Numbers 18

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 And the Lord said to Aaron: “You, and your sons, and the house of your father with you, shall carry the iniquity of the Sanctuary. And you and your sons together shall bear the sins of your priesthood.
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 But take to yourselves also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, and the scepter of your father, and may they be prepared, and may they minister to you. Then you and your sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the testimony.
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 And the Levites shall stand watch by your precepts, and for all the works of the tabernacle; yet in such a manner that they shall not approach the vessels of the Sanctuary and of the altar, lest both they die, and you perish, at the same time.
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 But they may be with you, and they may watch over the care of the tabernacle and all its ceremonies. A foreigner shall not be mixed with you.
5 You will take charge of the sanctuary and charge of the altar, and retribution wil never again befallthe Israelites.	5 Watch over the care of the Sanctuary, and over the ministry of the altar, lest an indignation may rise over the sons of Israel.
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 I have given your brothers, the Levites, to you from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have delivered them as a gift to the Lord, in order to serve in the ministries of his tabernacle.
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 as for you and your sons: guard the priesthood. For all that pertains to the service of the altar and of what is beyond the veil shall be exercised by the priests. If any outsider will approach, he shall be killed.”
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 And the Lord said to Aaron: “Behold, I have given you custody of my first-fruits. Everything that is sanctified by the sons of Israel I have delivered to you and your sons, for the office of the priesthood, by everlasting ordinances.
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 Therefore, you shall receive these, from the things that are sanctified and offered to the Lord. Every offering, and sacrifice, and whatever is repaid to me, on behalf of sin and also for offenses, and which becomes the Holy of holies, shall be for you and for your sons.
10 You wil eat the things especial y holy. Every male may eat them. You wil regard them as sacred.	10 You shall eat it in the Sanctuary. Only the males shall eat from it, because it has been consecrated for 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 But the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel shall vow and offer, I have given to you, and to your sons, as well as to your daughters, by a perpetual right. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.
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 All the innermost of the oil, and of the wine, and of the grain, whatever first-fruits they offer to the Lord, I have given to you.
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 All the first of the crops, which the soil produces and which are carried to the Lord, shall fall to your use. Whoever is clean in your house shall eat them.
14 Everything in Israel put under the curse of destruction wil revert to you.	14 All that the sons of Israel shall repay by vow 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 Whatever goes out first from the womb, of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether from men or from cattle, shall be your right; yet only in so far as, for the firstborn of man, you shall accept a price. And every animal that is unclean you shall cause to 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 And its redemption shall be, after one month, five shekels of silver, by the weight of the Sanctuary. A shekel has twenty obols.
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 firstborn of a cow, or of a sheep, or of a goat, you shall not cause to be redeemed, because they have been sanctified to the Lord. Thus, their blood you shall pour out upon the altar, and their fat you shall burn as a most sweet odor 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 Yet truly, the flesh shall fall to your use, just as the consecrated breast and the right shoulder shall be yours.
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 All the first-fruits of the Sanctuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons as well as to your daughters, as a perpetual right. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and for your sons.”
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 And the Lord said to Aaron: “In their land, you shall possess nothing; neither shall you have a portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.
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 But I have given, to the sons of Levi, all the tithes of Israel as a possession, for the ministry by which they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant,
22 The Israelites wil no longer approach the Tent of Meeting, on pain of committing a deadly sin.	22 so that the sons of Israel may no longer approach to the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin.
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 sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle and may carry the sins of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. They shall possess nothing else;
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 being content with the oblation of tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities.”
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,	25 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 “Instruct the Levites, and also declare to them: When you will receive, from the sons of Israel, the tithes, which I have given to you, offer their first-fruits to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of a tenth,
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 so that it may be accounted to you as an oblation of the first-fruits, as much from the threshing floors as from the oil and wine presses.
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 And offer the first-fruits of everything, from which you receive tithes, to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.
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 Everything which you shall offer from the tithes, and which you shall separate as gifts to the Lord, shall be the finest and most select.
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 And you shall say to them: ‘If you offer the noble and the better of the tithes, it shall be accounted to you as if you had given from the first-fruits of the threshing floor and of the oil and wine presses.’
31 You may consume this anywhere, you and the members of your households; this is yourrecompense for serving in the Tent of Meeting,	31 And you shall eat these in all your places, both you and your families, because it is your price for the ministry, by which you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.
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 And you shall not sin in this way: by reserving the excellent and fat things for yourselves, lest you pollute the oblations of the sons of Israel, and lest you die.”