CHAPTER 18
The LORD
said
to
Aaron,
“You,
your sons,
and your father’s
house
must bear
the iniquity
against the sanctuary.
And you
and your sons
alone
must bear
the iniquity
against the priesthood.
But bring
with you
also
your brothers
from the tribe
of Levi,
the tribe
of your father,
that they may join
you
and assist
you
and your sons
before
the Tent
of the Testimony.
And they shall attend
to your duties
and all the duties
of the Tent;
but
they must not
come near
to the furnishings
of the sanctuary
or the altar,
or
both
they
and
you
will die.
They are to join
you
and attend
to the obligations
of the Tent
of Meeting,
doing all
the work
at the Tent;
but no
outsider
may come near
you.
So you shall attend
to the obligations
of the sanctuary
and
of the altar,
that wrath
may not
fall
on
the Israelites
again.
Behold,
I Myself
have selected
your fellow
Levites
from
the Israelites
as a gift
to you,
dedicated
to the LORD
to perform
the service
for the Tent
of Meeting.
But only you
and your sons
shall attend
to your priesthood
for everything
concerning
the altar,
and for what is inside
the veil,
and you are to perform that service.
I am giving
you the work
of the priesthood
as a gift,
but any outsider
who comes near the sanctuary
must be put to death.”
Then the LORD
said
to
Aaron,
“Behold,
I
have put
you in charge
of My offerings.
As for all
the sacred offerings
of the Israelites,
I have given them
to you
and your sons
as a portion
and a permanent
statute.
A portion of
the most holy offerings
reserved from the fire
will be yours.
From all
the offerings
that
they give Me,
whether grain offerings,
sin offerings,
or guilt offerings,
it shall be most holy
to you and your sons.
And this
is yours as well:
the offering
of their gifts,
along with all
the wave offerings
of the Israelites.
I have given this
to you
and your sons
and daughters
as a permanent
statute.
Every
ceremonially clean person
in your household
may eat it.
I give you
all
the freshest
olive oil
and all
the finest
new wine
and grain
that
the Israelites give
to the LORD
as their firstfruits.
The firstfruits
of all
that
is in their land,
which
they bring
to the LORD,
belong
to you.
Every
ceremonially clean person
in your household
may eat them.
The firstborn
of every
womb,
whether
man
or beast,
that is offered
to the LORD
belongs to you.
But
you must surely redeem
every firstborn
son
and
every firstborn male
of unclean
animals.
You are to pay the redemption price
for a month-old male
according to your valuation:
five
shekels
of silver,
according to the sanctuary
shekel,
which
is twenty
gerahs.
But
you must not
redeem
the firstborn
of an ox,
a sheep,
or
a goat;
they
are holy.
You are to sprinkle
their blood
on
the altar
and burn
their fat
as an offering made by fire,
a pleasing
aroma
to the LORD.
And their meat
belongs to you,
just as the breast
and right
thigh
of the wave offering
belong to you.
All
the holy
offerings
that
the Israelites
present
to the LORD
I give
to you
and to your sons
and daughters
as a permanent
statute.
It
is a permanent
covenant
of salt
before
the LORD
for you and your offspring.”
Then the LORD
said
to Aaron,
“You will have no
inheritance
in their land,
nor
will you have
any portion
among them.
I
am your portion
and your inheritance
among
the Israelites.
Behold,
I have given
to the Levites
all
the tithes
in Israel
as an inheritance
in return for
the work
they
do,
the service
of the Tent
of Meeting.
The Levites
are to perform
the work
of the Tent
of Meeting,
and they
must bear
their iniquity.
This is a permanent
statute
for the generations to come.
The Levites will not
receive an inheritance
among
the Israelites.
For
I have given
the Levites
as their inheritance
the tenth
that
the Israelites
present
to the LORD
as a contribution.
That is why
I told
them that they would not
receive an inheritance
among
the Israelites.”
“Speak
to
the Levites
and tell them:
When
you receive
from
the Israelites
the tithe
that
I have given
you
as your inheritance,
you must present
part of
it as an offering
to the LORD—
a tenth
of the tenth.
Your offering
will be reckoned
to you
as grain
from
the threshing floor
or juice
from
the winepress.
So
you
are to present
an offering
to the LORD
from every
tenth
you receive
from the Israelites,
and from it
give
the LORD’s
offering
to Aaron
the priest.
You must present
the offering
due the LORD
from
all
the best
of every
gift,
the holiest part
of it.
Therefore say
to the Levites:
Once you have presented
the best part,
it will be reckoned
to you
as the produce
of the threshing floor
or the winepress.
And you
and your households
may eat the rest of it anywhere;
it
is the compensation
for
your work
at the Tent
of Meeting.
Once you have presented
the best part
of it,
you will not
incur
guilt
because of it.
But
you must not
defile
the sacred offerings
of the Israelites,
lest
you die.”