Support for the Priests and Levites

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Look, I have put you in charge of the contributions(A) brought to me. As for all the holy offerings(B) of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.(C) A portion of the holiest offerings kept from the fire will be yours; every one of their offerings that they give me, whether the grain offering, sin offering, or guilt offering will be most holy for you and your sons. 10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering.[a] Every male may eat it; it is to be holy to you.

11 “The contribution of their gifts also belongs to you. I have given all the Israelites’ presentation offerings(D) to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute.(E) Every ceremonially clean person in your house may eat it. 12 I am giving you all the best of the fresh oil, new wine, and grain,(F) which the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits.(G) 13 The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, belong to you. Every clean person in your house may eat them.

14 “Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated to the Lord(H) belongs to you. 15 The firstborn of every living thing, human or animal, presented to the Lord belongs to you. But you must certainly redeem a human firstborn,(I) and redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal. 16 You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your assessment: five shekels[b] of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.(J)

17 “However, you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.

19 “I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt(K) before the Lord for you as well as your offspring.”

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Footnotes

  1. 18:10 Or it in a most holy place
  2. 18:16 A shekel is about two-fifths of an ounce

The priests’ compensation

The Lord spoke to Aaron: I now place you in charge of my gifts, including all the Israelites’ sacred offerings. I have given them to you and your sons as an allowance. This is a permanent regulation. This is what belongs to you from the most holy offerings, from the offerings by fire: all their offerings, including their grain offerings, their purification offerings, and their compensation offerings. The most holy offerings that they bring to me will be yours and your sons’. 10 You will eat it as a most holy thing. Every male may eat it. It will be holy to you. 11 This will also belong to you, your sons, and your daughters: I’m giving you the gift offerings and all the Israelites’ uplifted offerings. This is a permanent regulation. Anyone who is clean in your household may eat it. 12 All the choice oil, new wine, and the grain’s first harvest that they give to the Lord, I’m giving to you. 13 The early produce of everything in their land, which they bring to the Lord, will be yours. Anyone who is clean in your household may eat it. 14 Everything that is devoted to the Lord in Israel will be yours. 15 Any oldest male from the womb of any living thing that is presented to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. However, you will redeem the oldest males of humans and of unclean animals. 16 Their redemption price from one month of age you will calculate at five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But the oldest offspring of a cow, sheep, or goat you may not redeem. They are holy. You must dash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke for a soothing smell to the Lord. 18 But their meat is yours. It will be yours just as the breast of the uplifted offering and the right thigh are yours. 19 All the holy gift offerings that the Israelites raise to the Lord I have given to you, your sons, and your daughters. This is a permanent regulation. It is a covenant of salt forever in the Lord’s presence, for you and your descendants.

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