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Deuteronomy 18:1-8
New International Version
Deuteronomy 18:1-8
New International Version
Offerings for Priests and Levites
18 The Levitical(A) priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings(B) presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.(C) 2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,(D) as he promised them.(E)
3 This is the share due the priests(F) from the people who sacrifice a bull(G) or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head.(H) 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,(I) 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them(J) and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister(K) in the Lord’s name always.(L)
6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,(M) 7 he may minister in the name(N) of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.(O)
Deuteronomy 18:1-8
International Standard Version
Deuteronomy 18:1-8
International Standard Version
Provision for the Descendants of Levi
18 “The Levitical priests—the whole tribe of Levi—will not have a portion or an inheritance within Israel. Instead, they will eat the burnt offerings of the Lord, because that is their inheritance. 2 But they will not have an inheritance among their relatives, because the Lord alone is their inheritance—as he promised them.”
Provision for the Priests
3 “A portion of what the people offer in sacrifice, whether cattle or sheep, is to be due the priests. They must set aside the shoulder, jowls, and stomach for the priest. 4 Give them the first gatherings of your grain, wine, and oil, as well as wool from the shearing of your flock. 5 For the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants[a] from among your tribes to stand and serve in the name of the Lord all their lives.”[b]
Provision for the Itinerant Levite
6 “Any descendant of Levi who wishes to do so may come from any city or part of Israel where he resides to the place that the Lord will choose. 7 There he may serve in the name of the Lord his God. Like his fellow descendants of Levi who stand there in the Lord’s presence, 8 he may eat the same share as they do regardless of what he receives from his ancestral estate.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 18:5 Lit. sons
- Deuteronomy 18:5 Lit. days
New International Version (NIV) 
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International Standard Version (ISV) 
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