Numbers:18

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* And the LORD said unto Aaron : 'Thou and thy sons and thy fathers ' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary ; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood . * And thy brethren also , the tribe of Levi , the tribe of thy father , bring thou near with thee , that they may be joined unto thee , and minister unto thee , thou and thy sons with thee being before the tent of the testimony . * And they shall keep thy charge , and the charge of all the Tent ; only they shall not come nigh unto the holy furniture and unto the altar , that they die not , neither they , nor ye . * And they shall be joined unto thee , and keep the charge of the tent of meeting , whatsoever the service of the Tent may be ; but a common man shall not draw nigh unto you . * And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things , and the charge of the altar , that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel . * And I , behold , I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel ; for you they are given as a gift unto the LORD , to do the service of the tent of meeting . * And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood in everything that pertaineth to the altar , and to that within the veil ; and ye shall serve ; I give you the priesthood as a service of gift ; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death .' * And the LORD spoke unto Aaron : 'And I , behold , I have given thee the charge of My heave-offerings ; even of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel unto thee have I given them for a consecrated portion , and to thy sons , as a due for ever . * This shall be thine of the most holy things , reserved from the fire : every offering of theirs , even every meal-offering of theirs , and every sin-offering of theirs , and every guilt-offering of theirs , which they may render unto Me , shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons . * In a most holy place shalt thou eat thereof ; every male may eat thereof ; it shall be holy unto thee . * And this is thine : the heave-offering of their gift , even all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel ; I have given them unto thee , and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee , as a due for ever ; every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof . * All the best of the oil , and all the best of the wine , and of the corn , the first part of them which they give unto the LORD , to thee have I given them . * The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land , which they bring unto the LORD , shall be thine ; every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof . * Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine . * Every thing that openeth the womb , of all flesh which they offer unto the LORD , both of man and beast , shall be thine ; howbeit the first-born of man shalt thou surely redeem , and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem . * And their redemption-money--from a month old shalt thou redeem them--shall be , according to thy valuation , five shekels of silver , after the shekel of the sanctuary--the same is twenty gerahs . * But the firstling of an ox , or the firstling of a sheep , or the firstling of a goat , thou shalt not redeem ; they are holy : thou shalt dash their blood against the altar , and shalt make their fat smoke for an offering made by fire , for a sweet savour unto the LORD . * And the flesh of them shall be thine , as the wave-breast and as the right thigh , it shall be thine . * All the heave-offerings of the holy things , which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD , have I given thee , and thy sons and thy daughters with thee , as a due for ever ; it is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee .' * And the LORD said unto Aaron : 'Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land , neither shalt thou have any portion among them ; I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel . * And unto the children of Levi , behold , I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance , in return for their service which they serve , even the service of the tent of meeting . * And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting , lest they bear sin , and die . * But the Levites alone shall do the service of the tent of meeting , and they shall bear their iniquity ; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations , and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance . * For the tithe of the children of Israel , which they set apart as a gift unto the LORD , I have given to the Levites for an inheritance ; therefore I have said unto them : Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance .' * And the LORD spoke unto Moses , saying : * 'Moreover thou shalt speak unto the Levites , and say unto them : When ye take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance , then ye shall set apart of it a gift for the LORD , even a tithe of the tithe . * And the gift which ye set apart shall be reckoned unto you , as though it were the corn of the threshing-floor , and as the fulness of the wine-press . * Thus ye also shall set apart a gift unto the LORD of all your tithes , which ye receive of the children of Israel ; and thereof ye shall give the gift which is set apart unto the LORD to Aaron the priest . * Out of all that is given you ye shall set apart all of that which is due unto the LORD , of all the best thereof , even the hallowed part thereof out of it . * Therefore thou shalt say unto them : When ye set apart the best thereof from it , then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor , and as the increase of the wine-press . * And ye may eat it in every place , ye and your households ; for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting . * And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it , seeing that ye have set apart from it the best thereof ; and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel , that ye die not .'

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