Numbers 18:1-17

¹And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house shall bear the sins of the holy things, and thou and thy sons shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

²And take to thyself thy brethren the tribe of Levi, the family of thy father, and let them be joined to thee, and let them minister to thee; and thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

³And they shall keep thy charges, and the charges of the tabernacle; only they shall not approach the holy vessels and the altar, so both they and you shall not die.

⁴And they shall be joined to thee, and shall keep the charges of the tabernacle of witness, in all the services of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not approach to thee.

⁵And ye shall keep the charges of the holy things, and the charges of the altar, and so there shall not be anger among the children of Israel.

⁶And I have taken your brethren the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, a present given to the Lord, to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

⁷And thou and thy sons after thee shall keep up your priestly ministration, according to the whole manner of the altar, and that which is within the veil; and ye shall minister in the services as the office of your priesthood; and the stranger that comes near shall die.

⁸And the Lord said to Aaron, And, behold, I have given you the charge of the firstfruits of all things consecrated to me by the children of Israel; and I have given them to thee as an honor, and to thy sons after thee for a perpetual ordinance.

⁹And let this be to you from all the holy things that are consecrated to me, even the burnt offerings, from all their gifts, and from all their sacrifices, and from every trespass offering of theirs, and from all their sin offerings, whatever things they give to me of all their holy things, they shall be thine and thy sons’.

¹⁰In the most holy place shall ye eat them; every male shall eat them, thou and thy sons: they shall be holy to thee.

¹¹And this shall be to you of the firstfruits of their gifts, of all the wave offerings of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them and to thy sons and thy daughters with thee, a perpetual ordinance; every clean person in thy house shall eat them.

¹²Every first offering of oil, and every first offering of wine, their firstfruits of corn, whatsoever they may give to the Lord, to thee have I given them.

¹³All the firstfruits that are in their land, whatsoever they shall offer to the Lord, shall be thine: every clean person in thy house shall eat them.

¹⁴Every devoted thing among the children of Israel shall be thine.

¹⁵And everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whatsoever they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be thine: only the firstborn of men shall be surely redeemed, and thou shalt redeem the firstborn of unclean cattle.

¹⁶And the redemption of them shall be from a month old; their valuation of five shekels—it is twenty oboli according to the holy shekel.

¹⁷But thou shalt not redeem the firstborn of calves and the firstborn of sheep and the firstborn of goats; they are holy: and thou shalt pour their blood upon the altar, and thou shalt offer the fat as a burnt offering for a smell of sweet savor to the Lord.