Numbers 18:21–32

²¹“Behold, I have given to the descendants^l of Levi every tithe in Israel as an inheritance in return for their service, which they are doing, the work of the tent of assembly. ²²The Israelites^m will not come near again to the tent of assembly, or they will bear sinⁿ and die. ²³The Levites^o will perform the service of the tent of assembly, and they will bear their guilt, an eternal decree for all your generations. But they will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the Israelites^{p 24}because the tithes^q of the Israelites^r that are offered^s to Yahweh as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I said to them, ‘They will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the Israelites.’ ”^t

²⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶“You will speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you receive the tithe from the Israelites^u that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, you will present^v a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tithe from a tithe. ²⁷Your contribution will be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor and like the produce from the press. ²⁸So you will present^w your own contribution to Yahweh from all your tithes that you receive from the Israelites;^x from it you will give the contribution of Yahweh to Aaron the priest. ²⁹From all your gifts you will present^y every contribution of Yahweh, from all its fat, the part that is sacred.’ ³⁰You will say to them, ‘When you are presenting^z its fat, the rest will be credited to the Levites like a yield of the threshing floor and like a yield from the press. ³¹You may eat it anywhere, you and your household, because it is a wage in return for your service in the tent of assembly. ³²You will not bear any sin because you have presented^a its fat; you will not defile the holy objects of the Israelites,^b or you will die.’ ”