Deuteronomy 18:1-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Privileges of Priests and Levites
18 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no allotment or inheritance within Israel. They may eat the offerings by fire[a] that are the Lord’s portion,[b](A) 2 but they shall have no inheritance among the other members of the community; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.
3 “This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two jowls, and the stomach.(B) 4 The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.(C) 5 For the Lord your God has chosen Levi[c] out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.(D)
6 “If a Levite leaves any of your towns, from wherever he has been residing in Israel, and comes to the place that the Lord will choose (and he may come whenever he wishes), 7 then he may minister in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow-Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, even though they have income from the sale of family possessions.[d](E)
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Deuteronomy 18:1-8
Common English Bible
Priests and Levites
18 Neither the levitical priests nor any Levite tribe member will have a designated inheritance in Israel. They can eat the sacrifices offered to the Lord, which are the Lord’s portion,[a] 2 but they won’t share an inheritance with their fellow Israelites. The Lord alone is the Levites’ inheritance—just as God promised them.
3 Now this is what the priests may keep from the people’s sacrifices of oxen or sheep: They must give the priest the shoulder, the jaws, and the stomach. 4 You must also give the priest the first portions of your grain, wine, and oil, and the first of your sheep’s shearing 5 because the Lord your God selected Levi from all of your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name—both him and his descendants for all time.
6 Now if a Levite leaves one of your cities or departs from any location in Israel where he’s been living and, because he wants to, comes to the location the Lord selects 7 and ministers in the Lord his God’s name, just like his relatives—the other Levites serving there in the Lord’s presence— 8 he is allowed to eat equal portions, despite the finances he has from his family.[b]
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- Deuteronomy 18:1 Heb uncertain
- Deuteronomy 18:8 Heb uncertain
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