Numbers 18
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 18
Sanctuary and Altar Duties. 1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your family with you will bear guilt for offenses against the sanctuary, while you and your sons will bear guilt for offenses against your priesthood. 2 Bring your brothers from the Levites, your ancestral tribe, with you. Let them join with you and serve you when you and your sons are before the tent of Testimony. 3 They will attend to your duties and all the duties of the tent, but they must not come near the vessels of the sanctuary or the altar, lest they die and you also die. 4 They will join you and attend to the duties of the tent of meeting, for every service in the tabernacle. Let no one else approach you.
5 “You will attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar so that no wrath come upon the people of Israel. 6 It is I, myself, who have selected your brothers, the Levites, from among the people of Israel as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord, to serve in the tent of meeting. 7 Only you and your sons can serve as priests for everything concerning the altar and whatever is inside the veil, and you will serve. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near will be put to death.”[a]
Priests’ Share of Offerings. 8 The Lord spoke to Aaron: “I have given you responsibility over all my offerings, over all the sacred things of the people of Israel. I have given these things to you and your sons as a portion, a perpetual allotment. 9 This shall be yours from among the most holy things dedicated by fire: all of their oblations, all of their cereal offerings, all of their sin offerings and all of their guilt offerings. These things that they offer to me will be most holy to you and your sons. 10 You will eat it in a Most Holy Place. Every male will eat it. It will be holy for you.
11 “This also is yours: the offering of their gifts along with the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you and your sons and daughters as your portion forever. Everyone who is pure in your household can eat it. 12 I have given to you all of the best of the oil and the best of the wine and of the wheat and their firstfruits that they offer to the Lord. 13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land that they bring to the Lord shall be yours. Everyone who is pure in your household can eat it.
14 “Everything that is dedicated[b] to the Lord will be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb of all flesh that they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you will redeem the firstborn son and you will redeem the firstborn male of impure animals. 16 When they are a month old, you shall redeem them at the redemption price of five shekels of silver, calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs. 17 You are not to redeem the firstborn of the cattle or the firstborn of the sheep or the firstborn of the goats, for they are holy. Sprinkle their blood upon the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord. 18 Their meat shall be yours, as well as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh. These are yours. 19 All of the offerings of the holy things that the people of Israel bring to the Lord, I have given them to you and your sons and your daughters with you as an ordinance forever. This is a covenant of salt forever between the Lord and you and your descendants with you.”[c]
20 The Lord spoke 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 people of Israel.
21 Tithes Owed to the Levites.“I give the Levites all the tithes in Israel, an inheritance for the work that they perform in serving in the tent of meeting. 22 From now on the people of Israel must not approach the tent of meeting lest they sin and die. 23 The Levites will do the work of the tent of meeting. They will bear responsibility for offenses against it. This is an everlasting ordinance for all your generations. They will receive no inheritance from among the people of Israel. 24 I have given the Levites an inheritance of the tithes that the people of Israel present as an offering to the Lord. This is why I have said to them, ‘They will have no inheritance among the people of Israel.’ ”
25 Tithes Paid by the Levites.[d] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you receive a tithe from the people of Israel which I give you as an inheritance, you are to present a tithe of the tithe as the Lord’s offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or as produce from the winepress. 28 You shall present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes that you receive from the people of Israel; you will give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest from them. 29 The Lord’s offering will come from the best and the holiest portion of all the gifts that you offer up.’ 30 Therefore, you will say to them, ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, the rest will be apportioned to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and the produce of the winepress. 31 You can eat it anywhere, you and your households, as your reward for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 You will bear no guilt in this when you offer up the best of it, nor will you defile the holy gifts of Israel, lest you die.’ ”
Footnotes
- Numbers 18:7 The Lord is very clear concerning who may and may not serve at the altar and required death for any impostors and for the priests they served.
- Numbers 18:14 Dedicated: refers to a vow to destroy something as a way of consecrating objects and persons to God, while the destroyer derives no advantage from them.
- Numbers 18:19 The choicest meat and produce offered to the Lord belonged to the priests and their families. The covenant of salt refers to the unbreakable contract that accompanies a covenant promise.
- Numbers 18:25 As recipients of the Lord’s tithe, the Levites were responsible to tithe the best part of theirs to Aaron as an offering to the Lord along with a tenth of their income.
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
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