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Numbers 18
New English Translation

Responsibilities of the Priests

18 [a] The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe[b] with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary,[c] and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join[d] with you and minister to you while[e] you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They must join[f] with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person[g] may approach you. 5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be[h] no more wrath on the Israelites. 6 I myself have chosen[i] your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties[j] of the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service, but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”

The Portion of the Priests

8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion[k] and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved[l] from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.

11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

12 “All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.[m] 13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

14 “Everything devoted[n] in Israel will be yours. 15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem,[o] and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem. 16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). 17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash[p] their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours. 19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt[q] forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”

Duties of the Levites

20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property[r] among them—I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 21 See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service that they perform—the service of the tent of meeting. 22 No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin[s] and die. 23 But the Levites must perform the service[t] of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity.[u] It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites[v] have no inheritance.[w] 24 But I have given[x] to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered[y] to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”

Instructions for the Levites

25 The Lord spoke to Moses: 26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up[z] from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe. 27 And your raised offering will be credited[aa] to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine[ab] from the winepress. 28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. 29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due[ac] the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’[ad]

30 “Therefore you will say to them,[ae] ‘When you offer up[af] the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress. 31 And you may[ag] eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”[ah]

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:1 sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).
  2. Numbers 18:1 tn Heb “your father’s house.”
  3. Numbers 18:1 sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.
  4. Numbers 18:2 sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.
  5. Numbers 18:2 tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.
  6. Numbers 18:4 tn Now the sentence uses the Niphal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the same root לָוָה (lavah).
  7. Numbers 18:4 tn The word is “stranger, alien,” but it can also mean Israelites here.
  8. Numbers 18:5 tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.
  9. Numbers 18:6 tn Heb “taken.”
  10. Numbers 18:6 tn The infinitive construct in this sentence is from עָבַד (ʿavad), and so is the noun that serves as its object: to serve the service.
  11. Numbers 18:8 tn This is an uncommon root. It may be connected to the word “anoint” as here (see RSV). But it may also be seen as an intended parallel to “perpetual due” (see Gen 47:22; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:11 [HT]).
  12. Numbers 18:9 tn Heb “from the fire.” It probably refers to those parts that were not burned.
  13. Numbers 18:12 tn This form may be classified as a perfect of resolve—he has decided to give them to them, even though this is a listing of what they will receive.
  14. Numbers 18:14 tn The “ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem) in Hebrew describes that which is exclusively the Lord’s, either for his sanctuary use, or for his destruction. It seems to refer to an individual’s devoting something freely to God.
  15. Numbers 18:15 tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point—they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (gaʾal) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).
  16. Numbers 18:17 tn Or “throw, toss.”
  17. Numbers 18:19 sn Salt was used in all the offerings; its importance as a preservative made it a natural symbol for the covenant which was established by sacrifice. Even general agreements were attested by sacrifice, and the phrase “covenant of salt” speaks of such agreements as binding and irrevocable. Note the expression in Ezra 4:14, “we have been salted with the salt of the palace.” See further J. F. Ross, IDB 4:167.
  18. Numbers 18:20 tn The phrase “of property” is supplied as a clarification.
  19. Numbers 18:22 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct of the verb “to bear” with the preposition ל (lamed) to express the result of such an action. “To bear their sin” would mean that they would have to suffer the consequences of their sin.
  20. Numbers 18:23 tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (ʿavad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”
  21. Numbers 18:23 sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.
  22. Numbers 18:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  23. Numbers 18:23 tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.
  24. Numbers 18:24 tn The classification of the perfect tense here too could be the perfect of resolve, since this law is declaring what will be their portion—“I have decided to give.”
  25. Numbers 18:24 tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject (although the “Israelites” is certainly intended), and so it can be rendered as a passive.
  26. Numbers 18:26 tn The verb in this clause is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it has the same force as an imperfect of instruction: “when…then you are to offer up.”
  27. Numbers 18:27 tn The verb is חָשַׁב (khashav, “to reckon; to count; to think”); it is the same verb used for “crediting” Abram with righteousness. Here the tithe of the priests will be counted as if it were a regular tithe.
  28. Numbers 18:27 tn Heb “fullness,” meaning the fullness of the harvest, i.e., a full harvest.
  29. Numbers 18:29 tn The construction is “every raised offering of the Lord”; the genitive here is probably to be taken as a genitive of worth—the offering that is due the Lord.
  30. Numbers 18:29 tn Or “its hallowed thing.”
  31. Numbers 18:30 tn The wording of this verse is confusing; it may be that it is addressed to the priests, telling them how to deal with the offerings of the Levites.
  32. Numbers 18:30 tn The clause begins with the infinitive construct with its preposition and suffixed subject serving to indicate the temporal clause.
  33. Numbers 18:31 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions as the equivalent of the imperfect of permission.
  34. Numbers 18:32 tn The final clause could also be rendered “in order that you do not die.” The larger section can also be interpreted differently; rather than take it as a warning, it could be taken as an assurance that when they do all of this they will not be profaning it and so will not die (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 253).
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Numbers 18
EasyEnglish Bible

The work of the priests and the Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, ‘You and your sons and your family will be guilty for any wrong thing that happens in my Holy Tent. You and your sons will be guilty for any wrong thing that a priest does. 2 Bring the people of your tribe, the Levites, to the Tent of Meeting. 3 They must take care of the Tent of Meeting on your behalf. You must tell them what they should do. They must not go near anything that is inside God's Holy Place or the altar. If they do, they will die, and you will die too. 4 The Levites must work with you as they take care of the Tent of Meeting. No other people have authority to come near you as you work there.

5 You must take care of God's Holy Place and the altar. Then I will not be angry with the Israelites again. 6 I have chosen your family, the Levites, from among the other Israelite tribes. They are the Lord's gift to you, to help you take care of the Tent of Meeting. 7 But only you, Aaron, and your sons will serve me as priests. You will work at the altar and in the Holy Place behind the curtain. I have chosen you to serve me as my priests. That is my gift to you. Any other person who comes near the Holy Place must die.’

Offerings for priests and for Levites

8 The Lord said to Aaron, ‘I give you authority over the things that people offer to me. As priests, part of the gifts that people bring will belong to you and your sons. This rule will always be true for you and your descendants. 9 I am giving to you the parts that do not burn on the altar. A part of all these gifts will belong to you: grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. These are holy gifts and they belong to you and to your sons. 10 All the men in your family may eat these gifts. Remember that they are holy gifts.

11 Also, you will receive part of the special gifts that the Israelites lift up in front of me. I have given it to you and to your sons and daughters, for all time. Every person who lives in your house may eat it. But they must be clean at the time.

12 I will give to you the best olive oil, the best wine and the best grain. The people give to the Lord the first part of these that they get. 13 I also give to you the best parts of the food that people bring to the Lord. Any clean person who lives in your house may eat them.

14 Everything in Israel that should belong to me is now yours. 15 I give to you every firstborn animal and male child that people offer to the Lord. But you must pay the price for every firstborn son and for every firstborn male animal that is not clean. 16 When they are one month old, you must buy them from me for five shekels of silver each. The shekel must have the same weight as the shekel that the Levites use in God's Holy Tent. There are 20 gerahs in one shekel.

17 You must not pay for the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat. Those animals are holy. Splash the blood from those animals on the altar and burn the fat from them. The smell will make the Lord happy. 18 And the meat of those animals belongs to you. In the same way, the meat of the ribs and the right back leg of the special gifts that you lift up to me also belong to you.[a]

19 I have given all the gifts that the Israelites offer to the Lord to you, your sons and your daughters. That is a rule for all time. That is the Lord's special promise to you and to your descendants for all time.’

20 Then the Lord said to Aaron, ‘You priests and your descendants will have no land, like the other tribes do. You will not share in the things that they receive. I myself am the gift that you receive.

21 The Israelites give to me one tenth of everything that they receive. I will give it to the Levites because they serve me in the Tent of Meeting. 22 The other Israelites must not come near the Tent of Meeting again. If they do come near it, they will be guilty and then they will die. 23 Only the Levites must do the work in the Tent of Meeting. And if they do anything wrong there, they will be guilty. That will be a rule for you and for all your descendants. The Levites will not receive any land like the other Israelites do. 24 That is because I have given to the Levites the tithes that the Israelites offer to the Lord. I have told them, “You will not receive any land, like the other Israelites do.” I have given the tithes to them instead.’

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 ‘You must say to the Levites, “You will receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given to you from them. I have not given any land to you. I have given the tithes to you instead. When you receive those tithes, you must offer one tenth of it to the Lord. That will be a tithe of the tithe. 27 This gift will be the same as when a farmer is giving grain or wine to me. It will be special. 28 So you will give something to the Lord from the tithes that you receive from the Israelites. You must give that part to Aaron the priest. 29 From all the gifts that the people give to you, you must make separate every offering that the Lord should have. The best part of each gift is the part that you must make separate for the Lord.”

30 You must say to the Levites, “After you have made the best part of the gift separate for the priests, the other part will belong to the Levites. That will be the grain and the wine that you receive for your food. 31 That is what you receive because you take care of the Tent of Meeting. You and your family may eat it anywhere that you choose. 32 You will not be guilty when you eat it. That is because you have offered the best part of it to God. But you must do that in the right way. The gifts that you receive from the Israelites are holy. If you do not do the right things with them, you will die.” ’

Footnotes

  1. 18:18 See Numbers 6:20.
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