Numbers 18:21-32

21 "To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ¹tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

22 "²The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.

23 "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ³bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ⁴they 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 for an inheritance; therefore * I have said concerning them, '⁵They 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 ⁶the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a ⁷tithe of the tithe.

27 'Your offering shall be reckoned to you as 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 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 best of them, the sacred part from them.'

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 threshing floor, and as 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 'You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not ⁸profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.' "

Numbers 18:21-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 18

This chapter gives an account of the distinct work and service of the priests and Levites, Nu 18:1-7; and of several things given to the priests for their maintenance, Nu 18:8-19; and of the tithes the Levites should have to live upon, since they were to have no inheritance in the land of Israel, Nu 18:20-24; and of the tenth out of those tithes they were to give to the high priest, Nu 18:25-32.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22-29
• 2. Numbers 1:51
• 3. Numbers 18:1
• 4. Numbers 18:20
• 5. Deuteronomy 10:9
• 6. Numbers 18:21
• 7. Nehemiah 10:38
• 8. Leviticus 22:15, 16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "fat"
• [b]. Lit "its"
• [c]. Lit "lifted"
• [d]. Lit "lifted"
• [e]. Lit "fat"