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18 ¶ And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee and serve thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall serve before the tabernacle of the testimony.

And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle; only they shall not come near the holy vessels or the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

And they shall join themselves unto thee and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony in all the service of the tabernacle; and no stranger shall come near unto you.

And ye shall have the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no more wrath upon the sons of Israel.

For behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the sons of Israel, given unto you as a gift of the LORD, to serve in the ministry of the tabernacle of the testimony.

Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for every thing of the altar and within the veil, and ye shall minister; for I have given the service of your priesthood as a gift, and the stranger that comes near shall die.

¶ The LORD spoke further unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of my offerings; all the dedicated things of the sons of Israel I have given unto thee by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by a perpetual statute.

This shall be thine of the holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every present of theirs, and every offering that represents their sin, and every offering that represents their guilt, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

10 In the sanctuary shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it; it shall be holy unto thee.

11 This also shall be thine: the heave offering of their gifts. All the wave offerings of the sons of Israel, I have given them unto thee and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; everyone that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

12 All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of this, which they shall present unto the LORD, this have I given thee.

13 The firstfruits of theirs of all the things of the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; everyone that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

14 Every anathema in Israel shall be thine.

15 Every thing that opens the womb in all flesh, which they shall offer unto the LORD, whether it is of men or animals, shall be thine; nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely ransom, and the firstborn of unclean animals shalt thou ransom.

16 And from a month old shalt thou effect their ransom, a ransom according to thine estimation, for the price of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not ransom; they are sanctified; thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar and shalt burn their fat for an offering on fire, for an acceptable savour unto the LORD.

18 And the flesh shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder shall be thine.

19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer unto the LORD, I have given for thee and for thy sons and for thy daughters with thee, by a perpetual statute; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD for thee and for thy seed with thee.

20 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them. I am thy part and thine inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21 And, behold, I have given the sons of Levi all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their ministry because they serve in the ministry of the tabernacle of the testimony.

22 Neither must the sons of Israel from now on come near the tabernacle of the testimony lest they bear sin and die because of it.

23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they shall bear their iniquity by a perpetual statute throughout your ages, and they shall not possess an inheritance among the sons of Israel.

24 For unto the Levites I have given the tithes of the sons of Israel as inheritance, which they shall offer unto the LORD as offerings; therefore, I have said unto them, Among the sons of Israel they shall possess no inheritance.

25 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

26 Thus shalt thou speak unto the Levites and say unto them, When ye take the tithes from the sons of Israel which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall present a tithe of the tithes as an offering unto the LORD.

27 And ye shall count your offering as though it were the grain of the threshingfloor and as the fullness of the winepress.

28 Thus ye also shall offer an offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye shall have received of the sons of Israel; and ye shall give of them an offering unto the LORD, to Aaron the priest.

29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every offering unto the LORD, of all the best thereof ye shall offer the portion that is to be dedicated.

30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye offer the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the fruit of the threshingfloor and as the fruit of the winepress.

31 And ye shall eat it in any place, ye and your family; for it is your reward for your ministry in the tabernacle of the testimony.

32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have offered from it the best of it; and ye shall not pollute the holy things of the sons of Israel, and ye shall not die.

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall (A)bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, (B)and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may (C)join you and (D)minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and (E)over the whole tent, (F)but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar (G)lest they, and you, die. They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, (H)and no outsider shall come near you. And you shall (I)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, (J)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. (K)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. (L)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And (M)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and (N)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,[a] and (O)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Behold, (P)I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you (Q)as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every (R)sin offering of theirs and every (S)guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. 10 In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. 11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the (T)wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to (U)you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. (V)Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12 (W)All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, (X)the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. 13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, (Y)which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. (Z)Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 14 (AA)Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15 (AB)Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, (AC)the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 And their redemption price (AD)(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels[b] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, (AE)which is twenty gerahs. 17 (AF)But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 But their flesh shall be yours, as (AG)the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. 19 (AH)All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. (AI)It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” 20 And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. (AJ)I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

21 (AK)“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, 22 (AL)so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, (AM)lest they bear sin and die. 23 But (AN)the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, (AO)and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which (AP)they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance (AQ)among the people of Israel.”

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, (AR)a tithe of the tithe. 27 (AS)And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28 So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ 30 Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, (AT)then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. 31 And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is (AU)your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you shall (AV)bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not (AW)profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:7 Hebrew service of gift
  2. Numbers 18:16 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams