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of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give unto Jehovah, to thee have I given them. The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. Every firstling, which they offer unto Jehovah, both of man and beast, shall be thine; but the first-born of man, and the firstling of unclean beasts, shalt thou redeem. Thou shalt have no inheritance nor portion among the children of Israel. I am thy portion and thine inheritance.

I have taken

Levites. Separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, that the Levites may be Mine. And the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle. the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as Nethinim (given) to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle.

And unto the children of Levi I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance; the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto Jehovah. But a tithe of the tithe shall the Levites give unto the priests, the sons of Aaron. The Levites shall have no inheritance among the children of Israel.

This is the function of the Levites from twenty-five (by another rite, thirty) years old and upwards they shall go in to perform the labor of the tabernacle; and from the age of fifty years they shall cease to perform that la

LEVITICAL CITIES.

171

bor, but shall minister with their brethren to keep the charge, and shall do no labor.

Levitical Cities.-Give unto the Levites cities to dwell in, and pasture lands about them for their cattle; namely, the six cities of refuge, and beside them forty-two cities; forty-eight cities in all.

CHAPTER X.

LEVITICUS, xii., xviii., xix. NUMBERS, xxvii., xxxvi.

LEVITICAL CODES-VII.

FAMILY LAWS.

Marriage Laws-Forbidden Degrees-Breaches of Chastity-Circumcision Of Children-Of Trees-Law of Inheritance-Sons -Daughters-Brethren-Kinsfolk-Tribal Rights-Marriage of

Female Heirs.

Marriage Laws.-None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to cohabit; thy mother, thy step-mother, thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, born at home, or born abroad, thy son's daughter, thy daughter's daughter, thy father's wife's daughter, thy father's sister, thy mother's sister, thy father's brother's wife, thy daughter-in-law, thy brother's wife. Thou shalt not take a woman and her daughter, or her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter. Thou shalt not take a woman and her sister during her life. Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbor's wife.

Thou shalt not lie with a man.

Thou shalt not lie with any beast.

Whosoever lieth with a woman that is a bondmaid, her master's concubine, they shall be punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

Circumcision. If a woman bear a male child, in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

INHERITANCE.

173

When ye plant any sort of trees for food, ye shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision; three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you, the fruit shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy unto Jehovah. And in the fifth year ye may eat of the fruit thereof.

Inheritance.-If a man die and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethAnd if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto him that is next to him of his family.

ren.

No inheritance shall remove from one tribe to another tribe; but the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave each to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall marry one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess each the inheritance of his fathers.

CHAPTER XI.

LEVITICUS, xix., xxiii., xxv. NUMBERS, xv.

LEVITICAL CODES-VIII.

Poor

MISCELLANEOUS LAWS.

Hebrews-Relief Ordered-Usury Forbidden-Gleanings
Must be Left-Mixtures Forbidden-Tassels Ordered.

The Poor. If thy brother wax poor, thou shalt relieve him; as a guest and a sojourner shall he live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor give him thy victuals for increase.

When ye reap the harvest of your land, ye shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest; thou shalt leave them for the poor, and for the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.

Mixture.-Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed. Thou shalt not wear a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together.

Tassels.-Bid the children of Israel that they make tassels on the corners of their garments, and that they put upon each tassel a cord of blue; that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them, and be holy unto your God.

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