Numbers 18:18-32

Contemporary English Version

¹⁸ You are allowed to eat the meat of those animals, just as you can eat the choice ribs and the right hind leg of the special sacrifices.

¹⁹ From now on, the sacred offerings that the Israelites give to me will belong to you, your sons, and your daughters. This is my promise to you and your descendants, and it will never change.

²⁰ You will not receive any land in Israel as your own. I am the Lord, and I will give you whatever you need.

What the Levites Receive

The Lord said to Aaron:

^21 (A) Ten percent of the Israelites' crops and one out of every ten of their newborn animals belong to me. But I am giving all this to the Levites as their pay for the work they do at the sacred tent. ^22-23 They are the only ones allowed to work at the tent, and they must not let anyone else come near it. Those who do come near must be put to death, and the Levites will also be punished. This law will never change.

Since the Levites won't be given any land in Israel as their own, ²⁴ they will be given the crops and newborn animals that the Israelites offer to me.

What the Levites Must Give

²⁵ The Lord told Moses ²⁶ to say to the Levites:

When you receive from the people of Israel ten percent of their crops and newborn animals, you must offer a tenth of that to me. ²⁷ Just as the Israelites give me part of their grain and wine, you must set aside part of what you receive ²⁸ as an offering to me. That amount must then be given to Aaron, ²⁹ so the best of what you receive will be mine.

³⁰ After you have dedicated the best parts to me, you can eat the rest, just as the Israelites eat part of their grain and wine after offering them to me.^{[a] 31} Your share may be eaten anywhere by anyone in your family, because it is your pay for working at the sacred tent. ³² You won't be punished for eating it, as long as you have already offered the best parts to me.

The gifts and sacrifices brought by the people must remain sacred, and if you eat any part of them before they are offered to me, you will be put to death.