Numbers 18
1 And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with
thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee
shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou
near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but
thou and thy sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony.
3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they
shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that
they die not, neither they, nor ye.
4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of
meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh
unto you.
5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar;
that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel.
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children
of Israel: to you they are a gift, given unto Jehovah, to do the service of the
tent of meeting.
7 And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for everything of
the altar, and for that within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the
priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put
to death.
8 And Jehovah spake unto Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of
my heave-offerings, even all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto
thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, as a portion
for ever.
9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every
oblation of theirs, even every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering
of theirs, and every trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto
me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
10 As the most holy things shalt thou eat thereof; every male shall eat thereof:
it shall be holy unto thee.
11 And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, even all the
wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to
thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, as a portion for ever; every one that
is clean in thy house shall eat thereof.
12 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 unto Jehovah, to thee have I given
them.
13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto
Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof.
14 Everything devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15 Everything that openeth the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto Jehovah,
both of man and beast shall be thine: nevertheless the first-born of man shalt
thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
16 And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem,
according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel
of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs).
17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of
a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood
upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a
sweet savor unto Jehovah.
18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave-breast and as the right
thigh, it shall be thine.
19 All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel
offer unto Jehovah, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee,
as a portion for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before Jehovah unto
thee and to thy seed with thee.
20 And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land,
neither shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine
inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 And unto 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.
22 And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of
meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall
bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations;
and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering
unto Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have
said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Moreover thou shalt speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take
of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your
inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave-offering of it for Jehovah, a tithe
of the tithe.
27 And your heave-offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the
grain of the threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
28 Thus ye also shall offer a heave-offering unto Jehovah of all your tithes,
which ye receive of the children of Israel; and thereof ye shall give Jehovah's
heave-offering to Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave-offering of Jehovah, of all
the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye heave the best thereof from it,
then it shall be reckoned unto the Levites as the increase of the
threshing-floor, and as the increase of the wine-press.
31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your
reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.
32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the
best thereof: and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of
Israel, that ye die not.