18:1¹ And the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe² with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary;³ and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

18:2 Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined⁴ to you and minister to you while⁵ you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 18:3 And they must be responsible to care for you, and to care for the tabernacle. Only they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, in order that they, and you, should not die. 18:4 And they must be joined⁶ to you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but no unauthorized person⁷ may come near you. 18:5 And you will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary, and the care of the altar, that there be⁸ no more wrath on the Israelites. 18:6 And I, even I, have chosen⁹ your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites; they are given to you as a gift from the LORD, to perform the duties¹⁰ of the tent of meeting. 18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar, and within the veil. And you must serve. I give you your priests office for service as a gift; but the unauthorized person that comes near must be put to death.

18:8 And the LORD spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; all the holy things of the Israelites I have given to you by reason of your anointing,¹¹ and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved¹² from the fire this will be yours: every offering of theirs, whether of every grain offering of theirs, or of every purification offering of theirs, or of every reparation offering of theirs, which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 18:10 You are to eat it in the most holy place; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.

18:11 And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the waved offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat of it.

18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of them that they give to the LORD, I have given them you.¹³ 18:13 And whatever first ripe fruit in the land which they bring to the LORD will be yours; everyone who is clean in your household may eat of it.

18:14 Everything devoted¹⁴ in Israel will be yours. 18:15 The first born of every womb which they present to the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, will be yours. Nevertheless, the first born of man you must redeem,¹⁵ and the first born male of unclean animals you must redeem. 18:16 And those that are to be redeemed, you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver, after the sanctuary shekel which is twenty gerahs. 18:17 But the first born of a cow, or the first born of a sheep, or the first born of a goat, you must not redeem; they are holy. You must sprinkle¹⁶ their blood upon the altar, and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 18:18 And their meat will be yours, just as the raised breast and the right hip. 18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things, which the Israelites offer to the LORD, have I given to you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt¹⁷ forever before the LORD for you and for your descendants with you.

18:20 And the LORD spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, neither will you have any portion among them—I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 18:21 And see, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. 18:22 No longer may the Israelites come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear their sin,¹⁸ and die. 18:23 But the Levites must perform the service¹⁹ of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity.²⁰ It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations, that among the Israelites they have no inheritance.²¹ 18:24 But the tithes of the Israelites that are offered²² to the LORD as a raised offering, I have given²³ to the Levites for an inheritance. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.

18:25 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18:26 “And you will speak to the Levites, and you must say to them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up²⁴ from it as a raised offering to the LORD a tenth of the tithe. 18:27 And your raised offering will be credited²⁵ to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor, or as juice²⁶ from the winepress. 18:28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the LORD of all your tithes, which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the LORD’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. 18:29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due²⁷ to the LORD, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’²⁸

18:30 Therefore you will say to them,²⁹ ‘When you offer up³⁰ the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the winepress. 18:31 And you may³¹ eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. 18:32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, lest you die.’”³²