemption of them [shall be] from a month old; their valuation of five shekels—it is twenty oboli according to the holy shekel.

17 “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.

But thou shalt not redeem the first-born of calves and the first-born of sheep and the first-born of goats; they are holy: and thou shalt pour their blood upon the altar, and thou shalt offer the fat as a burnt-offering for a smell of sweet savour to the Lord.

18 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.

And the flesh shall be thine, as also the breast of the wave-offering and as the right shoulder, it shall be thine.

19 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.”

Every special offering of the holy things, whatsoever the children of Israel shall specially offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, a perpetual ordinance: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, for thee and thy seed after thee.

20 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.

And the Lord said to Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any portion among them; for I [am] thy portion and thine inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.

21 “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.

And, behold, I have given to the sons of Levi every tithe in Israel for an inheritance for their services, whereinsoever they perform ministry in the tabernacle of witness.

22 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.

And the children of Israel shall no more draw nigh to the tabernacle of witness to incur fatal guilt.

23 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,

And the Levite himself shall perform the service of the tabernacle of witness; and they shall bear their iniquities, it is a perpetual statute throughout their generations; and in the midst of the children of Israel they shall not receive an inheritance.

24 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.”

Because I have given as a distinct portion to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the children of Israel, whatsoever they shall offer to the Lord; therefore I said to them, In the midst of the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

25 Yahweh said to Moses/me,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

26 “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.

Thou shalt also speak to the Levites, and shalt say to them, If ye take the tithe from the children of Israel, which I have given you from them for an inheritance, then shall ye separate from it a heave-offering to the Lord, a tenth of the tenth.

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

And your heave-offerings shall be reckoned to you as corn from the floor, and an offering from the wine-press.

28 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.

So shall ye also separate them from all the offerings of the Lord out of all your tithes, whatsoever ye shall receive from the children of Israel; and ye shall give of them an offering to the Lord to Aaron the priest.

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

Of all your gifts ye shall offer an offering to the Lord, and of every first-fruit the consecrated part from it.

30 “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.

And thou shalt say to them, When ye shall offer the first-fruits from it, then shall it be reckoned to the Levites as produce from the threshing-floor, and as produce from the wine-press.

31 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.

And ye shall eat it in any place, ye and your families; for this is your reward for your services in the tabernacle of witness.

32 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.’”

And ye shall not bear sin by reason of it, for ye shall have offered an offering of first-fruits from it, and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that ye die not.