1
So the LORDsaid to Aaron, "You and your sons and your father'shousehold 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.
2
"But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.
3
"And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but they shall not comenear to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, orboth they and you will die.
4
"They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an outsider may not comenear you.
5
"So you shall attend to the obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, so that there will nolonger be wrath on the sons of Israel.
6
"Behold, I Myself have taken your fellowLevites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.
7
"But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everythingconcerning the altar and inside* the veil, and you are to performservice. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowedservice, but the outsider who comesnear shall be put to death."
8
Then the LORDspoke to Aaron, "Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetualallotment.
9
"This shall be yours from the mostholy gifts reserved from the fire; everyoffering of theirs, even every grain offering and everysinoffering and everyguiltoffering, which they shall render to Me, shall be mostholy for you and for your sons.
11
"This also is yours, the offering of their gift, even all the waveofferings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetualallotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.
12
"All the best of the freshoil and all the best of the freshwine and of the grain, the firstfruits of those which they give to the LORD, I give them to you.
13
"The firstripefruits 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.
15
"Everyfirstissue of the womb of allflesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surelyredeem, and the firstborn of uncleananimals you shall redeem.
16
"As to their redemptionprice, from a monthold you shall redeem them, by your valuation, fiveshekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twentygerahs.
17
"But the firstborn of an oxor the firstborn of a sheepor the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothingaroma to the LORD.
19
"All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israeloffer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetualallotment. It is an everlastingcovenant of saltbefore the LORD to you and your descendants with you."
20
Then the LORDsaid to Aaron, "You shall have noinheritance in their landnorown any portionamong them; I am your portion and your inheritanceamong the sons of Israel.
21
"To the sons of Levi, behold, I have givenall the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their servicewhich they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.
23
"Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetualstatute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall havenoinheritance.
24
"For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore* I have said concerning them, 'They shall havenoinheritanceamong the sons of Israel.' "
26
"Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you take from the sons of Israel the tithewhich I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.
28
'So you shall alsopresent an offering to the LORD from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD'Soffering to Aaron the priest.
30
"You shall say to them, 'When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshingfloor, and as the product of the winevat.
32
'You will bearnosin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacredgifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.' "