Num 18 | NASB2020 | STEP | So the Lord said to Aaron , “You, your sons , and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary , and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood .

Numbers 18

Duties of Levites

1 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall ^abear the guilt ^{▼▼Lit of the sanctuary}in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^{▼▼Lit of your priesthood}in connection with your priesthood. 2 But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may ^djoin you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but ^ethey shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^fthe altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ^{▼▼Lit a stranger}an unauthorized person shall not come near you. 5 So you shall perform the ^hduties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ⁱso that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself ^jhave taken your ^{▼▼Lit brothers the}fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^la gift to you, ^{▼▼Lit given}dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you shall ⁿattend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^oa ^{▼▼Lit service of a gift}service that is a gift, and ^qthe ^{▼▼Lit stranger}unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My ^{▼▼Or uplifted offerings, and so throughout the ch
,} ^tofferings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. 9 This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely ^uevery grain offering, every ^vsin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11 This also is yours, ^wthe offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^xgiven them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 ^yAll the ^{▼▼Lit fat}best of the fresh oil and all the ^{▼▼Lit fat}best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. 13 ^abThe first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 ^acEverything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. 15 ^{▼▼Lit Everything that opens
,} ^aeEvery firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 As to ^{▼▼Lit his being redeemed}their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five ^{▼▼A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm}shekels in silver by the ^{▼▼A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm}shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But ^aithe firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^ajYou shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 18 However, their ^{▼▼Lit flesh}meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^albreast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. 19 ^amAll the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is ^ana permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your ^{▼▼Lit seed}descendants with you.” 20 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “ ^apYou shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; ^aqI am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^artithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And ^asthe sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. 23 Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^atbear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^authey shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘ ^avThey shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ^awthe tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a ^axtithe of the tithe. 27 Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28 So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the ^{▼▼Lit fat}best of them, ^{▼▼Lit its}the sacred part from them.’ 30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you have ^{▼▼Lit lifted}offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat. 31 You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have ^{▼▼Lit lifted}offered the ^{▼▼Lit fat}best of it. But you shall not ^bdprofane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’”