Numbers, 18

1. And the LORD said unto 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.

1. Then Yahweh said to Aaron: "You and your sons, and your whole family shall be responsible for the sanctuary. You and your sons with you shall suffer the guilt for any faults committed while serving as priests in the Holy Tent.

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

2. Let your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your father's tribe, come with you too. They are to join you and serve you, yourselves and your sons, before the Tent of the Statement.

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

3. They are to be at your service and the service of the whole Tent. But let them not come near the sacred vessels or the altar, lest they die and you as well.

4. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

4. They are to help you, they are to take charge of the Tent of Meeting for the entire ministry of the Tent, and no layman shall come near you.

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

5. You yourselves must take charge of the sanctuary and the altar, and my anger will never again fall on the Israelites.

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

6. I myself have chosen your relatives, the Levites, from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They will belong to Yahweh, to serve at the Tent of Meeting.

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

7. But you and your sons will undertake the priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and all the sacred things that lie behind the veil. You will perform the worship services, the duties of which I entrust to your priesthood. But the layman who comes near shall die."

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

8. Yahweh said to Aaron: "I myself have given you all that is set aside for me, from every offering of the people of Israel. I give it to you and to your sons as your share forever.

9. 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 render unto me, [shall be] most holy for thee and for thy sons.

9. This is what shall be yours of the most holy things, of the consecrated food: every offering that the Israelites give back to me, whether it be a grain offering or a sacrifice for sin or a sacrifice of repayment is a thing most holy; it shall belong to you and your sons.

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

10. You may eat these most holy things. Every male may eat them. You are to consider them sacred.

11. And this [is] 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 a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

11. To you also shall belong all the firstfruits that are set aside and offered by the Israelites; this I give to you, as well as to your sons and daughters, forever. Every person in your house who is clean may 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 unto the LORD, them have I given thee.

12. All the best of the oil, all the best of the wine and wheat, the firstfruits given by them to Yahweh, these I give to you.

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

13. All the first harvest of their land which they bring to Yahweh shall be yours. Every person in your house who is clean may eat them.

14. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

14. Everything in Israel which has been dedicated to me shall be yours.

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

15. Every firstborn brought to Yahweh shall be yours, the firstborn of all living creatures, whether child or animal. Nevertheless, you must make the people buy back the firstborn child and the firstborn of an unclean animal.

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

16. They must buy back the child in the month in which it is born at the price of five pieces of silver according to the official standard.

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

17. The firstborn of cow, sheep and goat - these alone you shall not buy back. They are holy: you must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn the fat as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling offering for Yahweh;

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

18. the meat shall be yours, together with the breast that has been presented with the gesture of offering, and the right hind leg.

19. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given 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.

19. All that the Israelites set aside for Yahweh from the holy things, this I give to you, and to your sons and daughters, forever. This is a covenant of salt, an everlasting covenant before Yahweh, for you and your descendants after you."

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

20. Yahweh said to Aaron: "You shall have no property in the land of Israel, no share of it shall be yours. It is I who will be your share and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

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

21. See, to the Levites I give as their inheritance all the tithes collected in Israel, in return for their services, for the ministry they render in the Tent of Meeting.

22. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

22. In this way the Israelites will no longer go near the Tent of Meeting; this sin would carry the death to them.

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 for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

23. The Levites will take care of the Tent of Meeting, and have the full responsibility for it. This is a law forever for all your descendants: because of this the Levites are to have no inheritance among the Israelites.

24. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer [as] an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

24. The tithe that the people of Israel set aside for Yahweh, I give to the Levites for their inheritance. For this reason I have told them that they are to have no inheritance among the people of Israel."

25. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

25. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

26. Thus speak unto the Levites, 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 up an heave offering of it for the LORD, [even] a tenth [part] of the tithe.

26. "You are to say to the Levites: When you receive the tithe that the people of Israel must pay and which I am giving you as your inheritance, you are to set aside a part of this as a special contribution for Yahweh.

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

27. This will take the place of the offerings of new grain and new wine that all the people have to give me.

28. Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest.

28. Thus you too will set aside a share for Yahweh, of all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and you will give to Aaron the priest this part you have set aside for Yahweh.

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

29. Out of all the gifts you receive you will set aside the best as a share for Yahweh.

30. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

30. This best part that the Levites set aside shall be credited to you as an offering of the threshing floor and the wine press.

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

31. You may eat them anywhere, you and your families: this is your payment for serving in the Tent of Meeting.

32. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

32. You will not be guilty of any sin because of this, as long as you have presented the best part to Yahweh. You will not eat any of the gifts before the best part is offered. In this way you will not defile the sacred gifts of the Israelites and you will not die."