< Numbers 18 >

1 And the Lord sayd vnto Aaron, Thou, and thy sonnes and thy fathers house with thee, shall beare the iniquitie of the Sanctuarie: both thou and thy sonnes with thee shall beare the iniquitie of your Priestes office.
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 And bring also with thee thy brethren of the tribe of Leui of ye familie of thy father, which shalbe ioyned with thee, and minister vnto thee: but thou, and thy sonnes with thee shall minister before the Tabernacle of the Testimonie:
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 And they shall keepe thy charge, euen the charge of all the Tabernacle: but they shall not come neere the instruments of the Sanctuary, nor to the altar, lest they die, both they and 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 And they shalbe ioyned with thee, and keepe the charge of the Tabernacle of the Congregation for all the seruice of the Tabernacle: and no stranger shall come neere vnto 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 Therefore shall ye keepe the charge of the Sanctuarie, and the charge of the altar: so there shall fall no more wrath vpon the children of Israel.
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 For lo, I haue taken your brethren the Leuites from among the children of Israel, which as a gift of yours, are giuen vnto the Lord, to do the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
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 But thou, and thy sonnes with thee shall keepe your Priestes office for all things of the altar, and within the vaile: therefore shall ye serue: for I haue made your Priestes office an office of seruice: therefore the stranger that cometh neere, shalbe slayne.
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 Againe the Lord spake vnto Aaron, Behold, I haue giuen thee the keeping of mine offrings, of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel: vnto thee I haue giuen them for the anoyntings sake, and to thy sonnes, for a perpetuall ordinance.
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 shalbe thine of the most holy things, reserued from the fire: all their offering of all their meate offring, and of all their sinne offring, and of all their trespasse offring, which they bring vnto me, that shalbe most holy vnto thee, and to thy sonnes.
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 In the most holy place shalt thou eate it: euery male shall eate of it: it is holy vnto thee.
You shall eat it in the Sanctuary. Only the males shall eat from it, because it has been consecrated for you.
11 This also shalbe thine: the heaue offering of their gift, with all the shake offerings of the children of Israel: I haue giuen them vnto thee and to thy sonnes and to thy daughters with thee, to be a duetie for euer al the cleane in thine house shall eate 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 All the fat of the oyle, and all the fat of the wine, and of the wheate, which they shall offer vnto the Lord for their first fruites, I haue giuen them vnto thee.
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 And the first ripe of al that is in their land, which they shall bring vnto Lord, shalbe thine: all the cleane in thine house shall eate 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 Euery thing separate from the common vse in Israel, shalbe thine.
All that the sons of Israel shall repay by vow shall be yours.
15 All that first openeth the matrice of any flesh, which they shall offer vnto the Lord, of man or beast, shalbe thine: but the first borne of man shalt thou redeeme, and the first borne of the vncleane beast shalt thou redeeme.
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 And those that are to bee redeemed, shalt thou redeeme from the age of a moneth, according to thy estimation, for the money of fiue shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuarie, which is twentie gerahs.
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 the first borne of a kow, or the first borne of a sheepe, or the first borne of a goate shalt thou not redeeme: for they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood at the altar, and thou shalt burne their fat: it is a sacrifice made by fire for a sweete sauour vnto the Lord.
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 And the flesh of them shalbe thine, as the shake breast, and as the right shoulder shalbe thine.
Yet truly, the flesh shall fall to your use, just as the consecrated breast and the right shoulder shall be yours.
19 All the heaue offrings of the holy things which the children of Israel shall offer vnto the Lord, haue I giuen thee, and thy sonnes, and thy daughters with thee, to be a duetie for euer: it is a perpetual couenant of salt before the Lord, to thee, and to thy seede with thee.
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 And the Lord sayde vnto Aaron, Thou shalt haue none inheritance in their lande, neyther shalt thou haue any parte among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
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 For beholde, I haue giuen the children of Leui all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their seruice which they serue in the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
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 Neyther shall the children of Israel any more come neere the Tabernacle of the Congregation, lest they susteine sinne, and die.
so that the sons of Israel may no longer approach to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin.
23 But the Leuites shall do the seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and they shall beare their sinne: it is a law for euer in your generations, that among the children of Israel they possesse none 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 tythes of the children of Israel, which they shall offer as an offring vnto the Lord, I haue giuen the Leuites for an inheritance: therfore I haue said vnto them, Among the children of Israel ye shall possesse none inheritance.
being content with the oblation of tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.”
25 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
26 Speake also vnto the Leuites and say vnto them, When ye shall take of the children of Israel the tithes, which I haue giuen you of them for your inheritance, then shall ye take an heaue offring of that same for the Lord, euen the tenth part 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 And your heaue offering shalbe reckened vnto you, as the corne of the barne, or as the abundance of the wine presse.
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 So ye shall also offer an heaue offring vnto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye shall receiue of the children of Israel, and ye shall giue thereof the Lords heaue offring to Aaron 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 Ye shall offer of all your gifts al the Lords heaue offrings: of all the fat of the same shall ye offer the holy things thereof.
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 thou shalt say vnto them, When ye haue offred the fat thereof, then it shalbe couted vnto the Leuites, as the encrease of the corne floore, or as the encrease of the wine presse.
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 And ye shall eate it in al places, ye, and your housholdes: for it is your wages for your seruice in the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
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 And ye shall beare no sinne by the reason of it, when ye haue offred the fatte of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye 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.”

< Numbers 18 >