48 For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi (A)you shall not count, nor shall you take their [a]census among the sons of Israel. 50 And you shall (B)appoint the Levites over the [b]tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over everything that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the [c]tabernacle.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:49 Lit sum
  2. Numbers 1:50 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
  3. Numbers 1:50 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, 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. But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may (B)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but (C)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and (D)the altar, or both they and you will die. They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but [c]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. So you shall perform the (E)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, (F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. Behold, I Myself (G)have taken your [d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (H)a gift to you, [e]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. But you and your sons with you shall (I)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (J)a [f]service that is a gift, and (K)the [g]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My [h](L)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely (M)every grain offering, every (N)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution 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 offering of their gift, that is, 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 permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 (Q)All the [i]best of the fresh oil and all the [j]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. 13 (R)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 (S)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. 15 [k](T)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 As to [l]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five [m]shekels in silver by the [n]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But (U)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. (V)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 18 However, their [o]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 offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is (Y)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your [p]descendants with you.” 20 Then the Lord 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 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (AB)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And (AC)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. 23 Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall (AD)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent 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 offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘(AF)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:1 Lit of the sanctuary
  2. Numbers 18:1 Lit of your priesthood
  3. Numbers 18:4 Lit a stranger
  4. Numbers 18:6 Lit brothers the
  5. Numbers 18:6 Lit given
  6. Numbers 18:7 Lit service of a gift
  7. Numbers 18:7 Lit stranger
  8. Numbers 18:8 Or uplifted offerings, and so throughout the ch
  9. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  10. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  11. Numbers 18:15 Lit Everything that opens
  12. Numbers 18:16 Lit his being redeemed
  13. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  14. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  15. Numbers 18:18 Lit flesh
  16. Numbers 18:19 Lit seed

10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who (A)went astray from Me [a]following their idols, shall (B)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 11 Yet they shall be (C)ministers in My sanctuary, having (D)oversight at the gates of the house and (E)ministering in the house; they shall (F)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall (G)stand before them to minister to them. 12 Since they ministered to them (H)before their idols and became a (I)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have [b](J)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall (K)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13 And they shall (L)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will (M)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will [c]appoint them [d]to (N)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 “But the (O)Levitical priests, the sons of (P)Zadok, who [e](Q)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel (R)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall (S)stand before Me to offer Me the (T)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16 “They shall (U)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My (V)table to serve Me and [f]assume the responsibility I give them.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 44:10 Lit after
  2. Ezekiel 44:12 Lit lifted up My hand
  3. Ezekiel 44:14 Lit give
  4. Ezekiel 44:14 Lit keepers of the charge of
  5. Ezekiel 44:15 Lit kept charge of
  6. Ezekiel 44:16 Lit keep the duty to Me

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