1 And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy
father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and
thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 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 witness.
3 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, nor ye also, die.
4 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 a stranger shall not
come nigh unto you.
5 And
ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that
there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
6 And
I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of
Israel: to you they are given as a gift
for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 Therefore
thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of
the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's
office unto you as
a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
8 And
the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine
heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee
have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance
for ever.
9 This
shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: 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 most
holy for thee and for thy sons.
10 In
the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall
eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
11 And
this is thine;
the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children
of Israel: I 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.
12 All
the 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.
13 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.
14 Every
thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15 Every
thing that openeth the matrix 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
surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
16 And
those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to
thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 But
the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a
goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: 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.
18 And
the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder
are thine.
19 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, by a
statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the
LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
20 And
the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land,
neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy
part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 And,
behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an
inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the
service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
22 Neither
must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation,
lest they bear sin, and die.
23 But
the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and
they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your
generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
24 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.
25 And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
26 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.
27 And this your
heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the
corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
28 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.
29 Out
of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the
best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
30 Therefore
thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it
shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as
the increase of the winepress.
31 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.
32 And
ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of
it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye
die.
