The Bible

Numbers Chapter 18

¹Yahweh said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your fathers' house with you will bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you will bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ²Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you will be before the Tent of the Testimony. ³They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, so they don't die, neither they nor you. ⁴They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you.

⁵"Perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, so there'll be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to Yahweh, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷You and your sons with you will keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for what's within the veil. You are to serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death."

⁸Yahweh spoke to Aaron, "Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. ⁹This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰Eat it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹"This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹²"I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to Yahweh. ¹³The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹⁴"Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, surely redeem the firstborn of man, and redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. ¹⁶Redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs.

¹⁷"But don't redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁸Their flesh shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. ¹⁹All the wave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you."

²⁰Yahweh said to Aaron, "Don't have any inheritance in their land. Don't have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹"To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²²From now on the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, 'Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.'"

²⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶"In addition you are to speak to the Levites, and tell them, 'When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸You must also offer a wave offering like this to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and give Yahweh's wave offering to Aaron the priest from it. ²⁹From all your gifts, offer every wave offering to Yahweh, of all its best parts, the holy part of it.'

³⁰"Therefore tell them, 'When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the crop of the threshing floor, and as the produce of the winepress. ³¹You and your households may eat it anywhere, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting. ³²Bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. Don't profane the holy things of the children of Israel, so you don't die.'"