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Provision for Priests and Levites

18 The Levitical priests[a]—indeed, the entire tribe of Levi—will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance.[b] They[c] will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites;[d] the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. This shall be the priests’ fair allotment[e] from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep—they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. You must give them the best of your[f] grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand[g] and serve in his name[h] permanently. Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will[i] from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living,[j] to the place the Lord chooses and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance.[k]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 18:1 tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.
  2. Deuteronomy 18:1 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.
  3. Deuteronomy 18:2 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
  4. Deuteronomy 18:2 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
  5. Deuteronomy 18:3 tn Heb “judgment”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “the priest’s due.”
  6. Deuteronomy 18:4 tn Heb “the firstfruits of your…” (so NIV).
  7. Deuteronomy 18:5 tc Smr and some Greek texts add “before the Lord your God” to bring the language into line with a formula found elsewhere (Deut 10:8; 2 Chr 29:11). This reading is not likely to be original, however.
  8. Deuteronomy 18:5 tn Heb “the name of the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  9. Deuteronomy 18:6 tn Heb “according to all the desire of his soul.”
  10. Deuteronomy 18:6 tn Or “sojourning.” The verb used here refers to living temporarily in a place, not settling down.
  11. Deuteronomy 18:8 tn Presumably this would not refer to a land inheritance, since that was forbidden to the descendants of Levi (v. 1). More likely it referred to some family possessions (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV) or other private property (cf. NLT “a private source of income”), or even support sent by relatives (cf. TEV “whatever his family sends him”).

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) They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,(D) as he promised them.(E)

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) 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) 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)

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) 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. He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.(O)

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