Numbers 18
Legacy Standard Bible
Responsibilities of the Levites
18 So Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and 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 bring near with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be (B)joined with you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall thus keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, but (C)they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and (D)the altar, so that neither they nor you will die. 4 And they shall be joined with you and keep the responsibility of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but [c]an outsider may not come near you. 5 So you shall keep the (E)responsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, (F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6 And behold, I Myself (G)have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (H)a gift to you, given to Yahweh, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you shall (I)keep your priesthood in everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (J)a [d]bestowed service, but (K)the [e]outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
The Priests’ Portion
8 Then Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you the responsibility of My [f](L)contributions, 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 statute. 9 This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even (M)every grain offering and every (N)sin 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, (O)the contribution from their gift, even 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 perpetual statute. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 (Q)All the [g]best of the fresh oil and all the [h]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to Yahweh, I give them to you. 13 (R)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 (S)Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15 [i](T)Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 Now as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five [j]shekels in silver, according to the [k]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But (U)the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. (V)You shall splash their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 18 And their [l]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 contributions of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel raise up to Yahweh, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is (Y)an everlasting covenant of salt before Yahweh to you and your seed with you.” 20 Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “(Z)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; (AA)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.
21 “Now to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (AB)tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 (AC)And the 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 (AD)bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel (AE)they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they raise up as a contribution offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘(AF)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”
25 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel (AG)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall raise up a contribution offering from it to Yahweh, a (AH)tithe of the tithe. 27 And your contribution 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 raise up a contribution offering to Yahweh from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the contribution offering of Yahweh to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts you shall raise up every contribution offering due to Yahweh, from all the [m]best of them, [n]the sacred part from them.’ 30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you have raised up from it the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the wine vat. 31 And 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 And you will bear no sin by reason of it when you have raised up the [o]best of it. But you shall not (AI)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you will not die.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 18:1 Lit of the sanctuary
- Numbers 18:1 Lit of your priesthood
- Numbers 18:4 Lit a stranger
- Numbers 18:7 Lit service of gift
- Numbers 18:7 Lit stranger
- Numbers 18:8 Or heave offerings, so in ch
- Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
- Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
- Numbers 18:15 Lit Everything that opens
- Numbers 18:16 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Numbers 18:16 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Numbers 18:18 Lit flesh
- Numbers 18:29 Lit fat
- Numbers 18:29 Lit its
- Numbers 18:32 Lit fat
Numbers 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
Duties of the Priests and Levites
18 The Lord gave these directions to Aaron:
You, your sons, and your father’s house with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with your priesthood. 2 Also have your brothers from the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, come forward with you so that they may join you and assist you when you and your sons along with you are on duty in front of the Tent of the Testimony. 3 They will perform the duties for you and for the entire tent. However, they are not to go close to the furnishings in the sanctuary or to the altar, so that they and you will not die. 4 They are to join you and perform the duties for the Tent of Meeting, to do all the work at the tent. No unauthorized person is to go near you.
5 You are to perform the duties for the sanctuary and for the altar so that there will not be any more wrath on the Israelites. 6 See, I myself have taken your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you will keep watch over your priesthood in connection with everything at the altar and inside the veil. You are to do this work. I am giving you your priesthood as a gift. Any unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.
Offerings to Support the Priests and Levites
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron. This is what he said:
See, I myself have put you in charge of the elevated offerings made to me. All of the holy things from the Israelites I have given to you as an allotment and to your sons as a permanent right. 9 Part of the most holy things that are not burned in the fire will be yours. Every one of their offerings which they give to me—every one of their grain offerings, every one of their sin offerings, and every one of their restitution offerings—will be most holy for you and your sons. 10 You will eat it as a most holy thing. Every male may eat of it. It will be holy for you.
11 This is yours too: the elevated offerings from their gifts, including all the wave offerings[a] from the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent right. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
12 All the best oil, all the best wine and grain, the Israelites’ firstfruits which they give to the Lord, I have given them all to you. 13 The first ripe produce from everything that is in their land, all that they bring to the Lord, will be yours. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
14 Everything permanently devoted by the Israelites will be yours. 15 The firstborn from every living thing, human or animal, whatever they present to the Lord, will be yours. However, you must redeem the firstborn of any human. You must also redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal. 16 When they are one month old, you must redeem them at the set redemption price, five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
17 However, you may not redeem the firstborn of the cattle, sheep, or goats. They are set aside as holy. You will splash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke as an offering made by fire, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 Their meat will be yours. It will be yours just like the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh. 19 All the elevated offerings of holy things, which the Israelites lift up to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. It is a permanent covenant of salt[b] before the Lord for you and your descendants with you.
20 The Lord also said these things to Aaron:
You will not have any allotment of land among them in the land, and you will not have any share among them. I am your share and your possession among the people of Israel.
21 See, I have given all the tithes in Israel to the Levites as a possession in return for their work which they are doing, the work at the Tent of Meeting. 22 The Israelites will never again come near the Tent of Meeting. If they do, they will become responsible for sin and die. 23 But the Levites are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear their guilt. It will be a permanent regulation throughout your generations to come: They will not have any possession among the Israelites. 24 For the tithe from the Israelites, which they lift up as an elevated offering for the Lord, I have given to the Levites as a possession. Therefore I have said to them, “They will not have any possession among the Israelites.”
25 The Lord told Moses 26 to speak to the Levites and tell them this:
When you receive from the Israelites the tithe, which I have given to you as your possession, you will lift up an elevated offering from it for the Lord, a tenth of the tithe. 27 Your elevated offering will be credited to you, as if it were grain from the threshing floor and abundance from the winepress. 28 In this way you also are to lift up an elevated offering for the Lord from every one of the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. From the tithes, you will give the elevated offering for the Lord to Aaron the priest. 29 You will lift up every elevated offering for the Lord from the things given to you, from all the best, the holiest part of it.
30 Tell the Levites this:
When you lift up the best part of the offering, it will be credited to the Levites as if it were produce from the threshing floor and the winepress. 31 You may eat it anywhere, with your household, for it is your wages in return for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 32 You will not become responsible for sin in regard to it when you lift up the best part of it. You will not defile the holy things from the Israelites, and you will not die.
Footnotes
- Numbers 18:11 Elevating and waving refer to the gestures with which the offerings were presented. See verse 24.
- Numbers 18:19 The significance of the salt of the covenant is not explained in the Bible.
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