THE FOURTH BOOK OF
MOSES,
called
N U M B E R S
Numbers 18 ©
God shows Aaron and his sons their office, appointing them the Levites for their service, v. 1, etc. Ordains the maintenance of Aaron and his sons, 8. As also the Levites, 21. Who were to pay tenths of their tenths to the high priest, 25.
AND the LORD 1said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the 2iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear 3the iniquity of your priesthood.
And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of 4witness.
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, 5nor ye also, die.
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and 6a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no 7wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
And I, behold, I have taken youra brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you 8they are given as a gift for 9the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the 10vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of 11gift: and the 12stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
¶And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine 13heave offerings of all the 14hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason 15of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance 16for ever.
This shall be thine of the 17most holy things, reserved from the 18fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be 19most holy for thee and for thy sons.
In the 20most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: Ib have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
All 21the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
Everyc thing 22devoted in Israel shall be thine.
Every thing that 23openeth the matrixd in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou 24surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
And those that are to be redeemed from a month 25old shalt thou redeem, according to thine 26estimation, for 27the money of five shekels, after the 28shekel of the sanctuary,e whichfis twenty 29gerahs.
But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are 30holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the 31wave breast and as the 32right shoulder are thine.
All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, 33by a statute for ever: it is a 34covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
¶And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: Igam thy 35part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
36And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the 37tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, 38lest they bear sin, and 39die.
But the 40Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear 41their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, 42as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the 43winepress.
Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD's heave offering to Aaron the priest.
Out of all your 44gifts ye shall offer 45every heave offering of the LORD, of all 46the best thereof, even the 47hallowed part thereof out of it.
Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites 48as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.
And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
And ye shall 49bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the 50best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.