Numbers 18 - EasyEnglish Bible 2024（EASY）

Chapter 18The work of the priests and the Levites

1The Lord said to Aaron, ‘You and your sons and the other Levites serve me in my holy tent. So if any wrong thing happens there, you are the people who will be guilty. You will also be guilty for any wrong thing that happens among the priests.

2Bring the other people of your tribe, the Levites, to help you in the tabernacle. They will join with you while you and your sons serve me there.

3They must take care of the tabernacle on your behalf. But they must never go near anything that is inside the Holy Place. And they must not go near the altar. If they do, they will die, and you will die too.

4The Levites must join with you as you serve me in the Tent of Meeting. It is their job to do all the work to take care of the Tent. No other people have authority to join you as you work there.

5You and your sons must take care of the Holy Place and the altar. Then I will not have to punish the Israelites again.

6I have chosen your family, the Levites, from among the other Israelite tribes. I, the Lord, have given them to you. They will help you to take care of the Tent of Meeting.

7But only you, Aaron, and your sons will serve me as priests. You alone will serve me at the altar and in the Most Holy Place behind the curtain. I have chosen you to serve me as my priests. That is my gift to you. If any other person tries to do that work, they must die.’

Offerings for the priests and the Levites

8The Lord said to Aaron, ‘I have given you authority over the offerings that people give to me. I give to you all the holy gifts that the Israelite people bring to me. They will belong to you and to your sons, the priests. That will be your share for all time.

9The share for the priests will be the parts of the holy offerings that do not burn on the altar. A part of all these gifts will belong to you: grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. These are holy gifts that will belong to you and to your sons.

10Any man in your family may eat these gifts. But remember to eat them in a holy place, because they are holy gifts.

11You will also receive part of the special gifts that the Israelites lift up as an offering to me. I give these parts to you and to your sons and daughters, for all time. Any person in your family who is clean may eat it.

12You will also receive part of the first crops that people give to the Lord each year. I give you the best olive oil, the best wine and the best grain from these gifts.

13All of the first food that people give to the Lord from their harvest belongs to you. Any person in your family who is clean may eat it.

14Everything in Israel that people have chosen to give to me will belong to you.

15I give you every firstborn animal and male child that people offer to the Lord. But people must pay a price to buy back their firstborn sons. They must also buy back any firstborn male animal that is unclean.

16They must do this when they are one month old. The price for each one will be five shekels of silver. The shekel must have the same weight as the shekel that the Levites use in God's holy place. There are 20 gerahs in one shekel.

17But people cannot buy back the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat. These animals are holy. Splash their blood on the altar and burn the fat from them. The smell of these offerings will please the Lord.

18The meat from these animals will belong to you. That will be the same as the meat from the ribs and the right back leg of the special gifts that you lift up to me. These all belong to you.

19I give you all the special gifts that the Israelites offer to the Lord. They will belong to you, to your sons and to your daughters. That is a rule for all time. This is the Lord's promise to you and to your descendants for all time. It will never change.’

20Then the Lord said to Aaron, ‘When Israel's tribes receive land to be their home, you priests will not have your own land. You will not have a share in the things that they receive. Instead, I myself am the share that belongs to you.

21I give to the Levites all the tithes that the Israelites give to me. These tithes will belong to the Levites because they serve me in the Tent of Meeting. The tithes will pay them for their work.

22The other Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting again. If they do go near it, they will be guilty of a sin. They will die as their punishment.

23Only the Levites must do the work in the Tent of Meeting. And if they do anything wrong there, they will be guilty. This will be a rule for you and for all your descendants. The Levites will not receive their own land among the other Israelite tribes.

24Instead, I give to the Levites the tithes that the Israelites bring to the Lord as their offerings. That is why I have said to the Levites, “You will not receive your own land, as the other Israelites do.” ’

25The Lord said to Moses,

26‘You must tell the Levites, “When you receive the tithes from the Israelites, you must offer one tenth of those tithes as a special gift to the Lord. That will be your tithe from the tithes that I have given to you.

27The Lord will accept this special gift like the tithe that a farmer gives from his grain or his wine.

28That is how you will make a special offering to the Lord from the tithes that you receive from the Israelites. You must give this special offering to Aaron the priest.

29From all the gifts that you receive, you must give the best part to the Lord. That is the part that belongs to the Lord.”

30You must also tell the Levites, “When you give the best parts as an offering to the Lord, he will accept them. It will be as if they came from your own fields and vineyards.

31You Levites and your families may eat the part that remains from the gifts that you receive. You may eat this part anywhere that you choose. It belongs to you because of your work in the Tent of Meeting.

32If you have given the best part to the priests, you will not be guilty when you eat what remains. But remember that these gifts from the people of Israel are holy. You must obey these rules about them. If you eat them in a careless way, your punishment will be death.” ’