¹⁴ The Levites had left their pasturelands and possessions and had come to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had prevented them from serving as priests of the Lord^(A)

⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to be consecrated with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods.^(A)

² “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasturelands surrounding the towns.^{(A) 3} The towns shall be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle, for their livestock, and for all their animals. ⁴ The pasture lands of the towns, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the town outward a thousand cubits all around. ⁵ You shall measure, outside the town, for the east side two thousand cubits, for the south side two thousand cubits, for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, with the town in the middle; this shall belong to them as pastureland for their towns.

²⁸ So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. He said to the people,^[a] “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”^{(A) 29} He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.^{(B) 30} And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan.^{[b](C) 31} He also made houses^[c] on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites.^{(D) 32} Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.^{(E) 33} He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had selected on his own; he appointed a festival for the people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.^(F)

⁶⁶ And some of the families of the sons of Kohath had towns of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim.^{(A) 67} They were given the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,^{(B) 68} Jokmeam with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands,^{(C) 69} Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands; ⁷⁰ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the families of the Kohathites.

⁷¹ To the Gershomites: out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands; ⁷² and out of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasturelands, Daberath^[a] with its pasturelands, ⁷³ Ramoth with its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands;^{(D) 74} out of the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ⁷⁵ Hukok with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands; ⁷⁶ and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands.^{(E) 77} To the rest of the Merarites out of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasturelands, Tabor with its pasturelands,^{(F) 78} and across the Jordan from Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the steppe with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands; ⁸⁰ and out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ⁸¹ Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands.

³³ Even after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he consecrated for the high places.^(A)

²⁰ As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite families of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,^{(A) 22} Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four towns. ²³ Out of the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four towns. ²⁵ Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two towns. ²⁶ The towns of the families of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all, with their pasturelands.

²⁷ To the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two towns.^{(B) 28} Out of the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four towns. ³² Out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three towns.^{(C) 33} The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasturelands.

³⁴ To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,^{(D) 35} Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁶ Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,^{(E) 37} Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁸ Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four towns in all. ⁴⁰ As for the towns of the several Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were twelve in all.

⁴¹ The towns of the Levites within the holdings of the Israelites were in all forty-eight towns with their pasturelands.^{(F) 42} Each of these towns had its pasturelands around it; so it was with all these towns.

²¹ “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting.^{(A) 22} From now on the Israelites shall no longer approach the tent of meeting, or else they will incur guilt and die.^{(B) 23} But the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their own offenses; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment,^{(C) 24} because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the Lord. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no allotment among the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “You shall say to the Levites: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.^{(D) 27} It shall be reckoned to you as your gift, the same as the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites, and from them you shall give the Lord’s offering to the priest Aaron.^(E)

³⁰ “All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the Lord’s; they are holy to the Lord.^{(A) 31} If persons wish to redeem any of their tithes, they must add one-fifth to them.^{(B) 32} All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. ³³ Let no one inquire whether it is good or bad or make substitution for it; if one makes substitution for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy and cannot be redeemed.”^(C)

³⁴ These are the commandments that the Lord gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.^(D)