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The service and means of supporting the Levites. Numbers 18:1. And the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you will bear the sin of your negligence in the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you will bear the sin of your priesthood. Numbers 18:2. Take also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the descendants of your father: let them be with you and serve you, and you and your sons will be with you at the tabernacle of testimony; Numbers 18:3. let them serve you and serve throughout the entire tabernacle; only so that they do not approach the things of the sanctuary and the altar, lest both they and you die. Numbers 18:4. Let them be with you and perform the service in the tabernacle of meeting, all the work of the tabernacle; and no stranger should approach you. Numbers 18:5. So perform the service in the sanctuary and at the altar, so that there will be no more wrath against the children of Israel; Numbers 18:6. For I took your brothers the Levites from the children of Israel and gave them to you as a gift to the Lord, to serve in the tabernacle of meeting; Numbers 18:7. and you and your sons with you, oversee your priesthood in everything that belongs to the altar and that is within the veil, and serve; I give you the gift of the priesthood, and any stranger who approaches will be put to death. The priests and Levites were required to be reverent and careful in the performance of their duties. Neither the ordinary Israelite had the right to intrude into the area of ​​the Levite's ministry, nor the ordinary Levite into the area of ​​the priest's ministry, under pain of death. Numbers 18:8. And the Lord said to Aaron: Behold, I charge you to oversee the offerings to Me; of all that was consecrated by the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons, for the sake of your priesthood, as an everlasting statute; Numbers 18:9. This is what is yours from the great holy things that are burned: every grain offering they make, and every sin offering they make, and every trespass offering they bring to Me. this is a great shrine to you and your sons. Numbers 18:10. Eat this in the most holy place; all males may eat, [you and your sons]; Let this be a shrine for you. Numbers 18:11. And this is what you have of their heave gifts: all the heave offerings of the children of Israel have I given to you, and to your sons and your daughters with you, for an everlasting statute; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it. Numbers 18:12. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the grapes and bread, the first fruits thereof, which they give to the Lord, I have given to you; Numbers 18:13. all the first produce of their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it. This refers to the portions of the sacrifices prescribed by the law, the offerings of firstfruits, and the gifts in the tabernacle that go to the priests. The offerings of firstfruits, the reverent offerings in the tabernacle, the chest and shoulder of the peace offerings could be eaten by all (pure) members of the priestly family, including slaves; the rest, as “the great shrine,” was eaten only by men of the priestly family. Numbers 18:14. Everything that is cursed in the land of Israel shall be yours. The forsaken could not become anyone's private property; it became the property of the tabernacle (Lev.27.26). The sworn Hivites were made woodcutters and water-carriers “at the altar of the Lord” (Joshua 9.27). Numbers 18:15. Everything that opens the lie of all flesh that is offered to the Lord, both human and livestock, shall be yours; only the firstborn of men must be redeemed, and the firstborn of unclean cattle must be redeemed; Numbers 18:16. and the ransom for them: starting from one month, according to your estimate, take the ransom of five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gers; Numbers 18:17. But for the firstlings of oxen, and for the firstlings of sheep, and for the firstlings of goats, thou shalt not take ransom: they are holy; sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as a sacrifice for a pleasing aroma to the Lord; Numbers 18:18. their flesh belongs to you, just as the breast of the heave-hoist and the right shoulder belong to you. Wed. Ex 13.2, 12–16, 34.20. The firstborn from clean cattle was accepted in kind. The firstborn from people was replaced by a ransom. The firstborn of unclean animals was either redeemed, or replaced with a clean animal, or sold, with the proceeds being returned to the tabernacle (Lev.27.27). Numbers 18:19. All the holy things that are lifted up, which the children of Israel offer up to the Lord, I give to you and to your sons and your daughters with you, as an everlasting statute; This is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord, made for you and your descendants with you. The “Covenant of Salt” is a covenant of constant communication. Numbers 18:20. And the Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, and you will have no portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel; The tribe of Levi did not receive the land allotment that became the property of the other tribes. The material well-being of the priests and the Levite is placed in the closest connection with the intensity of the religious mood of the Jewish people. Therefore, along with moral ones, the priests and Levites also had material incentives to take care of maintaining the religious life of Israel at the level required by law. Numbers 18:21. And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given tithes for an inheritance of all that Israel has for their service, because they minister in the tabernacle of meeting; Along with parts of the sacrifices and offerings, a tenth of everything that members of other tribes received from their land plots went to the sons of Levi. Taking into account the fact that under the theocratic regime in the Jewish community, church duties were at the same time state duties, we will find that the above-mentioned set of material obligations of Israel for the needs of its church and state organization cannot be called unbearable. Numbers 18:26. declare to the Levites and say to them: When you take from the children of Israel the tithe that I gave you from them as an inheritance, then you shall offer an offering of it to the Lord, tithe of tithe, - Numbers 18:27. and this offering of yours will be counted to you as bread from the threshing floor and as taken from the winepress; Numbers 18:28. So you also will present an offering to the Lord of all your tithes that you take from the children of Israel, and you will give of them the offering of the Lord to Aaron the priest. Numbers 18:29. From all that is given to you, offer an offering to the Lord, from all the best that is sanctified. Numbers 18:30. And tell them: When you bring the best of this, it will be credited to the Levites as that which is received from the threshing floor and that which is received from the winepress; Numbers 18:31. You may eat this in every place, you and [your sons and] your families, for this is your wages for your labors in the tabernacle of meeting; Numbers 18:32. and you will not bear sin for it when you bring the best of this; and what is dedicated by the children of Israel you shall not defile, and you shall not die. Of the general Levitical tithe, a tenth (tithe) is allocated for the benefit of the priests as an offering on the part of the Levites. You might be interested in: