Duties of Priests and Levites 1 AKJV And the LORD said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. BSB BSB: So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
2 AKJV And your brothers also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring you with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you: but you and your sons with you shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. BSB BSB: But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.
3 AKJV And they shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor you also, die. BSB BSB: And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.
4 AKJV And they shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come near to you. BSB BSB: They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.
5 AKJV And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more on the children of Israel. BSB BSB: And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.
6 AKJV And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. BSB BSB: Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.
7 AKJV Therefore you and your sons with you shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the veil; and you shall serve: I have given your priest’s office to you as a service of gift: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death. BSB BSB: But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
Offerings for Priests and Levites 8 AKJV And the LORD spoke to Aaron, Behold, I also have given you the charge of my heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; to you have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, by an ordinance for ever. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.
9 AKJV This shall be your of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. BSB BSB: A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.
10 AKJV In the most holy place shall you eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy to you. BSB BSB: You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.
11 AKJV And this is yours; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in your house shall eat of it. BSB BSB: And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it.
12 AKJV All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you. BSB BSB: I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
13 AKJV And whatever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring to the LORD, shall be yours; every one that is clean in your house shall eat of it. BSB BSB: The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.
14 AKJV Every thing devoted in Israel shall be yours. BSB BSB: Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you.
15 AKJV Every thing that opens the matrix in all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shall you redeem. BSB BSB: The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.
16 AKJV And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. BSB BSB: You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
17 AKJV But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy: you shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet smell to the LORD. BSB BSB: But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
18 AKJV And the flesh of them shall be yours, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are yours. BSB BSB: And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you.
19 AKJV All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD to you and to your seed with you. BSB BSB: All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
20 AKJV And the LORD spoke to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any part among them: I am your part and your inheritance among the children of Israel. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
21 AKJV And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. BSB BSB: Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
22 AKJV Neither must the children of Israel from now on come near the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. BSB BSB: No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
23 AKJV But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. BSB BSB: The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.
24 AKJV But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. BSB BSB: For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”
25 AKJV And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, BSB BSB: And the LORD instructed Moses,
26 AKJV Thus speak to the Levites, and say to them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. BSB BSB: “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe.
27 AKJV And this your heave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. BSB BSB: Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.
28 AKJV Thus you also shall offer an heave offering to the LORD of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and you shall give thereof the LORD’s heave offering to Aaron the priest. BSB BSB: So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.
29 AKJV Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. BSB BSB: You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’
30 AKJV Therefore you shall say to them, When you have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. BSB BSB: Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress.
31 AKJV And you shall eat it in every place, you and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation. BSB BSB: And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting.
32 AKJV And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall you pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest you die. BSB BSB: Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”