Numbers 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
Duties of the Priests and Levites
18 The Lord gave these directions to Aaron:
You, your sons, and your father’s house with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will bear the guilt for any sins in connection with your priesthood. 2 Also have your brothers from the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, come forward with you so that they may join you and assist you when you and your sons along with you are on duty in front of the Tent of the Testimony. 3 They will perform the duties for you and for the entire tent. However, they are not to go close to the furnishings in the sanctuary or to the altar, so that they and you will not die. 4 They are to join you and perform the duties for the Tent of Meeting, to do all the work at the tent. No unauthorized person is to go near you.
5 You are to perform the duties for the sanctuary and for the altar so that there will not be any more wrath on the Israelites. 6 See, I myself have taken your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you will keep watch over your priesthood in connection with everything at the altar and inside the veil. You are to do this work. I am giving you your priesthood as a gift. Any unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.
Offerings to Support the Priests and Levites
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron. This is what he said:
See, I myself have put you in charge of the elevated offerings made to me. All of the holy things from the Israelites I have given to you as an allotment and to your sons as a permanent right. 9 Part of the most holy things that are not burned in the fire will be yours. Every one of their offerings which they give to me—every one of their grain offerings, every one of their sin offerings, and every one of their restitution offerings—will be most holy for you and your sons. 10 You will eat it as a most holy thing. Every male may eat of it. It will be holy for you.
11 This is yours too: the elevated offerings from their gifts, including all the wave offerings[a] from the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent right. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
12 All the best oil, all the best wine and grain, the Israelites’ firstfruits which they give to the Lord, I have given them all to you. 13 The first ripe produce from everything that is in their land, all that they bring to the Lord, will be yours. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your house may eat it.
14 Everything permanently devoted by the Israelites will be yours. 15 The firstborn from every living thing, human or animal, whatever they present to the Lord, will be yours. However, you must redeem the firstborn of any human. You must also redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal. 16 When they are one month old, you must redeem them at the set redemption price, five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
17 However, you may not redeem the firstborn of the cattle, sheep, or goats. They are set aside as holy. You will splash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke as an offering made by fire, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 Their meat will be yours. It will be yours just like the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh. 19 All the elevated offerings of holy things, which the Israelites lift up to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. It is a permanent covenant of salt[b] before the Lord for you and your descendants with you.
20 The Lord also said these things to Aaron:
You will not have any allotment of land among them in the land, and you will not have any share among them. I am your share and your possession among the people of Israel.
21 See, I have given all the tithes in Israel to the Levites as a possession in return for their work which they are doing, the work at the Tent of Meeting. 22 The Israelites will never again come near the Tent of Meeting. If they do, they will become responsible for sin and die. 23 But the Levites are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear their guilt. It will be a permanent regulation throughout your generations to come: They will not have any possession among the Israelites. 24 For the tithe from the Israelites, which they lift up as an elevated offering for the Lord, I have given to the Levites as a possession. Therefore I have said to them, “They will not have any possession among the Israelites.”
25 The Lord told Moses 26 to speak to the Levites and tell them this:
When you receive from the Israelites the tithe, which I have given to you as your possession, you will lift up an elevated offering from it for the Lord, a tenth of the tithe. 27 Your elevated offering will be credited to you, as if it were grain from the threshing floor and abundance from the winepress. 28 In this way you also are to lift up an elevated offering for the Lord from every one of the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. From the tithes, you will give the elevated offering for the Lord to Aaron the priest. 29 You will lift up every elevated offering for the Lord from the things given to you, from all the best, the holiest part of it.
30 Tell the Levites this:
When you lift up the best part of the offering, it will be credited to the Levites as if it were produce from the threshing floor and the winepress. 31 You may eat it anywhere, with your household, for it is your wages in return for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 32 You will not become responsible for sin in regard to it when you lift up the best part of it. You will not defile the holy things from the Israelites, and you will not die.
Footnotes
- Numbers 18:11 Elevating and waving refer to the gestures with which the offerings were presented. See verse 24.
- Numbers 18:19 The significance of the salt of the covenant is not explained in the Bible.
Numbers 18
King James Version
18 And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for everything of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
8 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of their's, every meat offering of their's, and every sin offering of their's, and every trespass offering of their's which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
10 In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
11 And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee.
13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15 Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
16 And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.
18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
20 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.
27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord'S heave offering to Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.
31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
民数记 18
Revised Chinese Union Version (Simplified Script) Shen Edition
祭司和利未人的职责
18 耶和华对亚伦说：“你和你的儿子，以及你父家的人，要一同担当干犯圣所的罪孽；你和你的儿子也要担当干犯祭司职分的罪孽。 2 你也要带你弟兄利未人，就是你父系支派的人前来，与你联合，服事你。你和你的儿子要一起在法柜的帐幕前； 3 他们要遵守你的吩咐，负责看守整个帐幕，只是不可挨近圣所的器具和祭坛，免得他们和你们都死亡。 4 他们要与你联合，负责看守会幕和帐幕一切的事；只是外人不可挨近你们。 5 你们要负责看守圣所和祭坛，免得愤怒再临到以色列人。 6 看哪，我已从以色列人中选了你们的弟兄利未人，交给你们为赏赐，归给耶和华，为要在会幕里事奉。 7 你和你的儿子要谨守祭司的职分，负责一切关于祭坛和幔子内的事。我把祭司的职分赐给你们，作为赏赐好事奉我；凡挨近的外人必被处死。”
祭司和利未人应得的份
8 耶和华吩咐亚伦说：“看哪，我已将归我的举祭，就是以色列人一切分别为圣之物，交给你照管；我把受膏的份赐给你和你的子孙，作为永远当得的份。 9 这是至圣供物中所给你的，一切献给我为至圣的素祭、赎罪祭、赎愆祭，其中所有不被火烧的供物，都要归你和你的子孙。 10 你要把它当作至圣之物吃[a]；凡男丁都可以吃。你要以这祭物为圣。 11 这也是你的，以色列人所献的举祭和摇祭，我已赐给你和你的儿女，作为永远当得的份；你家中任何洁净的人都可以吃。 12 凡最好的新油、最好的新酒和五谷，就是以色列人献给耶和华的初熟之物，我都赐给你。 13 凡他们从地上所带来给耶和华的初熟之物也都要归给你。你家中任何洁净的人都可以吃。 14 以色列中一切永献的都必归给你。 15 他们所有奉给耶和华的，无论是人是牲畜，凡头胎的，都要归给你；但是人的长子，一定要赎出来。不洁净牲畜中头生的，也要赎出来。 16 其中一个月以上所当赎的，要照你的估价，按圣所的舍客勒，付五舍客勒银子将他赎回，一舍客勒是二十季拉。 17 但是头生的牛，或头生的绵羊，或头生的山羊，却不可赎，因为它们都是圣的。要把它们的血洒在祭坛上，把它们的脂肪焚烧，当作馨香的火祭献给耶和华。 18 它们的肉必归你，像被摇的胸、被举的右腿归你一样。 19 凡以色列人所献给耶和华圣物中的举祭，我都赐给你和你的儿女，作为永远当得的份。这要成为你和你的后裔在耶和华面前永远的盐[b]约。 20 耶和华对亚伦说：“你在以色列人的境内不可有产业，在他们中间也不可有份。在以色列人中，我是你的份，你的产业。
21 “至于利未的子孙，看哪，我已赐给他们以色列所有出产的十分之一为业，作为他们在会幕中事奉的酬劳。 22 以色列人不可再挨近会幕，免得他们担当罪而死。 23 惟独利未人要在会幕中事奉，他们要担当罪孽，作为你们世世代代永远的定例。他们在以色列人中不可有产业； 24 因为以色列人出产的十分之一，就是献给耶和华为举祭的，我已赐给利未人为业。所以我对他们说，他们不可在以色列人中有产业。”
利未人的十一奉献
25 耶和华吩咐摩西说： 26 “你要吩咐利未人，对他们说：你们从以色列人中所取的十分之一，就是我给你们为业的，要从这十分之一中取十分之一，作为献给耶和华的举祭。 27 这可算为你们的举祭，如同禾场上的谷，酒池中盛满的酒。 28 这样，从以色列人中所收取所有的十分之一，你们要从其中取举祭献给耶和华；你们要把献给耶和华的举祭归给亚伦祭司。 29 你们要将给你们一切礼物中最好的，就是分别为圣的，献给耶和华为举祭。 30 你要对利未人说：当你们把其中最好的献上为举祭之后，这剩下的就算是你们禾场上的农作物，酒池中的酒。 31 你们和你们的家人可以在任何地方吃；这本是你们的赏赐，是你们在会幕里事奉的酬劳。 32 当你们把其中最好的献上为举祭，就不致于因它担当罪。你们不可玷污以色列人的圣物，免得死亡。”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.