Numbers 18:1-17

¹Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and the other members of your father's family are the ones ◄who will be punished/whom I will punish► if anything bad happens to the things inside the Sacred Tent. But only you and your sons will be punished if the priests do something bad.

²Require that those who belong to your tribe, the tribe of Levi, must assist you and your sons while you perform your work at the Sacred Tent.

³But while they do that work, they must not go near the sacred items inside the tent or near the altar. If they do that, they will die, and you will die, too!

⁴They may assist you in doing all the work to take care of the Sacred Tent, but no one else is permitted to come near the place where you are working.

⁵You are the ones who will do the sacred work inside the Sacred Tent and at the altar. If you obey these instructions, I will not become very angry with the Israeli people again.

⁶I myself have chosen the descendants of Levi from the other Israelis in order that they may be your special helpers. They are like a gift that I have given you to work at the Sacred Tent.

⁷But it is you and your sons, who are the priests, who must perform all the rituals concerning the altar and with what happens inside the Very Holy Place. I am giving to you this work of serving as priests. So anyone else who tries to do that work must be executed.”

⁸Yahweh also said to Aaron, “I myself have appointed you to take care of all the sacred offerings that the Israeli people bring to me. I have given all these sacred offerings to you and to your sons. You and your descendants will get a share of these offerings permanently.

⁹The parts of the offerings that are not completely burned on the altar belong to you. Those parts of the sacred offerings, including the offerings of grain, the offerings for sins and for the people to be forgiven for not giving me what they are required to give, are set apart, and are to be given to you and your sons.

¹⁰You must eat those offerings in a sacred place, near the Sacred Tent. You and all of the other males in your clan may eat them, but you must consider those offerings to be holy/dedicated to me.

¹¹The priests lift up high the sacred offerings while they are standing in front of the altar. All of those offerings that the Israelis offer to me belong to you and your sons and daughters. They will always be your share. All the members of your family who have performed the rituals to cause them to be acceptable to me are permitted to eat from these offerings.

¹²I am also giving to you the first food that people harvest each year and bring to me—the best olive oil and new wine and grain.

¹³All of the first crops that people harvest and bring to me belong to you. Anyone in your family who has performed the ritual to become acceptable to me is permitted to eat that food.

¹⁴Everything in Israel that is set apart to belong to me also belongs to you.

¹⁵The firstborn males, both humans and domestic animals, that are offered to me, will be yours. But people must buy back their firstborn sons and the firstborn animals that may not be used for sacrifices.

¹⁶They must buy them back when they are one month old. The price that they must pay for each one is five pieces of silver. They must weigh the silver on the scales that are in the Sacred Tent.

¹⁷But they are not permitted to buy back the firstborn cattle or sheep or goats. They are holy and have been set apart for me. Slaughter them and sprinkle their blood on the altar. Then completely burn the fat of those animals on the altar to be an offering to me. The smell as they burn will be very pleasing to me.