The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Numbers 18
1 Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your
sons and your fathers’ 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 Bring your brothers also, the tribe of
Levi, the tribe of your father, near with
you, that they may be joined to you, and
minister to you; but you and your sons
with you shall be before the Tent of the
Testimony.
3 They shall keep your commands and
the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall
not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die,
neither they nor you.
4 They shall be joined to you and keep the
responsibility ofthe Tent ofMeeting,for all
the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not
come near to you.
5 “You shall perform the duty ofthe sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there
be no more wrath on the children ofIsrael.
6 Behold,I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children
of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated
to Yahweh, to do the service of the Tent of
Meeting.
7 You and your sons with you shall keep
your priesthood for everything ofthe altar,
and for that within the veil. You shall
serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes
near shall be put to death.”
8 Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my
wave offerings, even all the holy things of
the children of Israel. I have given them to
you by reason ofthe anointing, and to your
sons, as a portion forever.
9 This shall be yours of the most holy
things from the fire: every offering of
theirs, even every meal offering of theirs,
and every sin offering of theirs, and every
trespass offering oftheirs, whichthey shall
render to me, shall be most holy for you
and for your sons.
10 You shall eat of it like the most holy
things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall
be holy to you.
11 “This is yours, too: the wave offering
of their gift, even 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, as a portion forever.
Everyone who is clean in your house shall
eat of it.
12 “I have given to you all the best of the
oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the
grain, the first fruits of them which they
give to Yahweh.
13 Thefirst-ripe fruits of allthatis intheir
land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall
be yours. Everyone who 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 offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless,
you shall surely redeem the firstborn
of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn
of unclean animals.
16 You shall redeem those who are to be
redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation,for five shekels
of money, according to the shekel† of the
sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs.‡
17 “But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep,
or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy.
You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar,
and shall burn their fat for an offering
made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
18 Their meat shall be yours, as the wave
offering breast and as the right thigh, it
shall be yours.
19 All the wave offerings of the holy
things which the children of Israel offer to
Yahweh, I have given you and your sons
and your daughters with you, as a portion
forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring
with you.”
20 Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall have
no inheritance in their land, neither shall
you have any portion among them. I am
your portion and your inheritance among
the children of Israel.
21 “To the children of Levi, behold, I have
given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which
they serve, even the service of the Tent of
Meeting.
22 Henceforth the children of Israel shall
not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest
they bear sin, and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of
the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear
their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations. Among the
children ofIsrael,they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithe of the children of Israel,
which they offer as a wave offering to
Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an
inheritance. Therefore I have said to them,
‘Among the children of Israel they shall
have no inheritance.’ ”
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Moreover you shall speak to the
Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of
the children ofIsraelthe tithe which I have
given you from them for your inheritance,
then you shall offer up a wave offering of
it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe.
27 Your wave offering shall be credited
to you, as though it were the grain of the
threshing floor, and as the fullness of the
wine press.
28 Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you
receive of the children of Israel; and of it
you shall give Yahweh’s wave offering to
Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all your gifts, you shall offer
every wave offering to Yahweh, of all its
best parts, even the holy part of it.’
30 “Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When
you heave its best from it, then it shall be
credited to the Levites as the increase of
the threshing floor, and as the increase of
the wine press.
31 Youmay eatit anywhere, youandyour
households, for it is your reward in return
for your service in the Tent of Meeting.
32 You shall bear no sin by reason of it,
when you have heaved from it its best. You
shall not profane the holy things of the
children of Israel, that you not die.’ ”