Numbers 18

1 Adonai said to Aaron [Light-bringer], “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

And the Lord said to Aaron: “You, and your sons, and the house of your father with you, shall carry the iniquity of the Sanctuary. And you and your sons together shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

2 Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi [United with], 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 shall be before the Tent of the Testimony.

But take to yourselves also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, and the scepter of your father, and may they be prepared, and may they minister to you. Then you and your sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the testimony.

3 They shall keep your orders, and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the utensils of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you.

And the Levites shall stand watch by your precepts, and for all the works of the tabernacle; yet in such a manner that they shall not approach the vessels of the Sanctuary and of the altar, lest both they die, and you perish, at the same time.

4 They 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.

But they may be with you, and they may watch over the care of the tabernacle and all its ceremonies. A foreigner shall not be mixed with you.

5 “You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel [God prevails].

Watch over the care of the Sanctuary, and over the ministry of the altar, lest an indignation may rise over the sons of Israel.

6 Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites [Descendants of United with] from among the children of Israel [God prevails]. They are a gift to you, dedicated to Adonai, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

I have given your brothers, the Levites, to you from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have delivered them as a gift to the Lord, in order to serve in the ministries of his tabernacle.

7 You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

But as for you and your sons: guard the priesthood. For all that pertains to the service of the altar and of what is beyond the veil shall be exercised by the priests. If any outsider will approach, he shall be killed.”

8 Adonai spoke to Aaron [Light-bringer], “Behold, I myself have given you the charge of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel [God prevails]. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a chok ·portion· forever.

And the Lord said to Aaron: “Behold, I have given you custody of my first-fruits. Everything that is sanctified by the sons of Israel I have delivered to you and your sons, for the office of the priesthood, by everlasting ordinances.

9 This 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.

Therefore, you shall receive these, from the things that are sanctified and offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacrifice, and whatever is repaid to me, on behalf of sin and also for offenses, and which becomes the Holy of holies, shall be for you and for your sons.

10 You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.

You shall eat it in the Sanctuary. Only the males shall eat from it, because it has been consecrated for you.

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

But the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel shall vow and offer, I have given to you, and to your sons, as well as to your daughters, by a perpetual right. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.

12 “I have given to you all the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Adonai.

All the innermost of the oil, and of the wine, and of the grain, whatever first-fruits they offer to the Lord, I have given to you.

13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Adonai, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

All the first of the crops, which the soil produces and which are carried to the Lord, shall fall to your use. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.

14 “Everything devoted in Israel [God prevails] shall be yours.

All that the sons of Israel shall repay by vow shall be yours.

15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Adonai, both of man and animal shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals.

Whatever goes out first from the womb, of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether from men or from cattle, shall be your right; yet only in so far as, for the firstborn of man, you shall accept a price. And every animal that is unclean you shall cause to be redeemed.

16 You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels [2 oz; 56.7 g] of money, after the shekel of the sanctuary, (the shekel is 0.4oz; 11.34 g; or called twenty gerahs 20/50 of an oz)

And its redemption shall be, after one month, five shekels of silver, by the weight of the Sanctuary. A shekel has twenty obols.

17 “But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Adonai.

But the firstborn of a cow, or of a sheep, or of a goat, you shall not cause to be redeemed, because they have been sanctified to the Lord. Thus, their blood you shall pour out upon the altar, and their fat you shall burn as a most sweet odor to the Lord.

18 Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours.

Yet truly, the flesh shall fall to your use, just as the consecrated breast and the right shoulder shall be yours.

19 All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel [God prevails] offer to Adonai, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a chok ·portion· forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Adonai to you and to your offspring with you.”

All the first-fruits of the Sanctuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons as well as to your daughters, as a perpetual right. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and for your sons.”

20 Adonai said to Aaron [Light-bringer], “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel [God prevails].

And the Lord said to Aaron: “In their land, you shall possess nothing; neither shall you have a portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

21 “To the children of Levi [United with], behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel [God prevails] for an inheritance, in teshuvah ·complete return· for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting.

But I have given, to the sons of Levi, all the tithes of Israel as a possession, for the ministry by which they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant,

22 Henceforth the children of Israel [God prevails] shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.

so that the sons of Israel may no longer approach to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin.

23 But the Levites [Descendants of United with] shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout all your generations. Among the children of Israel [God prevails], they shall have no inheritance.

Only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle and may carry the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. They shall possess nothing else;

24 For the tithe of the children of Israel [God prevails], which they offer as a wave offering to Adonai, I have given to the Levites [Descendants of United with] for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel [God prevails] they shall have no inheritance.’”

being content with the oblation of tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.”

25 Adonai spoke to Moses [Drawn out], saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

26 “Moreover you shall speak to the Levites [Descendants of United with], and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel [God prevails] the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Adonai, a tithe of the tithe.

“Instruct the Levites, and also declare to them: When you will receive, from the sons of Israel, the tithes, which I have given to you, offer their first-fruits to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of a tenth,

27 Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press.

so that it may be accounted to you as an oblation of the first-fruits, as much from the threshing floors as from the oil and wine presses.

28 Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Adonai of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel [God prevails]; and of it you shall give Adonai’s wave offering to Aaron [Light-bringer] the priest.

And offer the first-fruits of everything, from which you receive tithes, to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.

29 Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering of Adonai, of all its best, even the holy part of it out of it.’

Everything which you shall offer from the tithes, and which you shall separate as gifts to the Lord, shall be the finest and most select.

30 “Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites [Descendants of United with] as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press.

And you shall say to them: ‘If you offer the noble and the better of the tithes, it shall be accounted to you as if you had given from the first-fruits of the threshing floor and of the oil and wine presses.’

31 You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting.

And you shall eat these in all your places, both you and your families, because it is your price for the ministry, by which you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.

32 You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel [God prevails], that you not die.’”

And you shall not sin in this way: by reserving the excellent and fat things for yourselves, lest you pollute the oblations of the sons of Israel, and lest you die.”