Numbers 18:1-19

New American Standard Bible

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall ^(A)bear the guilt ^[a]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[b]in connection with your priesthood. ² But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may ^(B)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but ^(C)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(D)the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ^[c]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. ⁵ So you shall perform the ^(E)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself ^(G)have taken your ^[d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(H)a gift to you, ^[e]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall ^(I)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(J)a ^[f]service that is a gift, and ^(K)the ^[g]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My ^[h](L)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. ⁹ This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely ^(M)every grain offering, every ^(N)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution 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, ^(O)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^(P)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^12 (Q)All the ^[i]best of the fresh oil and all the ^[j]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. ^13 (R)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^14 (S)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. ^15 [k](T)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ As to ^[l]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five ^[m]shekels in silver by the ^[n]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But ^(U)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^(V)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ However, their ^[o]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^(W)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. ^19 (X)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is ^(Y)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your ^[p]descendants with you.”