Numbers 18:1–20

Provision for the Priesthood

18The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestral house ^lwill be responsible for sin against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for sin involving your priesthood. ²But also bring your relatives with you from the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, so they may join you and assist you and your sons in front of the tent of the testimony. ^m3They are to perform duties for you and for the whole tent. They must not come near the sanctuary equipment or the altar; otherwise, both they and you will die. ⁴They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.

⁵“You are to guard the sanctuary and the altar so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. ⁿ⁶Look, I have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, ^oassigned by the Lord to work at the tent of meeting. ⁷But you and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities ^pfor everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the veil, and you will do that work. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, ^qbut an unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary will be put to death.” ^r

Support for the Priests and Levites

⁸Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Look, I have put you in charge of the contributions ^sbrought to Me. As for all the holy offerings ^tof the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute. ^u9A portion of the holiest offerings kept from the fire will be yours; every one of their offerings that they give Me, whether the grain offering, sin offering, or restitution offering will be most holy for you and your sons. ¹⁰You are to eat it as a most holy offering. ^vEvery male may eat it; it is to be holy to you.

¹¹“The contribution of their gifts also belongs to you. I have given all the Israelites’ presentation offerings ^wto you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. ^xEvery ceremonially clean person in your house may eat it. ¹²I am giving you all the best of the fresh olive oil, new wine, and grain, ^ywhich the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits. ^z13The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, belong to you. Every clean person in your house may eat them.

¹⁴“Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated to the Lord ^abelongs to you. ¹⁵The firstborn of every living thing, man or animal, presented to the Lord belongs to you. But you must certainly redeem the firstborn of man, ^band redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal. ¹⁶You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your assessment: five shekels of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is 20 gerahs. ^c

¹⁷“However, you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a fire offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.

¹⁹“I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt ^dbefore the Lord for you as well as your offspring.”

²⁰The Lord told Aaron, “You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. ^e