Numbers 18:8-19

GOD’S WORD Translation

Contributions for the Levites and Priests

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, “I am putting you in charge of all the contributions given to me. I am giving you and your descendants all the holy gifts from the Israelites as your share. These contributions will always be yours. ⁹ That part of the most holy offerings which is not burned belongs to you. It may come from a grain offering, an offering for sin, or a guilt offering. Whatever is brought to me as a most holy offering will belong to you and your sons. ¹⁰ Eat it in a most holy place. Any male may eat it. You must consider it holy.

¹¹ “The contributions that come as gifts taken from the offerings presented by the Israelites are also yours. I am giving these to you, your sons, and your daughters. They will always be yours. Anyone in your household who is clean ^[a] may eat them.

¹² “I am also giving you the first of the produce they give the Lord: the best of all the olive oil and the best of the new wine and fresh grain. ¹³ The first of all produce harvested in their land that they bring to the Lord is yours. Anyone in your household who is clean may eat it.

¹⁴ “Anything in Israel that is claimed by the Lord is yours. ¹⁵ Every firstborn male, human or animal, that is brought to the Lord is yours. But you must buy back every firstborn son and the firstborn male of any unclean animal. ¹⁶ When they are one month old, you must buy them back at the fixed price of two ounces of silver, using the standard weight of the holy place.

¹⁷ “But you must never buy back a firstborn ox, sheep, or goat. They are holy. Throw the blood from these animals against the altar, and burn the fat as an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ But the meat is yours, like the breast and the right thigh that are presented. ¹⁹ I am giving you, your sons, and your daughters all the holy contributions the Israelites bring to the Lord. These contributions will always be yours. It is an everlasting promise of salt in the Lord’s presence for you and your descendants.”