Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



and the priest is to wave them -- the two lambs -- along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.

"All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently.


Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him.

You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you).

Only in the presence of the Lord your God may you eat these, in the place he chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the Lord your God in all the output of your labor. Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land.

As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you. At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up in your villages. Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.

The Levitical priests -- indeed, the entire tribe of Levi -- will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. read more.
You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the Lord chooses and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family's inheritance.

However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance to the Levites; their inheritance is the sacrificial offerings made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed them.

Now Moses had assigned land to the two-and-a-half tribes east of the Jordan, but he assigned no land to the Levites.

But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land east of the Jordan which Moses the Lord's servant assigned them."

These were the areas where Aaron's descendants lived: The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment: They were allotted Hebron in the territory of Judah, as well as its surrounding pasturelands. (But the city's land and nearby towns were allotted to Caleb son of Jephunneh.) read more.
The descendants of Aaron were also allotted as cities of refuge Hebron, Libnah and its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, Hilez and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, Ashan and its pasturelands, and Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Benjamin they were allotted Geba and its pasturelands, Alemeth and its pasturelands, and Anathoth and its pasturelands. Their clans were allotted thirteen cities in all. The rest of Kohath's descendants were allotted ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh. The clans of Gershom's descendants received thirteen cities within the territory of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (in Bashan). The clans of Merari's descendants were allotted twelve cities within the territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands. They allotted these previously named cities from the territory of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The clans of Kohath's descendants also received territory within the tribe of Ephraim. They were allotted as cities of refuge Shechem and its pasturelands (in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer and its pasturelands, Jokmeam and its pasturelands, Beth Horon and its pasturelands, Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, the rest of Kohath's descendants received Aner and its pasturelands and Bileam and its pasturelands. The following belonged to Gershom's descendants: Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, Ramoth and its pasturelands, and Anem and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Asher: Mashal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, Hukok and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands. The following belonged to the rest of Merari's descendants: Within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and its pasturelands, and Tabor and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Reuben across the Jordan River east of Jericho: Bezer in the desert and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands, Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands. Within the territory of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands, Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands.

David said to the whole Israelite assembly, "If you so desire and the Lord our God approves, let's spread the word to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites in their cities, so they may join us.

They traveled throughout Judah and assembled the Levites from all the cities of Judah, as well as the Israelite family leaders. They came to Jerusalem,

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them -- to the shepherds: 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! read more.
You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast.


The Levitical priests -- indeed, the entire tribe of Levi -- will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. read more.
You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the Lord chooses and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family's inheritance.

However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance to the Levites; their inheritance is the sacrificial offerings made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed them.

On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering.

But I have given to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance."

"You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe. And your raised offering will be credited to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine from the winepress. Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord's raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. read more.
From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.' "Therefore you will say to them, 'When you offer up the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress. And you may eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.'"

You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you. When you finish tithing all your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. Then you shall say before the Lord your God, "I have removed the sacred offering from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten your commandments.

A priest of Aaron's line will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God."

So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. They also set aside the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.


and the priest is to wave them -- the two lambs -- along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.

"All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently.

We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God.

It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord."

But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours.


and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering to the priest from your peace offering sacrifices. The one from Aaron's sons who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his share, read more.
for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.'"

Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it. "'As for the priest who presents someone's burnt offering, the hide of that burnt offering which he presented belongs to him. read more.
Every grain offering which is baked in the oven or made in the pan or on the griddle belongs to the priest who presented it. Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, each one alike.

And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head;

The Lord spoke to Aaron, "See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. Of all the most holy offerings reserved from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you. read more.
"And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.