Numbers 18

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Yahweh then said to Aaron: 'You, your sons and your ancestor's line with you wil be answerable foroffences against the sanctuary. You and your sons with you wil be answerable for the offences of yourpriesthood.	1 The LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons as well as the other members of your ancestral house shall be responsible for the sanctuary; but the responsibility of the priesthood shall rest on you and your sons alone.
2 You will admit your brothers of the branch of Levi, your ancestor's tribe, to join you and serve you,yourself and your sons, before the Tent of the Testimony.	2 Bring with you also your other kinsmen of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, as your associates and assistants, while you and your sons are in front of the tent of the commandments.
3 They must be at your service and the service of the whole Tent. Provided they do not come near thesacred vessels or the altar, they wil be in no more danger of death than you.	3 They shall look after your persons and the whole tent; however, they shall not come near the sacred vessels or the altar, lest both they and you die.
4 They must join you, they must take charge of the Tent of Meeting for the entire ministry of the Tent,and no unauthorised person will come near you.	4 As your associates they shall have charge of all the work connected with the meeting tent. But no layman shall come near you.
5 You will take charge of the sanctuary and charge of the altar, and retribution wil never again befallthe Israelites.	5 You shall have charge of the sanctuary and of the altar, that wrath may not fall again upon the Israelites.
6 Of the Israelites, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites as a gift to you. As men dedicated,they will belong to Yahweh, to serve at the Tent of Meeting.	6 "Remember, it is I who have taken your kinsmen, the Levites, from the body of the Israelites; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD for the service of the meeting tent.
7 You and your sons wil undertake the priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and all that liesbehind the curtain. You wil perform the liturgy, the duties of which I entrust to your priesthood. But anunauthorised person approaching wil incur death.'	7 But only you and your sons are to have charge of performing the priestly functions in whatever concerns the altar and the room within the veil. I give you the priesthood as a gift. Any layman who draws near shall be put to death."
8 Yahweh said to Aaron: 'I myself have put you in charge of everything set aside for me. Everythingconsecrated by the Israelites I give to you and your sons as your portion by perpetual decree.	8 The LORD said to Aaron, "I myself have given you charge of the contributions made to me in the various sacred offerings of the Israelites; by perpetual ordinance I have assigned them to you and to your sons as your priestly share.
9 Of the things especial y holy, of the food offered, this is what wil revert to you: every offering that theIsraelites give back to me, whether it be a cereal offering, a sacrifice for sin or a sacrifice of reparation, is a thingespecial y holy and will revert to you and your sons.	9 You shall have the right to share in the oblations that are most sacred, in whatever they offer me as cereal offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings; these shares shall accrue to you and to your sons.
10 You wil eat the things especial y holy. Every male may eat them. You wil regard them as sacred.	10 In eating them you shall treat them as most sacred; every male among you may partake of them. As sacred, they belong to you.
11 'To you wil revert also whatever is set aside from the offerings of the Israelites, whatever is held outwith the gesture of offering; this I give to you and your sons and daughters, by perpetual decree. Al members ofyour household may eat it unless they are unclean.	11 "You shall also have what is removed from the gift in every wave offering of the Israelites; by perpetual ordinance I have assigned it to you and to your sons and daughters. All in your family who are clean may partake of it.
12 All the best of the oil, al the best of the new wine and wheat, these first-fruits offered by them toYahweh I give to you.	12 I have also assigned to you all the best of the new oil and of the new wine and grain that they give to the LORD as their first fruits;
13 All the first produce of the country brought by them to Yahweh wil revert to you. Al members of your household may eat it unless they are unclean.	13 and likewise, of whatever grows on their land, the first products that they bring in to the LORD shall be yours; all of your family who are clean may partake of them.
14 Everything in Israel put under the curse of destruction wil revert to you.	14 Whatever is doomed in Israel shall be yours.
15 Every first-born of al creatures brought to Yahweh, human or animal, wil revert to you, but you willhave to redeem the first-born of man; you wil also redeem the first-born of an unclean animal.	15 Every living thing that opens the womb, whether of man or of beast, such as are to be offered to the LORD, shall be yours; but you must let the first-born of man, as well as of unclean animals, be redeemed.
16 You wil redeem it in the month in which it is born, valuing it at five shekels, at the sanctuary shekel,which is twenty gerah.	16 The ransom for a boy is to be paid when he is a month old; it is fixed at five silver shekels according to the sanctuary standard, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
17 But you wil not redeem the first-born of cow, sheep and goat. They are holy: you wil sprinkle theirblood on the altar and burn the fat as food burnt to be a smel pleasing to Yahweh;	17 But the first-born of cattle, sheep or goats shall not be redeemed; they are sacred. Their blood you must splash on the altar and their fat you must burn as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.
18 the meat wil revert to you, as wil the forequarter that has been presented with the gesture ofoffering, and the right thigh.	18 Their meat, however, shall be yours, just as the breast and the right leg of the wave offering belong to you.
19 Everything the Israelites set aside for Yahweh from the holy things, I give to you and your sons anddaughters, by perpetual decree. This is a covenant of salt for ever before Yahweh, for you and your descendantstoo.'	19 By perpetual ordinance I have assigned to you and to your sons and daughters all the contributions from the sacred gifts which the Israelites make to the LORD; this is an inviolable covenant to last forever before the LORD, for you and for your descendants."
20 Yahweh said to Aaron: 'You will have no heritage in their country, you wil not have a portion likethem; I shal be your portion and your heritage among the Israelites.	20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall not have any heritage in the land of the Israelites nor hold any portion among them; I will be your portion and your heritage among them.
21 'Look, as heritage I give the Levites al the tithes col ected in Israel, in return for their services, forthe ministry they render in the Tent of Meeting.	21 "To the Levites, however, I hereby assign all tithes in Israel as their heritage in recompense for the service they perform in the meeting tent.
22 The Israelites wil no longer approach the Tent of Meeting, on pain of committing a deadly sin.	22 The Israelites may no longer approach the meeting tent; else they will incur guilt deserving death.
23 Levi will discharge the duties of the Tent of Meeting, and the Levites wil bear the consequences oftheir own guilt. This is a perpetual decree binding all your descendants: the Levites wil have no heritage amongthe Israelites,	23 Only the Levites are to perform the service of the meeting tent, and they alone shall be held responsible; this is a perpetual ordinance for all your generations. The Levites, therefore, shall not have any heritage among the Israelites,
24 for the tithe which the Israelites set aside for Yahweh is the heritage I have given the Levites. This iswhy I have told them that they will have no heritage among the Israelites.'	24 for I have assigned to them as their heritage the tithes which the Israelites give as a contribution to the LORD. That is why I have ordered that they are not to have any heritage among the Israelites."
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	25 The LORD said to Moses,
26 'Speak to the Levites and say: "When from the Israelites you receive the tithe which I have given youfrom them as your heritage, you wil set a portion of this aside for Yahweh: a tithe of the tithe.	26 "Give the Levites these instructions: When you receive from the Israelites the tithes I have assigned you from them as your heritage, you are to make a contribution from them to the LORD, a tithe of the tithes;
27 It wil take the place of the portion set aside that is due from you, like the wheat from the threshing-floor and new wine from the press.	27 and your contribution will be credited to you as if it were grain from the threshing floor or new wine from the press.
28 Thus you too wil set a portion aside for Yahweh out of all the tithes you receive from the Israelites.You will give what you have set aside for Yahweh to the priest Aaron.	28 Thus you too shall make a contribution from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, handing over to Aaron the priest the part to be contributed to the LORD.
29 Out of all the gifts you receive, you will set a portion aside for Yahweh. Out of al these things, youwil set aside the best, the sacred portion."	29 From all the gifts that you receive, and from the best parts, you are to consecrate to the LORD your own full contribution.
30 'You wil say to them, "After you have set the best aside, the remainder wil take the place, in theLevites' case, of the produce of the threshing-floor and wine-press.	30 "Tell them also: Once you have made your contribution from the best part, the rest of the tithes will be credited to you Levites as if it were produce of the threshing floor or of the winepress.
31 You may consume this anywhere, you and the members of your households; this is yourrecompense for serving in the Tent of Meeting,	31 Your families, as well as you, may eat them anywhere, since they are your recompense for service at the meeting tent.
32 and you wil not incur sin by doing so, once you have set aside the best; you wil not be profaningthe things consecrated by the Israelites and wil not incur death." '	32 You will incur no guilt so long as you make a contribution of the best part. Do not profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites and so bring death on yourselves."