Numbers 18

Duties of Levites

1So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall 1bear the guilt 2in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt 3in connection with your priesthood. 2But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be 4joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but 5they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and 6the altar, or both they and you will die. 4They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an 7outsider may not come near you. 5So you shall attend to the 8obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, 9so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6Behold, I Myself 10have taken your 11fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are 12a gift to you, 13dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7But you and your sons with you shall 14attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as 15a 16bestowed service, but 17the 18outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

8Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My 1920offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment. 9This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even 21every grain offering and every 22sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11This also is yours, 23the offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have 24given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 1225All the 26best of the fresh oil and all the 27best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord, I give them to you. 1328The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 1429Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 153031Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five 32shekels in silver, according to the 33shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17But 34the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. 35You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 18Their 36meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the 37breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. 1938All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is 39an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your 40descendants with you.” 20Then the Lord said to Aaron, “41You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; 42I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21“To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the 43tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 2244The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die. 23Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall 45bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel 46they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘47They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

25Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel 48the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a 49tithe of the tithe. 27Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the 50best of them, 51the sacred part from them.’ 30You shall say to them, ‘When you have 52offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat. 31You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have 53offered the 54best of it. But you shall not 55profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’”