Numbers 18

All 32 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

Read Numbers 18 in the Bible reader, with audio →

1. 1The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your father's household will be held responsible for any offense against the sanctuary. You and your sons specifically will be held responsible for any offense related to your priesthood.
2. 2Bring your relatives from the tribe of Levi — your ancestral tribe — to join you and assist you. But only you and your sons may serve directly before the tabernacle of the testimony.
3. 3The Levites will carry out your instructions and handle the duties of the entire tabernacle. However, they must not approach the sacred vessels or the altar, or else both they and you will die.
4. 4They will work alongside you and take care of the Tent of Meeting, handling all the work of the tabernacle. No unauthorized person may come near where you serve.
5. 5You shall carry out the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that there will be no more wrath upon the children of Israel.
6. 6I myself have chosen your fellow Levites from among the Israelites and given them to you as a gift, dedicated to the LORD, to carry out the work of the Tent of Meeting.
7. 7But you and your sons alone must carry out the priestly duties — everything related to the altar and everything behind the curtain. I'm giving you the priesthood as a gift of service. Anyone else who approaches these sacred duties will be put to death."
8. 8The LORD also said to Aaron, "I am putting you in charge of all the sacred contributions that the Israelites bring to me. I have given them to you and your sons as your permanent share, because of your anointing as priests.
9. 9This is what belongs to you from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every grain offering of theirs, every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs that they present to me. These are most holy for you and your sons.
10. 10You must eat these offerings in a most holy place. Every male among you may eat them. They are to be treated as holy.
11. 11This is also yours: the wave offerings that the Israelites present as gifts. I have given these to you, your sons, and your daughters as a permanent share. Anyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat them.
12. 12I have given you the finest olive oil, the finest new wine, and the finest grain — the first fruits that the people offer to the LORD.
13. 13The first ripe produce of their land that they bring to the LORD will be yours. Anyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
14. 14Everything in Israel that is devoted to the LORD belongs to you.
15. 15Every firstborn — whether human or animal — that is offered to the LORD will be yours. However, you must always accept a payment to redeem every firstborn son, and you must also redeem the firstborn of every unclean animal.
16. 16The redemption price for a firstborn son, payable when the child is 1 month old, is 5 shekels of silver, measured by the sanctuary standard of 20 gerahs per shekel.
17. 17But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep, or a goat — they are holy. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
18. 18The meat from these animals belongs to you, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh belong to you.
19. 19All the sacred contributions that the Israelites offer to the LORD, I have given to you, your sons, and your daughters as a permanent share. This is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your descendants."
20. 20The LORD said to Aaron, "You will not receive any land as an inheritance among the Israelites, and you will own no portion of their territory. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
21. 21As for the Levites, I have given them every tithe collected in Israel as their inheritance, in exchange for the work they do serving at the Tent of Meeting.
22. 22From now on, ordinary Israelites must not approach the Tent of Meeting, or they will be guilty of sin and will die.
23. 23Only the Levites are to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear the responsibility for any failures. This is a permanent law for every generation: the Levites will receive no land inheritance among the Israelites.
24. 24Instead, I have given the Levites the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the LORD. That is their inheritance. That's why I told them they would receive no land among the Israelites."
25. 25The LORD said to Moses,
26. 26"Give these instructions to the Levites: 'When you receive the tithe from the Israelites — the inheritance I have given you from them — you must set aside a tenth of that tithe as an offering to the LORD.
27. 27This offering of yours will be credited to you just as if it were grain from your own threshing floor or juice from your own winepress.
28. 28In this way, you too will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. You must give the LORD's portion of that offering to Aaron the priest.
29. 29From every gift you receive, you must set aside the best and holiest part as the LORD's offering.'
30. 30"Tell them also: 'Once you have set aside the best portion, the rest will be credited to you as if it were produce from your own threshing floor or winepress.
31. 31You and your households may eat the remainder anywhere you wish. It is your wages for the work you do at the Tent of Meeting.
32. 32As long as you set aside the best part first, you will not be guilty of sin. But if you fail to do this, you will be defiling the holy offerings of the Israelites — and you will die.'"