New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 The LORD spoke to Aaron. He said, "You, your sons and your father's family are in charge of the sacred tent. You will be held accountable for sins that are committed against it. And you and your sons will be held accountable for sins that are committed against the office of priest.
1 Then the Lord said to Aaron: "You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood.
2 "Bring the Levites from your tribe to join you. They will help you when you and your sons serve at the tent where the tablets of the covenant are kept.
2 Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness.
3 They will work for you. They must do everything that needs to be done at the tent. But they must not go near anything that belongs to the sacred tent. And they must not go near the altar. If they do, they and you will die.
3 They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle; but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die--they and you also.
4 They will help you take care of the Tent of Meeting. They will join you in all of the work at the tent. No one else can come near you there.
4 They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; but an outsider shall not come near you.
5 "You will be held accountable for taking care of the sacred tent and the altar. Then my anger will not fall on the people of Israel again.
5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel.
6 I myself have chosen the Levites. I have chosen them from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you. I have set them apart to do the work at the Tent of Meeting.
6 Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting.
7 "But only you and your sons can serve as priests. Only you and your sons can work with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am letting you serve as priests. It is a gift from me. Anyone else who comes near the sacred tent must be put to death."
7 Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death."
8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron. He said, "I have put you in charge of the offerings that are brought to me. The people of Israel will give me holy offerings. I will give all of their offerings to you and your sons. They are the part that belongs to you. They are your regular share.
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron: "Here, I Myself have also given you charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever.
9 "You will have a part of the very holy offerings. It is the part that is not burned in the fire. That part belongs to you and your sons. You will have a part of all of the gifts the people bring me as very holy offerings. It does not matter whether they are grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings.
9 This shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering and every sin offering and every trespass offering which they render to Me, shall be most holy for you and your sons.
10 Eat your part as something that is very holy. Every male will eat it. You must consider it holy.
10 In a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
11 "Part of the gifts the people of Israel bring as wave offerings will be set to one side. That part will also belong to you. I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your regular share. Everyone in your home who is 'clean' can eat it.
11 This also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as an ordinance forever. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
12 "I will give you all of the finest olive oil and grain the people give me. And I will give you all of the finest fresh wine they give me. They give all of those things as the first share of their harvest.
12 All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you.
13 All of the first shares of the harvest they bring me will belong to you. Everyone in your home who is 'clean' can eat it.
13 Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
14 "Everything in Israel that is set apart to me belongs to you.
14 Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.
15 Offer to me every male that is born first to its mother. It belongs to you. That is true for men and animals alike. But you must buy back every oldest son. Suppose certain animals are not 'clean.' Then you must buy back every male that is born first to its mother.
15 Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.
16 When they are a month old, you must buy them back. You must pay the price to buy them back. The price is set at two ounces of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent.
16 And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 "But you must not buy back any male calf that is born first. And you must not buy back any male sheep or goat that is born first. They are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar. And burn their fat as an offering that is made with fire. It gives a smell that is pleasant to me.
17 But the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord.
18 "The meat will belong to you. It is just like the breast and the right thigh of the wave offering. Those parts belong to you.
18 And their flesh shall be yours, just as the wave breast and the right thigh are yours.
19 Part of the holy offerings the people of Israel bring to me will be set to one side. No matter what it is, I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your regular share. It is a covenant of salt from me. The salt means that the covenant will last for all time to come for you and your children."
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you."
20 The LORD spoke to Aaron. He said, "You will not receive any part of the land I am giving to Israel. You will not have any share among them. I am your share. I am what you will receive among the people of Israel.
20 Then the Lord said to Aaron: "You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 "The people of Israel will give me a tenth of everything they produce. And I will give it to the Levites. They serve at the Tent of Meeting. I will give them the tenth for the work they do there.
21 "Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.
22 From now on the people of Israel must not go near the Tent of Meeting. If they do, they will be punished for their sin. They will die.
22 Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die.
23 "The Levites will do the work at the Tent of Meeting. They will be held accountable for sins that are committed against it. That is a law that will last for all time to come. The Levites will not receive any share among the people of Israel.
23 But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 Instead, I will give the Levites the tenth as their share. It is the tenth that the people of Israel bring me as an offering. That is why I said the Levites would not have any share of land among the people of Israel."
24 For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, 'Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.' "
25 The LORD said to Moses,
25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26 "Speak to the Levites. Say to them, 'You will receive the tenth from the people of Israel. I will give it to you as your share. When I do, you must give a tenth of that tenth as an offering to the Lord.
26 "Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: 'When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe.
27 Your offering will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress.
27 And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress.
28 " 'In that way, you also will bring an offering to the Lord. You will bring it from the tenth you receive from the people of Israel. You must give the LORD's part to the priest Aaron. You must bring it from the tenth you receive.
28 Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord's heave offering from it to Aaron the priest.
29 You must bring to the LORD a part of everything that is given to you. It must be the best and holiest part.'
29 Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them.'
30 "Say to the Levites, 'You must bring the best part. Then it will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress.
30 Therefore you shall say to them: 'When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress.
31 You and your families can eat the rest of it anywhere. It is your pay for your work at the Tent of Meeting.
31 You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting.
32 Bring the best part of what you receive. Then you will not be guilty of holding anything back. You will not make the holy offerings of the people of Israel "unclean." You will not die.' "
32 And you shall bear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.' "
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.