Numbers 18 – Verses of Numbers 18 from the book of Numbers in the Bible.
1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's family will be responsible for the offenses against the sanctuary; You and your children will be responsible for offenses committed in the exercise of the priesthood.
Adverts
2 Also bring your brother Levites, who belong to the tribe of your ancestors, to join you and help you when you and your children minister before the tent that keeps the tablets of the covenant.
3 They will remain at your service and will also take care of the service of the Tent, but they will not be able to approach the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar; If they do, they and you will die.
4 They will join you and have the responsibility of taking care of the Tent of Meeting, of all the work that is done there. No one else will be able to approach you.
5 “You will have the responsibility to take care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that divine wrath does not fall again on the Israelites.
Adverts
6 I myself chose your brothers, the Levites, from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
7 But only you and your children can serve as priests in everything that concerns the altar and what lies beyond the veil. I give you priesthood service as a gift. Any unauthorized person who approaches the shrine will have to be executed.”
8 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have made you responsible for the contributions brought to me; All the sacred offerings that the Israelites give me, I will give as a portion to you and your children.
9 Of the most holy offerings you will have the part that is spared from the fire. Among all the gifts that you bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain offering, sin offering, or reparation offering, this part belongs to you and your children.
10 Eat it as something most holy; all the males will eat it. Consider her holy.
11 “I also give to you, and to your sons and daughters, by perpetual decree, contributions from all ritual wave offerings presented by the Israelites. Everyone in your family who is ceremonially pure will be able to eat them.
12 “I will give you the best oil and the best new wine and the best wheat that they present to the Lord as the firstfruits of the harvest.
13 All the firstfruits of the land that you bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your family who is ceremonially clean can eat them.
14 “Everything in Israel that is consecrated to God will belong to you.
15 The first born of every womb, offered to the Lord, whether man or animal, will be yours. But you must redeem every eldest son, as well as every firstborn of unclean animals.
16 When they are one month old, you must redeem them for the ransom price set at sixty grams of silver, based on the standard weight of the sanctuary, which is twelve grams.
17 “But do not rescue the first offspring of a cow, a sheep or a goat. Pour their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering prepared by fire, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
18 The flesh of these animals belongs to you, as do the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh.
19 Whatever is set apart from all the sacred gifts that the Israelites present to the Lord, I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a perpetual decree. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and your descendants.”
20 The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
21 “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel in return for the work they do in serving in the Tent of Meeting.
22 From now on, the Israelites will not be able to approach the Tent of Meeting, otherwise they will suffer the consequences of their sin and die.
23 It is the duty of the Levites to do the work in the Tent of Meeting and to take responsibility for offenses against it. This is a perpetual decree throughout your generations. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites.
24 Instead, I give as an inheritance to the Levites the tithes that the Israelites present as a contribution to the Lord. That is why I said that they would have no inheritance among the Israelites.”
25 The Lord then said to Moses:
26 “Say this to the Levites: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I give you as an inheritance, you must present one-tenth of that tithe as a contribution belonging to the Lord.
27 This contribution will be made up of wheat taken from the threshing floor and wine from the grape pressing tank.
28 In this way, you will present a contribution to the Lord from all the tithes you received from the Israelites. From these tithes you will give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest.
29 And you must present as a contribution to the Lord the best part, the sacred part of everything that is given to you.
30 “Tell the Levites: When you present the best part, it will be considered equivalent to the produce of the threshing floor and the grape pressing pool.
31 You and your families will be able to eat this portion anywhere, as it is the wages for your work in the Tent of Meeting.
32 By presenting the best part, you will not become guilty and will not profane the sacred offerings of the Israelites, lest you die.”
