14. Everything in Israel that has been completely dedicated to me will now belong to you.
15. The firstborn son in every Israelite family, as well as the firstborn males of their flocks and herds, belong to me. But a firstborn son and every firstborn donkey must be bought back from me.
16. The price for a firstborn son who is at least one month old will be five pieces of silver, weighed according to the official standards.
17. However, all firstborn cattle, sheep, and goats belong to me and cannot be bought back. Splatter their blood on the altar and send their fat up in smoke, so I can smell it and be pleased.
18. You are allowed to eat the meat of those animals, just as you can eat the choice ribs and the right hind leg of the special sacrifices.
19. From now on, the sacred offerings that the Israelites give to me will belong to you, your sons, and your daughters. This is my promise to you and your descendants, and it will never change.
20. You will not receive any land in Israel as your own. I am the Lord, and I will give you whatever you need.
21. Ten per cent of the Israelites' crops and one out of every ten of their newborn animals belong to me. But I am giving all this to the Levites as their pay for the work they do at the sacred tent.
22-23. They are the only ones allowed to work at the tent, and they must not let anyone else come near it. Those who do must be put to death, and the Levites will also be punished. This law will never change.Since the Levites won't be given any land in Israel as their own,
24. they will be given the crops and newborn animals that the Israelites offer to me.
25. The Lord told Moses
26. to say to the Levites:When you receive from the people of Israel ten per cent of their crops and newborn animals, you must offer a tenth of that to me.