Numbers 18

Wycliffe Bible

18 And the Lord said to Aaron, Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, shall bear the wickedness of the saintuary; and thou and thy sons together shall suffer the sins of your priesthood (but only thou and thy sons shall bear the sins of your priesthood).

² But also take thou with thee thy brethren of the lineage of Levi, and the sceptre, or power, of thy father, and be they ready, that they minister to thee. Forsooth thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of witnessing; (And also take with thee thy brothers from the tribe of Levi, thy father’s tribe, and be they ready to serve thee. But thou and thy sons shall minister in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing;)

³ and the deacons shall (stand) watch at thy commandments, and at all the works of the tabernacle; so only that they nigh not to the vessels of the saintuary, and to the altar, lest both they die, and ye, and (you all) perish together. (and the Levites shall do thy commands, and all their work in the Tabernacle; but they must not go near the vessels of the sanctuary, lest both they and ye die, and all of you perish together.)

⁴ Soothly be they with thee, and (stand) watch they in the keepings of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. An alien shall not be meddled with you. (Yea, be they with thee, and do their duties in the Tabernacle, and at all of its ceremonies. But do not let a foreigner, or a stranger, be mixed in with you.)

⁵ (Stand) Watch ye in the keeping of the saintuary, and in the service of the altar, lest indignation rise upon the sons of Israel. (Do ye all your duties in the sanctuary, and in the service of the altar, lest indignation rise upon the Israelites.)

⁶ Lo! I have given to you your brethren, the deacons, from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have given you them (as) a free gift to the Lord, that they serve in the services of the tabernacle. (Lo! I have given you your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites, and I have given them to you as a free gift for the Lord, in their service to the Tabernacle.)

⁷ Soothly thou and thy sons, keep your priesthood; and all things that pertain to the adorning of the altar, and be within the veil, shall be ministered by [the] priests; if any stranger nigheth thereto, he shall be slain. (Thou and thy sons, do your priestly duties; and all the things in the service of the altar, and that be within the Veil, shall be the priests’ responsibility; if any stranger nigheth thereto, he shall be put to death.)

⁸ The Lord spake to Aaron, Lo! I have given to thee the keeping of my first fruits; I have given to thee, and to thy sons, all things that be hallowed of the sons of Israel, for [the] priest’s office (to be) everlasting lawful things. (And the Lord spoke to Aaron, and said, Lo! I give thee the special contributions given to me, for thy own use; I give thee, and thy sons, all the things that be hallowed by the Israelites, by an everlasting law, for the office, or the use, of the priest.)

⁹ Therefore thou shalt take these things of those things that be hallowed, and be offered to the Lord; each offering, and sacrifice, and whatever thing is yielded, (or offered,) to me for sin and for trespass, and cometh into (the) holy of holy things, shall be thine and thy sons (shall be for thee and thy sons).

¹⁰ Thou shalt eat it in the saintuary; males only shall eat thereof, for it is hallowed to the Lord. (Thou shalt eat it in the sanctuary; only males can eat it, for it is dedicated, or consecrated, to the Lord.)

¹¹ Soothly I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, the first fruits which the sons of Israel avow and offer; he that is clean in thine house(hold), shall eat those things. (And I have also given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by an everlasting right, the first fruits which the Israelites vow and offer; anyone who is clean in thy family, can eat those things.)

¹² I have given to thee all the marrow, or the best, of (the) oil, and of (the) wine, and of (the) wheat, whatever thing of the first fruits (that) they shall offer to the Lord.

¹³ All the beginnings of fruits which the earth bringeth forth, and be brought (in) to the Lord, shall fall into thine uses; he that is clean in thine house(hold), shall eat of those (things).

¹⁴ All things that the sons of Israel yield by a vow, shall be thine. (Everything that the Israelites give by a vow, shall be yours.)

¹⁵ Whatever thing cometh first forth of the womb of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it is of men, either of beasts, it shall be of thy right; so only that thou take price for the first begotten child of man, and that thou make each beast that is unclean to be bought again; (Whatever thing of all flesh that cometh forth first from the womb, whether it is of men, or of beasts, which they offer to the Lord, shall be thy right to have; so only that thou take payment in exchange, or as redemption, for the first-born of man, and that thou make each beast that is unclean to be bought back;)

¹⁶ whose again-buying shall be after one month, for five shekels of silver, by the weight of [the] saintuary (whose redemption shall be after one month, for five shekels of silver, by the measure of the sanctuary); a shekel hath twenty halfpence.

¹⁷ Forsooth thou shalt not make the first engendered of an ox, and of sheep, and of goat, to be again-bought, for those be hallowed to the Lord; only thou shalt pour the blood of those upon the altar, and thou shalt burn the inner fatness into sweetest odour to the Lord. (But thou shalt not allow the first-born of an ox, or of a sheep, or of a goat, to be bought back, for they be holy to the Lord; thou must throw their blood against the altar, and thou shalt burn their inner fatness to make the sweetest aroma to the Lord.)

¹⁸ Soothly the flesh shall fall into thine use, as the breast hallowed and the right shoulder, shall be thine. (But their flesh shall be for thy use, like the breast for the special gift, and the right shoulder, be for thee.)

¹⁹ I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, all the first fruits of the saintuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord; it is (an) everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, to thee, and to thy sons (with thee, and with thy sons).

²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, Ye shall not wield anything of heritage in the land of Israel, neither ye shall have part among them; I am thy part and thine heritage, in the midst of the sons of Israel. (And the Lord said to Aaron, Ye shall not possess any inheritance in the land of Israel, nor shall ye have any portion among them; for I am thy portion, and thy inheritance, among the Israelites.)

²¹ Soothly, I gave to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel into possession, for the service by which they serve me in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace; (Truly, I have given to the sons of Levi all of the tithes of Israel for a possession, for the service which they do in the Tabernacle of the Covenant, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing;)

²² that the sons of Israel nigh no more to the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, neither do deadly sin. (so that the Israelites no longer come near to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, and so do sin, and then must die.)

²³ To the sons alone of Levi, serving me in the tabernacle, and bearing the people’s sins, it shall be a lawful thing everlasting in your generations. (This is only for the sons of Levi, who serve me in the Tabernacle, and who bear the people’s sins; and this shall be an everlasting law in all your generations.)

²⁴ They shall wield none other thing, and they shall be satisfied with the offering of tithes, which I separated into [the] uses and necessaries of them. (They shall possess nothing else, and they shall be satisfied with the offering of the tithes which I set apart for their uses and their necessities.)

²⁵ And the Lord spake to Moses and said,

²⁶ Command thou, and announce to the deacons, When ye have taken tithes of the sons of Israel, which I gave to you, offer ye the first fruits of those to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of the tenth, (Command thou, and say to the Levites, When ye have received the tithes of the Israelites, which I gave to you, offer ye the first fruits of those tithes to the Lord, that is, a tithe of the tithe,)

²⁷ that it be areckoned to you into [the] offering of the first fruits, as well of the cornfloors, as of the presses; (so that it shall be counted for you as though it be an offering of the first fruits, yea, from the threshing floor, and from the winepress;)

²⁸ and of all things of which ye take tithes, offer ye the first fruits to the Lord, and give ye those to Aaron, the priest.

²⁹ All (the) things which ye shall offer of (the) tithes, and shall separate into the gifts of the Lord (and shall set apart for a gift to the Lord), shall be the best, and all the choice things.

³⁰ And thou shalt say to them, If ye offer to the Lord all the [more] clean and better things of tithes, it shall be areckoned to you, as if ye gave the first fruits of the cornfloor, and of the press. (And thou shalt say to them, When ye have offered to the Lord all the more clean and better things of the tithes, it shall be counted for you, like the first fruits from the threshing floor, and from the winepress.)

³¹ And ye shall eat those tithes in all your places, as well ye as your families, for it is the price for the service, for which ye serve in the tabernacle of witnessing. (And ye shall eat those tithes in all your dwelling places, ye as well as your families, or your households, for it is the payment for the service which ye do, in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing.)

³² And ye shall not do sin on this thing, and reserve [the] noble things and [the] fat to you, lest ye defoul the offerings of the sons of Israel, and ye die. (And ye shall not do sin with these things, and take the noble and the fat things for yourselves, lest ye defile the offerings of the Israelites, for then ye shall die/for then ye must be put to death.)