CHAPTER 18
1 And the Lord said to Aaron, Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, shall bear the wickedness of the saintuary; and thou and thy sons together shall suffer the sins of your priesthood.
2 But also take thou with thee thy brethren of the lineage of Levi, and the sceptre, or power, of thy father, and be they ready, that they minister to thee. Forsooth thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of witnessing;
3 and the deacons [or Levites] shall wake at thy commandments, and at all the works of the tabernacle; so only that they nigh not to the vessels of the saintuary, and to the altar, lest both they die, and ye, and perish together.
4 Soothly be they with thee, and wake they in the keepings of the tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof. An alien shall not be meddled [or mingled] with you.
5 Wake ye or Watch in the keeping of the saintuary, and in the service of the altar, lest indignation rise upon the sons of Israel.
6 Lo! I have given to you your brethren, the deacons [or Levites], from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I have given you them a free gift of the Lord, that they serve in the services of the tabernacle.
7 Soothly thou and thy sons, keep your priesthood; and all things that pertain to the adorning of the altar, and be within the veil, shall be ministered by [the] priests; if any stranger nigheth thereto, he shall be slain.
8 The Lord spake to Aaron, Lo! I have given to thee the keeping of my first fruits; I have given to thee, and to thy sons, all things that be hallowed of the sons of Israel, for [the] priest’s office everlasting lawful things.
9 Therefore thou shalt take these things of those things that be hallowed, and be offered to the Lord; each offering, and sacrifice, and whatever thing is yielded to me for sin and for trespass, and cometh into holy of holy things, shall be thine and thy sons.
10 Thou shalt eat it in the saintuary; males only shall eat thereof, for it is hallowed to the Lord.
11 Soothly I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, the first fruits which the sons of Israel avow and offer; he that is clean in thine house, shall eat those things.
12 I have given to thee all the mar-row, or the best, of oil, and of wine, and of wheat, whatever thing of the first fruits they shall offer to the Lord.
13 All the beginnings of fruits which the earth bringeth forth, and be brought to the Lord, shall fall into thine uses; he that is clean in thine house, shall eat of those [or them].
14 All things that the sons of Israel yield by a vow, shall be thine.
15 Whatever thing cometh first forth of the womb of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it is of men, either of beasts, it shall be of thy right; so only that thou take price for the first begotten child of man, and that thou make each beast that is unclean to be bought again;
16 whose again-buying shall be after one month, for five shekels of silver, by the weight of [the] saintuary; a shekel hath twenty halfpence.
17 Forsooth thou shalt not make the first engendered of an ox, and of sheep, and of goat, to be again-bought, for those [or they] be hallowed to the Lord; only thou shalt pour the blood of those [or them] upon the altar, and thou shalt burn the inner fatness into sweetest odour to the Lord.
18 Soothly the flesh shall fall into thine use, as the breast hallowed and the right shoulder, shall be thine.
19 I have given to thee, and to thy sons and thy daughters, by everlasting right, all the first fruits of the saintuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord; it is everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, to thee, and to thy sons.
20 And the Lord said to Aaron, Ye shall not wield anything of heritage in the land of Israel, neither ye shall have part among them; I am thy part and thine heritage, in the midst of the sons of Israel.
21 Soothly, I gave to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel into possession, for the service by which they serve me in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace;
22 that the sons of Israel nigh no more to the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, neither do deadly sin.
23 To the sons alone of Levi, serving me in the tabernacle, and bearing the people’s sins, it shall be a lawful thing everlasting in your generations.
24 They shall wield none other thing, and they shall be satisfied with the offering of tithes, which I separated into [the] uses and necessaries of them.
25 And the Lord spake to Moses and said,
26 Command thou, and announce to the deacons [or Levites], When ye have taken tithes of the sons of Israel, which I gave to you, offer ye the first fruits of those [or them] to the Lord, that is, the tenth part of the tenth,
27 that it be areckoned to you into [the] offering of the first fruits, as well of the cornfloors, as of the presses;
28 and of all things of which ye take tithes, offer ye the first fruits to the Lord, and give ye those to Aaron, the priest.
29 All things which ye shall offer of tithes, and shall separate into the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best, and all the choice things.
30 And thou shalt say to them, If ye offer to the Lord all the [more] clean and better things of tithes, it shall be areckoned to you, as if ye gave the first fruits of the cornfloor, and of the press.
31 And ye shall eat those tithes in all your places, as well ye as your meines, for it is the price for the service, for which ye serve in the tabernacle of witnessing.
32 And ye shall not do sin on this thing, and reserve [the] noble things and [the] fat to you, lest ye defoul the offerings of the sons of Israel, and ye die.