Book 13 opens: the Levites give a tithe of the tithe
ON ADORATION AND WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH — BOOK THIRTEEN. Further on the priesthood.
Cyril: So much, then, for now, on the priests and on Aaron. But I think I ought to add to what I have said the points that seem to have been left out, namely the laws laid down for the Levites. For in this way the discussion would be complete.
Palladius: Go on, then, and explain it clearly; you are right to think so.
Cyril: Giving the sacred services the best order, he places the Levitical order under the high priest, and says this in Numbers: ‘And you shall speak to the Levites and say to them: If you receive from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them as your portion, you in turn shall set apart from it an offering to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe; and your offerings shall be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor and as an offering from the winepress. So you also shall set them apart out of all the offerings of the Lord, out of all your tithes, whatever you receive from the sons of Israel; and from them you shall give an offering to the Lord, to Aaron the priest. From all your gifts you shall set apart an offering to the Lord, or from all the firstfruits the consecrated part of it. And you shall say to them: When you set apart the firstfruits from it, it shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce from the threshing floor and as produce from the winepress; and you shall eat it in every place, you and your sons and your households, because this is your wage in return for your services in the tent of witness. And you shall not incur sin because of it, when you set apart the firstfruits from it; and you shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, so that you may not… (Numbers 18:26–32)
Greek
ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΠΡΟΣΚΥΝΗΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΤΡΕΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΡΙΣΚΑΙΔΕΚΑΤΟΣ Ἔτι περὶ ἱερωσύνης. Ἱερέων μὲν δὴ πέρι καὶ Ἀαρὼν, ταυτὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν εἰρήσθω τέως. Χρῆναι δὲ οἶμαι προσενεγκεῖν οἷς ἔφην τὰ ἐκλελοιπέναι δοκοῦντα ἐπί γε τοῖς Λευΐταις τεθεσπισμένα. Ὧδε γὰρ ἔχοιτο ἀποχρῶν ὁ λόγος.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐκοῦν ἴθι τοι, φράζε τε σαφῶς· διανοῇ γὰρ ὀρθῶς.
{ΚΥΡ.} Τάξιν μὲν δὴ ταῖς ἱερουργίαις τὴν ἀρίστην ἐπιτιθεὶς, ὑποκαθίστησι τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ τὸ τάγμα τὸ Λευϊτικὸν, ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς οὕτω λέγων· «Καὶ τοῖς Λευΐταις λαλήσεις, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐὰν λάβητε παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ τὸ ἐπιδέκατον, ὃ δέδωκα ὑμῖν παρ' αὐτῶν ἐν κλήρῳ, καὶ ἀφελεῖτε ὑμεῖς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἀφαίρεμα Κυρίῳ, ἐπιδέκατον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπιδεκάτου, καὶ λογισθήσεται ὑμῖν τὰ ἀφαιρέματα ὑμῶν ὡς σῖτος ἀπὸ ἅλω, καὶ ἀφαίρεμα ἀπὸ ληνοῦ. Οὕτως ἀφελεῖτε αὐτοὺς καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἀφαιρεμάτων Κυρίου ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐπιδεκάτων ὑμῶν, ὅσα ἐὰν λάβητε παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· καὶ δώσετε ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἀφαίρεμα Κυρίῳ, Ἀαρὼν τῷ ἱερεῖ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν δομάτων ὑμῶν ἀφελεῖτε ἀφαίρεμα Κυρίῳ, ἢ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἀπαρχῶν τὸ ἡγιασμένον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὅταν ἀφαιρῆτε τὴν ἀπαρχὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ λογισθήσεται τοῖς Λευΐταις ὡς γέννημα ἀπὸ ἅλω, καὶ ὡς γέννημα ἀπὸ ληνοῦ· καὶ ἔδεσθε αὐτὸ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ, ὑμεῖς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν, καὶ οἱ οἶκοι ὑμῶν, ὅτι μισθὸς οὗτος ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἀντὶ τῶν λειτουργιῶν ὑμῶν τῶν ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου· καὶ οὐ λήψεσθε δι' αὐτὸ ἁμαρτίαν, ὅτι ἂν ἀφαιρῆτε τὴν ἀπαρχὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ τὰ ἅγια τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ οὐ βεβηλώσετε, ἵνα μὴ