^3 (A)For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan, ^(B)but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. ⁴ For ^(C)the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and their substance.

²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. ^(A)I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

^21 (B)“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, ^22 (C)so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, ^(D)lest they bear sin and die. ²³ But ^(E)the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, ^(F)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. ²⁴ For the tithe of the people of Israel, which ^(G)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 ^(H)among the people of Israel.”

²⁵ And 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, ^(I)a tithe of the tithe. ^27 (J)And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸ So 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. ²⁹ Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ ³⁰ Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, ^(K)then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the wine press. ³¹ And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is ^(L)your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² And you shall ^(M)bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not ^(N)profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”