Numbers 18

1. And the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons, and your father’s house with you, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. And you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

2. And bring your brothers also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father with you, so that they may be joined to you and minister to you, you and your sons with you, before the tabernacle of witness.

3. And they shall keep your charge and the charge of all the tabernacle. Only they shall not come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar so that neither they nor you also may die.

4. And they shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle. And a stranger shall not come near you.

5. And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar so that there may be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

6. And I, behold, even I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are given to you as a gift for the LORD to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

7. Therefore you and your sons with you shall keep your priests’ office for every thing of the altar and inside the veil. And you shall serve. I have given your priests’ office as a gift of service. And the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.”

8. And the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have also given you the charge of My heave offerings of all the holy things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, by an ordinance forever.

9. This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire, every sacrifice of theirs, every grain offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall give Me. These are most holy for you and for your sons.

10. You shall eat it in the most holy place. Every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

11. And this is yours, the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you by a statute forever. Everyone that is clean in your house shall eat 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 to the LORD, I have given them to you.

13. The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land, which they shall bring to the LORD, shall be yours.Everyone that is clean in your house shall eat of it.

14. Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours.

15. Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, of men or animals, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

16. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old you shall redeem, according to your judgment for the silver of five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

17. But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood against the side of the altar and shall burn their fat, an offering made by fire for a sweet savor to the LORD.

18. And their flesh shall be yours, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are yours.

19. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you by a statute forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD to you and to your seed with you.”

20. And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any part among them. I am your part and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

21. And behold, I have given the sons of Levi all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

22. Neither must the children of Israel come near the tabernacle of the congregation from this time forward, 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 forever 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 a heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”

25. And the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

26. “And you shall speak to the Levites, and you shall say to them, ‘When you take tithes from the children of Israel, which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth of the tithe.

27. And your heave offering shall be credited to you as grain of the threshingfloor and as the fullness of the winepress.

28. So you also shall offer a heave offering to the LORD of all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel. And you shall give from these the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest.

29. Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of the LORD of all the best of them, the holy part out of it.’

30. And you shall say to them, ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the winepress.

31. And you shall eat it in every place, you and your households. For it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

32. And you shall bear no sin because of it when you have offered up the best of it. Neither shall you profane the holy things of the children of Israel, lest you die.’ ”