20 Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have ano inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; bI am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
Tithes for Support of the Levites
21 “Behold, aI have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as1 an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, bthe work of the tabernacle of meeting.
22aHereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, blest they bear sin and die.
23 But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; itshallbe a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”
Israelites gave tithes to the Levites to perform the work of the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Because they were involved in God's work and had no significant land of their own, the Levites had to be supported by the rest of the congregation of Israel.
