Provision for the Priesthood
1The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestral family18:1 Lit the house of your father18:1 Nm 10:21 will be responsible for iniquity against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for iniquity involving your priesthood.
2But also bring your relatives with you from the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, so they may join you and assist you and your sons in front of the tent of the testimony.18:2 Nm 8:5–26
3They are to perform duties for you and for the whole tent. They must not come near the sanctuary equipment or the altar; otherwise, both they and you will die.
4They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.
5“You are to guard the sanctuary and the altar so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.18:5 Nm 1:53; 16; 17:12–13; 1Ch 9:19; Ezk 44:11
6Look, I have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, assigned by the Lord to work at the tent of meeting.
7But you and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities18:7 Nm 3:10 for everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the curtain, and you will do that work. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift,18:7 Or curtain. So you are to perform the service; a gift of your priesthood I grant but an unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary will be put to death.”18:7 Nm 1:51; 3:10,38
Support for the Priests and Levites
8Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Look, I have put you in charge of the contributions18:8 Ex 36:3; Lv 22:12; Nm 18:19; Dt 12:6,11,17; Neh 10:39; 12:44; 13:5; Ezk 20:40; Mal 3:8 brought to me. As for all the holy offerings18:8 Lv 22:2–7,15–16; Nm 18:32; Ezk 42:13 of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.18:8 Lv 10:12–15; Nm 5:9
9A portion of the holiest offerings kept from the fire will be yours; every one of their offerings that they give me, whether the grain offering, sin offering, or guilt offering will be most holy for you and your sons.
10You are to eat it as a most holy offering.18:10 Or it in a most holy place Every male may eat it; it is to be holy to you.
11“The contribution of their gifts also belongs to you. I have given all the Israelites’ presentation offerings18:11 Ex 29:24–27; 35:22; 38:24,29; Lv 7:30,34; 8:27,29; 9:21; 10:14–15; 14:12,24; 23:15,17,20; Nm 6:20; 8:11–21 to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute.18:11 Lv 7:34–36 Every ceremonially clean person in your house may eat it.
12I am giving you all the best of the fresh oil, new wine, and grain,18:12 Dt 7:13; 11:14; 12:17; 14:23; 18:4; 28:51; Neh 10:37–39 which the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits.18:12 Gn 49:3; Ex 23:16,19; 34:22,26; Lv 2:12,14; 23:17,20; Nm 28:26; Jr 2:3; Rm 8:23; 11:16; 1Co 15:20,23; 16:15; Jms 1:18; Rv 14:4
13The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, belong to you. Every clean person in your house may eat them.
15The firstborn of every living thing, human or animal, presented to the Lord belongs to you. But you must certainly redeem a human firstborn,18:15 Ex 13:11–16 and redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal.
16You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your assessment: five shekels18:16 A shekel is about two-fifths of an ounce of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.18:16 Lv 27:6; Nm 3:46–47
17“However, you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
18But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.
20The Lord told Aaron, “You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.18:20 Dt 10:9; Jos 18:7; Ezk 44:28–30
21“Look, I have given the Levites every tenth18:21 Dt 26:12; 2Ch 31:12; Neh 10:37–38; Heb 7:5 in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the work of the tent of meeting.
22The Israelites must never again come near the tent of meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
23The Levites will do the work of the tent of meeting, and they will bear the consequences of their iniquity. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites;18:23 Dt 10:8–9; 18:1–2; Jos 13:14,33 this is a permanent statute throughout your generations.
24For I have given them the tenth that the Israelites present to the Lord as a contribution for their inheritance. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”
25The Lord instructed Moses,
26“Speak to the Levites and tell them: When you receive from the Israelites the tenth that I have given you as your inheritance, you are to present part of it as an offering to the Lord — a tenth of the tenth.
27Your offering will be credited to you as if it were your grain from the threshing floor or the full harvest from the winepress.
28You are to present an offering to the Lord from every tenth you receive from the Israelites. Give some of it to the priest Aaron as an offering to the Lord.
30“Tell them further: Once you have presented the best part of the tenth, and it is credited to you Levites as the produce of the threshing floor or the winepress,
31then you and your household may eat it anywhere. It is your wage in return for your work at the tent of meeting.
32You will not incur guilt because of it once you have presented the best part of it, but you must not defile the Israelites’ holy offerings, so that you will not die.”
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
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