Duties of Priests and Levites
And the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
And also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father — bring near with you, and they shall be joined to you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.
And they shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the tent; only to the vessels of the holy place and to the altar they shall not come near, so that they do not die — neither they nor you.
And they shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the tent; and no stranger shall come near you.
And you shall keep the charge of the holy place and the charge of the altar, so that there is no more wrath on the sons of Israel.
And I — look, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; a gift are they to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.
But you and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the veil — and you shall serve. As a service of gift I give your priesthood; and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
Offerings for Priests and Levites
And the LORD spoke to Aaron: “And I — look, I have given you the charge of my contributions; all the holy things of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion, and to your sons, as a statute forever.
This shall be yours from the holy of holies, from the fire: every offering of theirs — every grain offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me — is a holy of holies for you and for your sons.
As a holy of holies you shall eat it; every male may eat it. It shall be holy to you.
And this is yours: the contribution of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a statute forever; everyone clean in your house may eat it.
All the best of the fresh oil, and all the best of the new wine and the grain — their firstfruits, which they give to the LORD — to you I have given them.
The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; everyone clean in your house may eat it.
Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours.
Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh that they bring near to the LORD, among man and among beast, shall be yours; only you shall surely ransom the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of the unclean beast you shall ransom.
And its ransom — from a month old you shall ransom it, by your valuation: five shekels of silver, by the shekel of the sanctuary; it is twenty gerahs.
But the firstborn of an ox, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not ransom; they are holy. Their blood you shall dash against the altar, and their fat you shall burn as a fire offering, for a soothing aroma to the LORD.
And their flesh shall be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and like the right thigh, it shall be yours.
All the contributions of the holy things, which the sons of Israel lift up to the LORD, I have given to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a statute forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD, for you and for your seed with you.”
And the LORD said to Aaron, “In their land you shall have no inheritance, and no portion shall be yours in their midst. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.
And to the sons of Levi — look, I have given every tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in exchange for their service that they serve, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
And the sons of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting anymore, to bear sin and die.
But the Levite — he shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. A statute forever throughout your generations: in the midst of the sons of Israel they shall inherit no inheritance.
For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they lift up as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them: In the midst of the sons of Israel they shall inherit no inheritance.”
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“And to the Levites you shall speak, and say to them: When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall lift up from it a contribution of the LORD — a tithe of the tithe.
And your contribution shall be counted to you as the grain from the threshing floor, and as the fullness from the winepress.
So you also shall lift up a contribution of the LORD from all your tithes that you take from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the contribution of the LORD to Aaron the priest.
From all your gifts you shall lift up every contribution of the LORD — from all its best, its holy part out of it.
And you shall say to them: When you lift up its best from it, then it shall be counted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress.
And you may eat it in any place, you and your households — for it is your wage in exchange for your service in the Tent of Meeting.
And you shall bear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up its best from it; and the holy things of the sons of Israel you shall not profane, so that you do not die.”