Numbers

18 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

14 every devoted thing in Israel thine shall it be:

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

25 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.