Numbers 18

¹And the Lord seide to Aaron, Thou, and thi sones, and the hows of thi fadir with thee, schulen bere the wickidnesse of the seyntuarie; and thou and thi sones togidere schulen suffre the synnes of youre preesthod.

²But also take thou with thee thi britheren of the lynage of Leuy, and the power of thi fadir, and be thei redi, that thei mynystre to thee. Forsothe thou and thi sones schulen mynystre in the tabernacle of witnessyng;

³and the dekenes schulen wake at thi comaundementis, and at alle werkis of the tabernacle; so oneli that thei neiye not to the vessels of seyntuarie, and to the autir, lest bothe thei dien, and ye perischen togidere.

⁴Forsothe be thei with thee, and wake thei in the kepyngis of the tabernacle, and in alle the cerymonyes therof. An alien schal not be meddlid with you.

⁵Wake ye in the kepyng of the seyntuarie, and in the seruyce of the auter, lest indignacioun rise on the sones of Israel.

⁶Lo! Y haue youun `to you youre britheren, dekenes, fro the myddis of the sones of Israel, and Y haue youe a fre yifte to the Lord, that thei serue in the seruyces of his tabernacle.

⁷Forsothe thou and thi sones, kepe youre preesthod; and alle thingis that perteynen to the ournyng of the auter, and ben with ynne the veil, schulen be mynystrid bi preestis; if ony straunger neiyeth, he schal be slayn.

⁸The Lord spak to Aaron, Lo! Y haue youe to thee the kepyng of my firste fruytis; Y haue youe to thee and to thi sones alle thingis, that ben halewid of the sones of Israel , for preestis office euerlastynge lawful thingis.

⁹Therfor thou schalt take these thingis of tho thingis that ben halewid, and ben offrid to the Lord; ech offryng, and sacrifice, and what euer thing is yoldun to me for synne and for trespas, and cometh in to hooli of hooli thingis, schal be thin and thi sones.

¹⁰Thou schalt ete it in the seyntuarie; malis oneli schulen ete therof, for it is halewid to the Lord.

¹¹Forsothe Y haue youe to thee, and to thi sones and douytris, bi euerlastynge riyt, the firste fruytis whiche the sones of Israel a vowen and offren; he that is clene in thin hous, schal ete tho.

¹²Y yaf to thee al the merowe of oile, and of wyn, and of wheete, what euer thing of the firste fruytis thei schulen offre to the Lord.

¹³Alle the bigynnyngis of fruytis whiche the erthe bryngith forth, and ben brouyt to the Lord, schulen falle in to thin vsis; he that is cleene in thin hous, schal ete of tho.

¹⁴Al thing which the sones of Israel yelden bi avow, schal be thin.

¹⁵What euer thing `schal breke out first of the wombe of al fleisch, which fleisch thei offren to the Lord, whether it is of men, ethir of beestis, it schal be of thi riyt; so oneli that thou take prijs for the firste gendrid child of man, and that thou make ech beeste which is vncleene to be bouyt ayen;

¹⁶whos ayenbiyng schal be aftir o monethe, for fyue siclis of siluer, bi the weiyte of seyntuarie; a sicle hath xx. halpens.

¹⁷Forsothe thou schalt not make the firste gendrid of oxe, and of scheep, and of goet, to be ayen bouyt, for tho ben halewid to the Lord; oneli thou schalt schede the blood of tho on the auter, and thou schalt brenne the ynnere fatnesse in to swettist odour to the Lord.

¹⁸Forsothe the fleischis schulen falle in to thin vss, as the brest halewid and the riyt schuldur, schulen be thine.

¹⁹Y yaf to the and to thi sones and douytris, bi euerlastynge riyt, alle the firste fruytis of seyntuarie, whiche the sones of Israel offren to the Lord; it is euerlastynge couenant of salt bifor the Lord, to thee, and to thi sones.

²⁰And the Lord seide to Aaron, Ye schulen not welde ony thing in the lond of hem, nether ye schulen haue part among hem; Y am thi part and erytage, in the myddis of the sones of Israel.

²¹Forsothe Y yaf to the sones of Leuy alle the tithis of Israel in to possessioun, for the seruyce bi whyche thei seruen me in the tabernacle of boond of pees;

²²that the sones of Israel neiye no more to the `tabernacle of boond of pees, nether do dedli synne.

²³To the sones aloone of Leuy, seruynge me in the tabernacle, and berynge the `synnes of the puple, it schal be a lawful thing euerlastynge in youre generaciouns .

²⁴Thei schulen welde noon other thing, and thei schulen be apeied with the offryng of tithis, whiche Y departide in to vsis and necessaries of hem.

²⁵And the Lord spak to Moises and seide,

²⁶Comaunde thou, and denounse to the dekenes, Whanne ye han take tithis of the sones of Israel, whiche Y yaf to you, offre ye the firste fruytis of tho to the Lord, that is, the tenthe part of the dyme,

²⁷that it be arettid to you in to offryng of the firste fruytis, as wel of corn flooris as of pressis;

²⁸and of alle thingis of whiche ye taken tithis, offre ye the firste fruytis to the Lord, and yyue ye to Aaron, preest.

²⁹Alle thingis whiche ye schulen offre of tithis, and schulen departe in to the yiftis of the Lord, schulen be the beste, and alle chosun thingis.

³⁰And thou schalt seye to hem, If ye offren to the Lord alle the clere and betere thingis of tithis, it schal be arettid to you, as if ye yauen the firste fruitis of the corn floor and presse.

³¹And ye schulen ete tho tithis in alle youre placis, as wel ye as youre meynees, for it is the prijs for the seruyce, in whiche ye seruen in the tabernacle of witnessyng.

³²And ye schulen not do synne on this thing, `and resserue noble thingis and fat to you, lest ye defoulen the offryngis of the sones of Israel , and ye dien.

Numbers 18

¹And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

²And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

³And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

⁴And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

⁵And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

⁶And I, behold, I have taken your brethren 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.

⁷Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

⁸And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

⁹This shall be thine 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 unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

¹⁰In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.

¹¹And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with 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, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

¹²All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee.

¹³And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

¹⁴Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

¹⁵Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.

¹⁶And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

¹⁷But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

¹⁸And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

¹⁹All 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, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

²⁰And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹And, 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.

²²Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

²³But 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.

²⁴But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

²⁵And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.

²⁷And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.

²⁸Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord’s heave offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.

³⁰Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

³¹And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

³²And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.