⁴ He told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give a contribution^(A) for the priests and Levites so that they could devote their energy to the law of the Lord. ⁵ When the word spread, the Israelites gave liberally of the best of the grain, new wine, fresh oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance, a tenth^(B) of everything. ⁶ As for the Israelites and Judahites who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tenth of the herds and flocks, and a tenth of the dedicated things that were consecrated to the Lord their God.^(C) They gathered them into large piles. ⁷ In the third month they began building up the piles, and they finished in the seventh month. ⁸ When Hezekiah and his officials came and viewed the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. ¹⁰ The chief priest Azariah, of the household of Zadok,^(D) answered him, “Since they began bringing the offering to the Lord’s temple, we have been eating and are satisfied and there is plenty left over because the Lord has blessed his people; this abundance is what is left over.”^(E)

³⁴ We have cast lots^(A) among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our ancestral families^[a] at the appointed times each year. They are to bring the wood to our God’s house to burn on the altar of the Lord our God,^(B) as it is written in the law.

³⁵ We will bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the Lord’s house year by year.^{(C) 36} We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God,^(D) to the priests who serve in our God’s house. ³⁷ We will bring a loaf from our first batch of dough^(E) to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. We will also bring the firstfruits of our grain offerings, of every fruit tree, and of the new wine and fresh oil.^(F) A tenth of our land’s produce belongs to the Levites, for the Levites are to collect the one-tenth offering in all our agricultural towns.^{(G) 38} A priest from Aaron’s descendants is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth,^(H) and the Levites are to take a tenth of this offering to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.^{(I) 39} For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and fresh oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept^(J) and where the priests who minister are, along with the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.^(K)

²⁸ “This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance.^(A) You are to give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering,^(B) and the guilt offering. Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated to the Lord will belong to them.^{(C) 30} The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and contribution of every kind from all your gifts will belong to the priests.^(D) You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest^(E) so that a blessing may rest on your homes.^{(F) 31} The priests may not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.^(G)