And you may eat it in any place, you and your households: A new sentence should begin here, not only due to length, but also because of the new instructions for the Levites in this verse (so Good News Translation). The Hebrew pronouns for you and your are plural, referring to the Levites. The pronoun it can only refer to the rest of the food tithed by the Israelites, which the Levites are allowed to keep for themselves. Your households, which is literally “your [plural] house,” may be rendered “your families” (see 1.2).

For it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting: The Hebrew particle ki rendered for introduces the reason why the Levites may eat the remaining food tithed by the Israelites. It is because of their service at the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for reward (sakar) often refers to “wages,” so New Revised Standard Version says “payment,” and New Living Translation has “compensation.” For in return for your service in the tent of meeting, see verses 6 and 21. This phrase may be rendered simply “for your work at the Tent of Meeting” (New International Readers Version).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .