1 So the Loʀᴅ said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall AEx 28:38; Lev 10:17; 22:16bear the guilt 1Lit of the sanctuaryin connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt 2Lit of your priesthoodin connection with your priesthood. 2  “But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ANum 3:5-10joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3  “And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but ANum 4:15-20they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and BNum 1:51; 18:7the altar, or both they and you will die. 4  “They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an 1Lit a strangeroutsider may not come near you. 5  “So you shall attend to the AEx 27:21; Lev 24:3obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, BNum 16:46so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6  “Behold, I Myself ANum 3:12, 45have taken your 1Lit brethren thefellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are BNum 3:9a gift to you, 2Lit givendedicated to the Loʀᴅ, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7  “But you and your sons with you shall AEx 29:9attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as BNum 18:20; Deut 18:2; Matt 10:8; 1 Pet 5:2, 3a 1Lit service of giftbestowed service, but CNum 1:51the 2Lit strangeroutsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

8 Then the Loʀᴅ spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My 1Lit heave offerings, and so throughout the chALev 6:16, 18; 7:28-34offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment. 9  “This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even ALev 2:1-16every grain offering and every BLev 6:30sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10  “As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11  “This also is yours, ANum 18:1; Deut 18:3the offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have BLev 22:1-16given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12  “ADeut 18:4; 32:14; Ps 81:16; 147:14All the 1Lit fatbest of the fresh oil and all the 1Lit fatbest of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Loʀᴅ, I give them to you. 13  “AEx 22:29; 23:19; 34:26The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Loʀᴅ, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14  “ALev 27:1-33Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15  “1Lit Everything that opensAEx 13:13, 15; Num 3:46Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Loʀᴅ, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16  “As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five 1I.e. A shekel equals approx one-half ozshekels in silver, according to the 1I.e. A shekel equals approx one-half ozshekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17  “But ADeut 15:19the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. BLev 3:2You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Loʀᴅ. 18  “Their 1Lit fleshmeat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ALev 7:31breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. 19  “ANum 18:11All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Loʀᴅ, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is B2 Chr 13:5an everlasting covenant of salt before the Loʀᴅ to you and your 1Lit seeddescendants with you.” 20 Then the Loʀᴅ said to Aaron, “ADeut 10:9; 12:12; 14:27, 29You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; BDeut 18:2; Josh 13:33; Ezek 44:28I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ALev 27:30-33; Deut 14:22-29tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22  “ANum 1:51The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die. 23  “Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ANum 18:1bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel BNum 18:20they shall have no inheritance. 24  “For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Loʀᴅ, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘ADeut 10:9They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’ ”

25 Then the Loʀᴅ spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ANum 18:21the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Loʀᴅ, a BNeh 10:38tithe of the tithe. 27  ‘Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28  ‘So you shall also present an offering to the Loʀᴅ from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Loʀᴅ’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29  ‘Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Loʀᴅ, from all the 1Lit fatbest of them, 2Lit itsthe sacred part from them.’ 30  “You shall say to them, ‘When you have 1Lit liftedoffered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat. 31  ‘You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32  ‘You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have 1Lit liftedoffered the 2Lit fatbest of it. But you shall not ALev 22:15, 16profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’ ”