Numbers 18
18
1And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, that they may unite with thee, and minister unto thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall serve before the tent of the testimony. 3And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of the whole tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they may not die, and you as well as they. 4And they shall unite with thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and no stranger shall come near to you. 5And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there come no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. 6And I, behold, I have taken your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel; to you are they given as a gift for Jehovah to perform the service of the tent of meeting. 7But thou and thy sons with thee shall attend to your priesthood for all that concerneth the altar, and for that which is inside the veil; and ye shall perform the service: I give you your priesthood as a service of gift, and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death.
8And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them, because of the anointing, and to thy sons by an everlasting statute. 9This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, of all their oblations, and of all their sin-offerings, and of all their trespass-offerings, which they render unto me, it is most holy for thee and for thy sons. 10As most holy shalt thou eat it: every male shall eat it; it shall be holy unto thee. 11And this shall be thine: the heave-offering of their gift, with all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by an everlasting statute; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. 12All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they give to Jehovah, have I given thee. 13The first ripe of everything that is in their land, which they shall bring to Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. 14Every devoted thing in Israel shall be thine. 15Everything that breaketh open the womb of all flesh, which they present to Jehovah, of men or of beasts, shall be thine; nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou in any case ransom, and the firstborn of unclean beasts shalt thou ransom. 16And those that are to be ransomed from a month old shalt thou ransom, according to thy valuation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not ransom: they are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and their fat shalt thou burn as an offering by fire for a sweet odour to Jehovah. 18And their flesh shall be thine; as the wave-breast and as the right shoulder shall it be thine. 19All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Jehovah, have I given thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by an everlasting statute: it shall be an everlasting covenant of salt before Jehovah unto thee and thy seed with thee.
20And Jehovah said to Aaron, In their land thou shalt have no inheritance, neither shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. 21And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22Neither shall the children of Israel henceforth come near the tent of meeting, to bear sin and die. 23But the Levite, he shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel shall they possess no inheritance; 24for I have given for an inheritance to the Levites the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering to Jehovah; therefore I have said of them, They shall possess no inheritance among the children of Israel. 25And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 26And to the Levites shalt thou speak, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer a heave-offering from it for Jehovah, the tenth of the tithe. 27And your heave-offering shall be reckoned unto you, as the corn from the threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the winepress. 28Thus ye also shall offer Jehovah's heave-offering of all your tithes, which ye take of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof Jehovah's heave-offering to Aaron the priest. 29Out of all that is given you ye shall offer the whole heave-offering of Jehovah, — of all the best thereof the hallowed part thereof. 30And thou shalt say unto them, When ye heave the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as produce of the threshing-floor, and as produce of the winepress. 31And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households; for it is your reward for your service in the tent of meeting. 32And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, if ye heave from it the best of it; and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
Currently Selected:
Numbers 18: DARBY
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Numbers 18
18
Duties of Priests and Levites
1Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You, your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood.
2“Bring your relatives of the tribe of Levi—your ancestral tribe—to assist you and your sons as you perform the sacred duties in front of the Tabernacle of the Covenant.#18:2 Or Tabernacle of the Testimony. 3But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die. 4The Levites must join you in fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle,#18:4 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; also in 18:6, 21, 22, 23, 31. but no unauthorized person may assist you.
5“You yourselves must perform the sacred duties inside the sanctuary and at the altar. If you follow these instructions, the Lord’s anger will never again blaze against the people of Israel. 6I myself have chosen your fellow Levites from among the Israelites to be your special assistants. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord for service in the Tabernacle. 7But you and your sons, the priests, must personally handle all the priestly rituals associated with the altar and with everything behind the inner curtain. I am giving you the priesthood as your special privilege of service. Any unauthorized person who comes too near the sanctuary will be put to death.”
Support for the Priests and Levites
8The Lord gave these further instructions to Aaron: “I myself have put you in charge of all the holy offerings that are brought to me by the people of Israel. I have given all these consecrated offerings to you and your sons as your permanent share. 9You are allotted the portion of the most holy offerings that is not burned on the fire. This portion of all the most holy offerings—including the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings—will be most holy, and it belongs to you and your sons. 10You must eat it as a most holy offering. All the males may eat of it, and you must treat it as most holy.
11“All the sacred offerings and special offerings presented to me when the Israelites lift them up before the altar also belong to you. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters as your permanent share. Any member of your family who is ceremonially clean may eat of these offerings.
12“I also give you the harvest gifts brought by the people as offerings to the Lord—the best of the olive oil, new wine, and grain. 13All the first crops of their land that the people present to the Lord belong to you. Any member of your family who is ceremonially clean may eat this food.
14“Everything in Israel that is specially set apart for the Lord#18:14 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. also belongs to you.
15“The firstborn of every mother, whether human or animal, that is offered to the Lord will be yours. But you must always redeem your firstborn sons and the firstborn of ceremonially unclean animals. 16Redeem them when they are one month old. The redemption price is five pieces of silver#18:16 Hebrew 5 shekels [2 ounces or 57 grams] of silver. (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs).
17“However, you may not redeem the firstborn of cattle, sheep, or goats. They are holy and have been set apart for the Lord. Sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18The meat of these animals will be yours, just like the breast and right thigh that are presented by lifting them up as a special offering before the altar. 19Yes, I am giving you all these holy offerings that the people of Israel bring to the Lord. They are for you and your sons and daughters, to be eaten as your permanent share. This is an eternal and unbreakable covenant#18:19 Hebrew a covenant of salt. between the Lord and you, and it also applies to your descendants.”
20And the Lord said to Aaron, “You priests will receive no allotment of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your share and your allotment. 21As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives, I will compensate them for their service in the Tabernacle. Instead of an allotment of land, I will give them the tithes from the entire land of Israel.
22“From now on, no Israelites except priests or Levites may approach the Tabernacle. If they come too near, they will be judged guilty and will die. 23Only the Levites may serve at the Tabernacle, and they will be held responsible for any offenses against it. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation. The Levites will receive no allotment of land among the Israelites, 24because I have given them the Israelites’ tithes, which have been presented as sacred offerings to the Lord. This will be the Levites’ share. That is why I said they would receive no allotment of land among the Israelites.”
25The Lord also told Moses, 26“Give these instructions to the Levites: When you receive from the people of Israel the tithes I have assigned as your allotment, give a tenth of the tithes you receive—a tithe of the tithe—to the Lord as a sacred offering. 27The Lord will consider this offering to be your harvest offering, as though it were the first grain from your own threshing floor or wine from your own winepress. 28You must present one-tenth of the tithe received from the Israelites as a sacred offering to the Lord. This is the Lord’s sacred portion, and you must present it to Aaron the priest. 29Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you.
30“Also, give these instructions to the Levites: When you present the best part as your offering, it will be considered as though it came from your own threshing floor or winepress. 31You Levites and your families may eat this food anywhere you wish, for it is your compensation for serving in the Tabernacle. 32You will not be considered guilty for accepting the Lord’s tithes if you give the best portion to the priests. But be careful not to treat the holy gifts of the people of Israel as though they were common. If you do, you will die.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT: