1Da sagde Herren til Aron: „Jeg har overdraget tjenesten ved helligdommen til levitterne. Det er deres ansvar, hvis der sker et lovbrud under tjenesten. Men præstetjenesten er overdraget til dig og dine efterkommere, og sker der noget galt der, er det jer, der bliver krævet til ansvar.2Levitterne skal hjælpe jer under præstetjenesten foran teltet med pagtens ark.3Men når de udfører deres arbejde, må de under ingen omstændigheder røre direkte ved nogen af de hellige ting eller ved alteret. Gør de det, skal de dø—og det skal I også.4Levitterne skal tage sig af åbenbaringsteltet og transportere det omkring, men ingen af de andre israelitter må hjælpe til med det arbejde.5Det er jer præster, som skal udføre tjenesten i selve helligdommen og ved alteret, så Israels folk ikke igen skal rammes af min vrede ved ikke at respektere præstetjenesten.6Jeg har udvalgt levitterne til at hjælpe jer under jeres præstetjeneste i åbenbaringsteltet. De er en gave til jer fra Herren.7Men du og dine efterkommere, som er mine præster, skal alene varetage altertjenesten. Det er kun jer, som har tilladelse til at gå ind bag forhænget til helligdommen, for I er mine præster. Enhver anden, der trænger ind i helligdommen, skal dø.”
Præsternes og levitternes underhold
8Herren sagde videre til Aron: „Jeg giver jer præster jeres del af de offergaver, som folket bringer til mig. Denne ordning skal gælde for altid.9I må få de dele af de hellige ofre, som ikke skal brændes på alteret, hvad enten det er afgrødeofre, syndofre eller skyldofre.10I skal spise dem på et helligt sted, men kun mændene må spise dem.11De offergaver, som svinges foran alteret, skal for altid tilhøre jer og jeres familier. Både mænd, kvinder og børn må spise af disse ofre—med undtagelse af dem, der er urene på det tidspunkt.12Det samme gælder for de høstofre, som folket bringer til mig—det første og bedste af deres olivenolie, nylavede vin, korn13og frugter. De ofre må alle jeres familiemedlemmer få del i—med undtagelse af dem, der er urene på det tidspunkt.14Alt hvad der tilhører mig, tilhører også jer.15Alt det førstefødte blandt mennesker og dyr tilhører mig, og skal derfor tilhøre jer. Dog skal israelitterne løskøbe de førstefødte sønner og det førstefødte blandt alle urene dyr.16I stedet for at bringe disse førstefødte sønner og urene dyr som offergaver, skal de en måned efter fødslen løskøbe dem med fem sølvstykker for hver.17Hvad de førstefødte blandt hornkvæget og småkvæget angår, kan de ikke løskøbes, men de skal ofres til mig. Deres blod skal stænkes på alteret, og deres fedt skal brændes som et lifligt offer til mig.18Men kødet skal tilhøre jer—ligesom brystet og det højre lårstykke, der svinges foran alteret, tilhører jer.19Alle de ofre, som folket bringer til mig ved at svinge dem foran alteret, skal tilhøre jer, og I og jeres familier må spise af dem. Dette er en permanent lov, en troskabspagt[1] mellem mig på den ene side og jer og jeres efterkommere på den anden side.”20Herren sagde videre til Aron: „I præster må ikke eje jord eller anden ejendom i landet. Hvad der tilhører mig, tilhører også jer.21Men hvad levitterne angår, skal de modtage betaling for deres arbejde ved åbenbaringsteltet i form af den tiende, Israels folk bringer. De får nemlig heller ikke jord eller ejendom i landet.22Fra nu af skal israelitterne, med undtagelse af præsterne og levitterne, holde sig på afstand af åbenbaringsteltet. Gør de ikke det, skal de dø.23Levitterne skal gøre tjeneste ved åbenbaringsteltet og hjælpe præsterne, men de må ikke få del i landets jord. Det skal være en fast ordning som varer fra slægt til slægt.24I stedet for jord får de den tiende, som israelitterne bringer til mig.”25Herren sagde videre til Moses:26„Sig til levitterne, at en tiendedel af den tiende, de modtager fra israelitterne, skal de give videre til mig.27-30Det bliver deres ‚høstoffer’ og skal i mine øjne regnes på lige fod med de øvrige israelitters høstofre, der betales af det første korn fra tærskepladsen og den første vin, de producerer. Den skal bestå af den bedste del af de tiendegaver, som de modtager fra folket og denne tiende skal de overdrage til Aron som repræsentant for præsterne.31-32Så længe levitterne sørger for at bringe den bedste del af den tiende, de selv modtager, videre til præsterne, må de spise resten, hvor de vil, sammen med deres familier, uden derved at pådrage sig skyld. Det er deres løn for det arbejde, de udfører ved åbenbaringsteltet. Men hvis de overtræder denne lov, skal de dø.”
1So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. (2.Mos 28,38; 4.Mos 18,23)2And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. (1.Mos 29,34; 4.Mos 3,6)3They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. (4.Mos 3,25; 4.Mos 3,31; 4.Mos 3,36; 4.Mos 4,15; 4.Mos 16,40)4They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. (4.Mos 17,13)5And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. (2.Mos 27,21; 2.Mos 30,7; 3.Mos 10,6; 3.Mos 24,3; 4.Mos 3,38)6And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. (4.Mos 3,9; 4.Mos 3,12; 4.Mos 3,45; 4.Mos 8,19)7And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,[1] and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” (4.Mos 1,51; 4.Mos 3,10; Heb 9,3; Heb 9,6)8Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. (2.Mos 29,29; 2.Mos 40,13; 2.Mos 40,15; 3.Mos 7,32; 4.Mos 5,9)9This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. (3.Mos 4,22; 3.Mos 4,27; 3.Mos 6,25; 3.Mos 7,7; 3.Mos 14,13)10In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you.11This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. (2.Mos 29,27; 3.Mos 7,30; 3.Mos 7,34; 3.Mos 10,14; 3.Mos 22,2; 3.Mos 22,11; 5.Mos 18,3)12All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. (2.Mos 23,19; 2.Mos 34,26; 5.Mos 18,4; Neh 10,35)13The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. (2.Mos 22,29; 3.Mos 2,14; 4.Mos 18,11; 5.Mos 26,2)14Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. (3.Mos 27,28)15Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. (2.Mos 13,2; 2.Mos 13,13; 2.Mos 34,20)16And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels[2] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. (2.Mos 30,13; 3.Mos 27,2; 3.Mos 27,6; 4.Mos 3,47)17But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (5.Mos 15,19)18But their flesh shall be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. (2.Mos 29,26; 2.Mos 29,28; 3.Mos 7,31; 3.Mos 7,34)19All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” (3.Mos 2,13; 4.Mos 18,11; 2.Krøn 13,5)20And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. (4.Mos 18,23; 5.Mos 10,9; 5.Mos 12,12; 5.Mos 14,27; 5.Mos 18,1; Josva 13,33; Josva 14,3; Josva 18,7; Ez 44,28)21“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, (1.Mos 14,20; 1.Mos 28,22; 3.Mos 27,30; 3.Mos 27,32; 4.Mos 18,24; 4.Mos 18,26; 5.Mos 14,22; Neh 10,37; Neh 12,44; Heb 7,5; Heb 7,8)22so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. (3.Mos 22,9; 4.Mos 1,51)23But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. (4.Mos 3,7; 4.Mos 18,1)24For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.” (4.Mos 18,19; 4.Mos 18,20; 4.Mos 18,26; 4.Mos 18,29)25And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,26“Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. (Neh 10,38)27And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. (4.Mos 18,30)28So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord’s contribution to Aaron the priest.29Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’30Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. (4.Mos 18,27)31And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. (Matt 10,10; Luk 10,7; 1.Kor 9,4; 1.Tim 5,17)32And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’” (3.Mos 19,8; 3.Mos 22,2; 3.Mos 22,15; 3.Mos 22,16)