Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



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.


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.

You shall rejoice before him -- you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you -- in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name.

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.