Chapter 18

And the LORD said⁴ unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear⁴ the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear⁴ the iniquity of your priesthood.

And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring⁵⁴ thou with thee, that they may be joined¹¹ unto thee, and minister¹⁷ unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness.

And they shall keep¹ thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh⁴ the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.⁴

And they shall be joined⁸ unto thee, and keep¹ the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger⁵ shall not come nigh⁴ unto you.

And ye shall keep¹ the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

And I, behold, I have taken¹ your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you [they are] given⁷ [as] a gift for the LORD, to do² the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep⁴ your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve:¹ I have given⁴ your priest's office [unto you] as a service of gift: and the stranger⁵ that cometh nigh shall be put to death.⁹³

And the LORD spake¹⁷ unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given¹ thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given¹ them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

This shall be thine of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render⁵⁵ unto me, [shall be] most holy for thee and for thy sons.

In the most holy [place] shalt thou eat⁴ it; every male shall eat⁴ it: it shall be holy unto thee.

And this [is] thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given¹ them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat⁴ of it.

All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer⁴ unto the LORD, them have I given¹ thee.

[And] whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring⁵⁵ unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat⁴ [of] it.

Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring⁵⁵ unto the LORD, [whether it be] of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely² redeem,⁴ and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.⁴

And those that are to be redeemed⁷ from a month old shalt thou redeem,⁴ according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which [is] twenty gerahs.

But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem;⁴ they [are] holy: thou shalt sprinkle⁴ their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn⁵⁵ their fat [for] an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer⁵⁵ unto the LORD, have I given¹ thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it [is] a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

And the LORD spake⁴ unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance⁴ in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I [am] thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

And, behold, I have given¹ the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve,⁶ [even] the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh⁴ the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear² sin, and die.²

But the Levites shall do¹ the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear⁴ their iniquity: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have⁴ no inheritance.

But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer⁵⁵ [as] an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given¹ to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said¹ unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have⁴ no inheritance.

And the LORD spake¹⁷ unto Moses, saying,²

Thus speak¹⁷ unto the Levites, and say¹ unto them, When ye take⁴ of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given¹ you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up⁵² an heave offering of it for the LORD, [even] a tenth [part] of the tithe.

And [this] your heave offering shall be reckoned⁸ unto you, as though [it were] the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.

Thus ye also shall offer⁵⁵ an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive⁴ of the children of Israel; and ye shall give¹ thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts ye shall offer⁵⁵ every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, [even] the hallowed part thereof out of it.

Therefore thou shalt say¹ unto them, When ye have heaved⁵³ the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted⁸ unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

And ye shall eat¹ it in every place, ye and your households: for it [is] your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

And ye shall bear⁴ no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved⁵³ from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute¹⁷ the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.⁴