Liber Numeri 18

1 Dixitque Dominus ad Aaron: Tu, et filii tui, et domus patris tui tecum, portabitis iniquitatem sanctuarii: et tu et filii tui simul sustinebitis peccata sacerdotii vestri.

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;

2 Sed et fratres tuos de tribu Levi, et sceptrum patris tui sume tecum, præstoque sint, et ministrent tibi: tu autem et filii tui ministrabitis in tabernaculo testimonii.

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.

3 Excubabuntque Levitæ ad præcepta tua, et ad cuncta opera tabernaculi: ita dumtaxat ut ad vasa sanctuarii et ad altare non accedant, ne et illi moriantur, et vos pereatis simul.

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;

4 Sint autem tecum, et excubent in custodiis tabernaculi, et in omnibus cæremoniis ejus. Alienigena non miscebitur vobis.

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;

5 Excubate in custodia sanctuarii, et in ministerio altaris: ne oriatur indignatio super filios Israël.

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.

6 Ego dedi vobis fratres vestros Levitas de medio filiorum Israël, et tradidi donum Domino, ut serviant in ministeriis tabernaculi ejus.

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;

7 Tu autem et filii tui custodite sacerdotium vestrum: et omnia quæ ad cultum altaris pertinent, et intra velum sunt, per sacerdotes administrabuntur: si quis externus accesserit, occidetur.

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.”

8 Locutusque est Dominus ad Aaron: Ecce dedi tibi custodiam primitiarum mearum. Omnia quæ sanctificantur a filiis Israël, tradidi tibi et filiis tuis pro officio sacerdotali legitima sempiterna.

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.

9 Hæc ergo accipies de his, quæ sanctificantur et oblata sunt Domino. Omnis oblatio, et sacrificium, et quidquid pro peccato atque delicto redditur mihi, et cedit in Sancta sanctorum, tuum erit, et filiorum tuorum.

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;

10 In sanctuario comedes illud: mares tantum edent ex eo, quia consecratum est tibi.

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

11 Primitias autem, quas voverint et obtulerint filii Israël, tibi dedi, et filiis tuis, ac filiabus tuis, jure perpetuo: qui mundus est in domo tua, vescetur eis.

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;

12 Omnem medullam olei, et vini, ac frumenti, quidquid offerunt primitiarum Domino, tibi dedi.

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.

13 Universa frugum initia, quas gignit humus, et Domino deportantur, cedent in usus tuos: qui mundus est in domo tua, vescetur eis.

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;

14 Omne quod ex voto reddiderint filii Israël, tuum erit.

every devoted thing in Israel is yours;

15 Quidquid primum erumpit e vulva cunctæ carnis, quam offerunt Domino, sive ex hominibus, sive de pecoribus fuerit, tui juris erit: ita dumtaxat ut pro hominis primogenito pretium accipias, et omne animal quod immundum est redimi facias,

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.

16 cujus redemptio erit post unum mensem, siclis argenti quinque, pondere sanctuarii. Siclus viginti obolos habet.

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.

17 Primogenitum autem bovis, et ovis, et capræ, non facies redimi, quia sanctificata sunt Domino. Sanguinem tantum eorum fundes super altare, et adipes adolebis in suavissimum odorem Domino.

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;

18 Carnes vero in usum tuum cedent, sicut pectusculum consecratum, et armus dexter: tua erunt.

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

19 Omnes primitias sanctuarii, quas offerunt filii Israël Domino, tibi dedi, et filiis, ac filiabus tuis, jure perpetuo. Pactum salis est sempiternum coram Domino, tibi ac filiis tuis.

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.”

20 Dixitque Dominus ad Aaron: In terra eorum nihil possidebitis, nec habebitis partem inter eos: ego pars et hæreditas tua in medio filiorum Israël.

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;

21 Filiis autem Levi dedi omnes decimas Israëlis in possessionem, pro ministerio, quo serviunt mihi in tabernaculo fœderis:

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.

22 ut non accedant ultra filii Israël ad tabernaculum, nec committant peccatum mortiferum,

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

23 solis filiis Levi mihi in tabernaculo servientibus, et portantibus peccata populi. Legitimum sempiternum erit in generationibus vestris. Nihil aliud possidebunt,

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;

24 decimarum oblatione contenti, quas in usus eorum et necessaria separavi.

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.”

25 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens:

And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

26 Præcipe Levitis, atque denuntia: Cum acceperitis a filiis Israël decimas, quas dedi vobis, primitias earum offerte Domino, id est, decimam partem decimæ,

“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;

27 ut reputetur vobis in oblationem primitivorum, tam de areis quam de torcularibus:

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

28 et universis quorum accipitis primitias, offerte Domino, et date Aaron sacerdoti.

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;

29 Omnia quæ offeretis ex decimis, et in donaria Domini separabitis, optima et electa erunt.

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

30 Dicesque ad eos: Si præclara et meliora quæque obtuleritis ex decimis, reputabitur vobis quasi de area, et torculari dederitis primitias:

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;

31 et comedetis eas in omnibus locis vestris, tam vos quam familiæ vestræ: quia pretium est pro ministerio, quo servitis in tabernaculo testimonii.

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;

32 Et non peccabitis super hoc, egregia vobis et pinguia reservantes, ne polluatis oblationes filiorum Israël, et moriamini.

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.”