Numbers 18

1 And Yahweh said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and the house of thy father with thee, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, —and, thou, and thy sons with thee, shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestor's clan will be responsible for all sins committed against the sanctuary. But only you and your sons with you will be responsible for all sins committed by anyone in the priesthood.

2 Therefore also thy brethren of the tribe of Levi the stem of thy father, bring thou near with thee, and let them be joined unto thee, and let them wait upon thee, —both on thee and on thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

As for your fellow members of the tribe of Levi, your ancestors' tribe, you must bring them with you so they may join you and help you when you and your sons serve in front of the tent of the covenant decrees.

3 So shall they keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tent, —only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary, and unto the altar, shall they not come near, lest they die—both they, and ye.

They must serve you and the whole tent. However, they must not come near to anything in the holy place or connected with the altar, or they and also you will die.

4 So shall they be joined unto thee, and shall keep the charge of the tent of meeting, as to all the laborious work of the tent, —but a stranger, shall not come near unto you.

They must join you and take care of the tent of meeting, for all the work connected with the tent. A foreigner must not come near you.

5 So shall ye keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, —that there no more be wrath against the sons of Israel.

You must take responsibility for the holy place and for the altar so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again.

6 I, therefore, lo! I have taken your brethren the Levites, out of the midst of the sons of Israel, —unto you, as a gift are they given, unto Yahweh, to do the laborious work of the tent of meeting.

Look, I myself have chosen your fellow members of the Levites from among the descendants of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to me to do the work connected to the tent of meeting.

7 But thou and thy sons with thee, shall keep the charge of your priesthood, as to every matter of the altar and as to the interior of the veil, and shall do the laborious work, as a laborious service of gifts, do I give your priesthood, and, the stranger who cometh near shall be put to death.

But only you and your sons may exercise the priesthood regarding everything connected with the altar and everything inside the curtain. You yourselves must fulfill those responsibilities. I am giving you the priesthood as a gift. Any foreigner who approaches must be put to death.”

8 And Yahweh spake unto Aaron, I, therefore, lo! I have given unto thee the charge of my heave-offerings, —as to all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel—unto thee, have I given them. as pertaining to the anointing, and unto thy sons. for a statute age-abiding,

Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Look, I have given you the duty of handling the offerings raised up to me, and all the holy offerings that the people of Israel give to me. I have given these offerings to you and your sons as your ongoing share.

9 This, shall be thine, out of the things most holy, out of the fire, —their every oblation—to the extent of their every meal-offering, and their every sin-bearer, and their every guilt-bearer wherewith they make amends unto me, most holy unto thee, shall it be and unto thy sons.

This will belong to you from the most holy things that is kept from the fire. From every offering of theirs—every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering—they are set apart to you and to your sons.

10 As something most holy, shall ye eat it, —every male, shall eat it, holy, shall it be unto thee.

These offerings are very holy; every male must eat it, for they are holy to you.

11 This, therefore, shall be thine—the heave-offering of their gift even all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel, unto thee, have I given them and unto thy sons and unto thy daughters with thee by a statute age-abiding, —every one that is clean in thy house, shall eat it.

These are the offerings that will belong to you, set apart out of all their gifts of the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, your sons, and your daughters, as your portion forever. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your family may eat any of these offerings.

12 All the best of oil, and all the best of new-wine and corn, —the firstfruits thereof which they shall give unto Yahweh, unto thee, have I given them.

All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and grain, the firstfruits that the people give to me—all these things I have given to you.

13 The firstfruits of all that is in their land which they shall bring in unto Yahweh, thine, shall it be, —every one that is clean in thy house, shall eat it:

The first ripe produce of all that is in their land, which they bring to me, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your family may eat these things.

14 every devoted thing in Israel, thine, shall it be:

Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours.

15 every thing that is born first of all flesh that may be offered unto Yahweh among men and among beasts, shall be thine, —only thou shalt, redeem, the firstborn of men, and the firstborn of unclean beasts, shalt thou redeem.

Everything that opens the womb, all the firstborn which the people offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the people must certainly buy back every firstborn son, and they must buy back the firstborn male of unclean animals.

16 And, as to the redemption price thereof, from a month old, shalt thou redeem, by thine estimate five shekels of silver by the shekel of the sanctuary, —twenty gerahs, it is.

Those that are to be bought back by the people must be bought back after becoming one month old. Then the people may buy them back, for the price of five shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.

17 Only a firstling ox or a firstling sheep or a firstling goat, shalt thou not redeem, hallowed, they are, —their blood, shalt thou dash against the altar and of their fat, shalt thou make a perfume, an altar-flame, for a satisfying odour unto Yahweh:

But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat—you must not buy back these animals; they are set apart to me. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahweh.

18 and their flesh, shall be thine, —as the wave-breast and as the right leg, thine, shall it be:

Their meat will be yours. Like the raised breast and the right thigh, their meat will be yours.

19 all the heave-offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall heave up unto Yahweh, have I given unto thee and unto thy sons and unto thy daughters with thee by a statute age-abiding, —an age-abiding covenant of salt, it is before Yahweh, for thee and for thy seed with thee.

All the holy offerings that the people of Israel present to Yahweh, I have given to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a continual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt, a binding covenant forever, before Yahweh for both you and your descendants with you.”

20 Then said Yahweh unto Aaron: In their land, thou shalt have no inheritance, and no allotted portion, shalt thou have in their midst, —I, am thine allotted portion and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.

Yahweh said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in the people's land, nor will you have any share of property among the people. I am your share and inheritance among the people of Israel.

21 And unto the sons of Levi, lo! I have given all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, —the allotted portion for their laborious work which, they are performing, the laborious work of the tent of meeting:

To the descendants of Levi, look, I have given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the service that they provide in working at the tent of meeting.

22 that the sons of Israel come near no more, unto the tent of meeting, —to bear sin, to die.

From now on the people of Israel must not come near the tent of meeting, or they will be responsible for this sin and die.

23 So shall the Levites themselves perform the laborious work of the tent of meeting, and, they, shall bear their iniquity, a statute age-abiding, unto your generations, and in the midst of the sons of Israel, shall they take no inheritance.

The Levites must do the work connected to the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sin regarding it. This will be a permanent law throughout your people's generations. Among the people of Israel they must have no inheritance.

24 Because the tenth of the sons of Israel which they shall offer up unto Yahweh as a heave-offering, have I given unto the Levites as an inheritance, —for this cause, said I regarding them, In the midst of the sons of Israel, shall they take no inheritance.

For the tithes of the people of Israel, which they offer as a contribution to me—it is these that I have given to the Levites as their inheritance. That is why I said to them, 'They must have no inheritance among the people of Israel.'”

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

26 Unto the Levites, therefore shalt thou speak and shalt say unto them, When ye shall take of the sons of Israel the tenth which I have given unto you from them as your inheritance, then shall ye offer up therefrom the heave-offering of Yahweh, a tenth of the tenth.

“You must speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive from the people of Israel the tenth that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, you will present a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tenth of the tithe.

27 So shall your heave-offering be reckoned your own, —as corn out of the threshing-floor, and as the abundance out of the wine-press.

Your contribution must be considered by you as if it were a tenth of the grain from the threshing floor or of the production from the winepress.

28 Thus, shall ye also, offer up the heave-offering of Yahweh, out of all your tenths which ye shall take from the sons of Israel, —and give therefrom the heave-offering of Yahweh, unto Aaron the priest.

So you also must make a contribution to Yahweh from all the tithes that you receive from the people of Israel. From them you must give his contribution to Aaron the priest.

29 Out of all your gifts, shall ye offer up every heave-offering of Yahweh, —out of all the best thereof, the hallowed pert thereof out of it.

Out of all the gifts you receive, you must make every contribution to Yahweh. You must do this from all the best and the holiest things that have been given to you.'

30 And thou shalt say unto them, —When ye offer the best thereof out of it, then shall it be reckoned to belong unto the Levites, as the increase of the threshing-floor and as the increase of the wine-press,

Therefore you must say to them, 'When you present the best of it, then it must be credited to the Levites as the product from the threshing floor and the winepress.

31 And ye shall eat it in any place, ye, and your household, —for a reward, it is unto you, the allotted portion for your laborious work in the tent of meeting.

You may eat the rest of your gifts in any place, you and your families, because it is your pay in return for your work in the tent of meeting.

32 And ye shall not by reason of it bear sin, when ye offer up the best thereof, out of it; and the hallowed things of the sons of Israel, shall ye not profane neither shall ye die.

You will not incur any guilt by eating and drinking it, if you have presented to Yahweh the best of what you have received. But you must not profane the holy offerings of the people of Israel, or you will die.'”