12. “And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. These are the things that the Israelites give to me, the Lord. These are the first things that they gather in their harvest.
13. When the people gather a harvest, they bring all the first things to the Lord. So these things I will give to you. And everyone in your family who is clean may eat it.
14. “Anything in Israel that is a special gift to God is yours.
15. “A woman’s first baby and an animal’s first baby must be given to the Lord. That baby will belong to you. If the firstborn animal is unclean, then it must be bought back. If the baby is a child, that child must be bought back.
16. They must make the payment when the baby is one month old. The cost will be 5 shekels of silver. You must use the official measure to weigh this silver. A shekel by the official measure is 20 gerahs.
17. “But you must not make a payment for the firstborn cow, sheep, or goat. These animals are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.
18. But the meat from these animals will be yours. And also the breast that was lifted up to the Lord will be yours. And the right thigh from other offerings will be yours.
19. I, the Lord, give you everything that the people offer as holy gifts. This is your share. I give it to you and your sons and daughters. This law will continue forever. It is an agreement with the Lord that cannot be broken. I make this promise to you and to your descendants.”
20. The Lord also said to Aaron, “You will not get any of the land. And you will not own anything that the other people own. I myself will be yours. The Israelites will get the land that I promised, but I am my gift to you.
21. “The Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they have. So I give that one-tenth to the Levites. This is their payment for the work that they do while they serve at the Meeting Tent.
22. But the other Israelites must never go near that Meeting Tent. If they do, they must be put to death!
23. The Levites will do the work of caring for the Meeting Tent. They must bear the responsibility for anything done against it. This is a law that will continue forever. The Levites will not get any of the land that I promised to the other Israelites.
24. But the Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they have to the Lord, and I will give that one-tenth to the Levites. That is why I said these words about the Levites: They will not get the land that I promised the Israelites.”