Bible

Numbers

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai. This happened on the first day of the second month during the second year after the people of Israel had come out from the land of Egypt. Yahweh said,²"Conduct a census of the whole congregation of the men of Israel by their clans, by their ancestral households. Number them by name. Count all the males man by man,³who is twenty years old or older. Count all who can fight as soldiers for Israel. You and Aaron must record the number of men in their armed groups.

⁴A man from each tribe, a clan head, must serve with you as his tribe's leader. Each leader must lead the men who will fight for his ancestors' household.⁵These are the names of the leaders who must fight with you:

From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

⁶from the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

⁷from the tribe of Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

⁸from the tribe of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

⁹from the tribe of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

¹⁰from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from the tribe of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

¹¹from the tribe of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

¹²from the tribe of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

¹³from the tribe of Asher, Pagiel son of Okran;

¹⁴from the tribe of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

¹⁵and from the tribe of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan."

¹⁶These were the men appointed from the people. They led their ancestors' tribes. They were the leaders of the clans in Israel.

¹⁷Moses and Aaron took these men, who were recorded by name,¹⁸and they assembled the whole community together on the first day of the second month. The men twenty years old and older registered their ancestry by name, by their clans, by their ancestral households. They were numbered man by man.¹⁹Then Moses recorded their numbers in the wilderness of Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

²⁰From the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted man by man.²¹They counted 46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben.

²²From the descendants of Simeon, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the mustered men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted man by man.²³They counted 59,300 men from the tribe of Simeon.

²⁴From the descendants of Gad, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.²⁵They counted 45,650 men from the tribe of Gad.

²⁶From the descendants of Judah, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.²⁷They counted 74,600 men from the tribe of Judah.

²⁸From the descendants of Issachar, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.²⁹They counted 54,400 men from the tribe of Issachar.

³⁰From the descendants of Zebulun, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.³¹They counted 57,400 men from the tribe of Zebulun.

³²From the descendants of Ephraim son of Joseph, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.³³They counted 40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim.

³⁴From the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.³⁵They counted 32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh.

³⁶From the descendants of Benjamin, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.³⁷They counted 35,400 men from the tribe of Benjamin.

³⁸From the descendants of Dan, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.³⁹They counted 62,700 from the tribe of Dan.

⁴⁰From the descendants of Asher, from the records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.⁴¹They counted 41,500 men from the tribe of Asher.

⁴²From the descendants of Naphtali, from the genealogical records, by their clans, by their ancestral households, the names of all the men twenty years old or older, able to go to war, were counted.⁴³They counted 53,400 from the tribe of Naphtali.

⁴⁴Moses and Aaron counted all these men, together with the twelve men who were leading Israel, each from his ancestor's household.⁴⁵So all the men of Israel from twenty years old and older, all who could fight in war, were counted in each of their ancestral households.⁴⁶They counted 603,550 men.

⁴⁷But the Levites were not counted according to their ancestors' tribes⁴⁸because Yahweh had said to Moses,⁴⁹"You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the total of the people of Israel.

⁵⁰Rather, assign the Levites to care for the tabernacle of the covenant decrees, and to care for all the furnishings in the tabernacle and for everything in it. The Levites must carry the tabernacle, and they must carry the tabernacle's furnishings. They must care for the tabernacle and make their camp around it.

⁵¹When the tabernacle is to move to another place, the Levites must take it down. When the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites must set it up. Any stranger who comes near the tabernacle must be killed.⁵²When the people of Israel set up their tents, each man must do so near the banner that belongs to his armed group.

⁵³However, the Levites must set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant decrees so that my anger does not come upon the people of Israel. The Levites must perform the duties of the tabernacle of the covenant decrees."⁵⁴The people of Israel did all these things. They did everything that Yahweh commanded through Moses.

¹Yahweh spoke again to Moses and Aaron. He said,²"Each one of the people of Israel must camp around his standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They will camp around the tent of meeting on every side.

³Those will be camping on the east of the tent of meeting, where the sun rises, they are the camp of Judah by their armed groups, and they are camping under their standard. Nahshon son of Amminadab is the leader of the people of Judah.⁴The number of the host of the people of Judah is 74,600.

⁵The tribe of Issachar must camp next to Judah. Nethanel son of Zuar must lead the army of Issachar.⁶The number of the host of the people of Issachar is 54,400 men.

⁷The tribe of Zebulun must camp next to Issachar. Eliab son of Helon must lead the army of Zebulun.⁸The number of the host of the people of Zebulun is 57,400.

⁹All the number of the camp of Judah is 186,400. They will set out first.

¹⁰On the south side will be the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of the camp of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur.¹¹The number of the host of the people of Reuben is 46,500.

¹²Simeon is camping next to Reuben. The leader of the tribe of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.¹³The number of the host of the people of Simeon is 59,300.

¹⁴The tribe of Gad is next. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.¹⁵The number of the host of the people of Gad is 45,650.

¹⁶The number of all the men assigned to the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, is 151,450. They will set out second.

¹⁷Next, the tent of meeting must go out from the camp with the Levites in the middle of all the camps. They must go out from the camp in the same order as they come into the camp. Every man must be in his place, by his banner.

¹⁸On the west side will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud.¹⁹The number of the host of the people of Ephraim is 40,500.

²⁰Next to them is the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.²¹The number of the host of the people of Manasseh is 32,200.

²²Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni.²³The number of the host of the people of Benjamin is 35,400.

²⁴All those numbered in the camp of Ephraim is 108,100. They will set out third.

²⁵On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.²⁶The number the host of the people of Dan is 62,700.

²⁷The people of the tribe of Asher camp next to Dan. The leader of Asher is Pagiel son of Okran.²⁸The number the host of the people of Asher is 41,500.

²⁹The tribe of Naphtali is next. The leader of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan.³⁰The number of the host of the people of Naphtali is 53,400.

³¹All those numbered in the camp with Dan is 157,600. They will go out from the camp last, under their banner."

³²These are the descendants of Israel, numbered according to their ancestral households. All those counted in their camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.³³But the Levites were not counted along with the people of Israel, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁴The people of Israel did everything that Yahweh commanded Moses. They camped by their banners. They went out from the camp by their clans, in the order of their ancestor's households.

¹Now this is the history of the descendants of Aaron and Moses when Yahweh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.²The names of Aaron's sons were Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and who were ordained to serve as priests.⁴But Nadab and Abihu fell dead before Yahweh when they offered to him unacceptable fire in the wilderness of Sinai. Nadab and Abihu had no children, so just Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with Aaron their father.

⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁶"Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest for them to help him.

⁷They must perform the duties on behalf of Aaron and the whole community before the tent of meeting. They must serve in the tabernacle.⁸They must care for all the furnishings in the tent of meeting, and they must help the tribes of Israel to carry out the tabernacle service.

⁹You must give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are wholly given to help him serve the people of Israel.¹⁰You must appoint Aaron and his sons as priests, but any foreigner who comes near must be put to death."

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,¹²"Look, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel. I have done this instead of taking each firstborn, who opens the womb, from among the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me,¹³for all the firstborn belong to me. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both men and animals. They belong to me. I am Yahweh."

¹⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. He said,¹⁵"Count the descendants of Levi in each family, in their clans. Count every male who is one month old and older."¹⁶Moses counted them, following the word of Yahweh, just as he was commanded to do.

¹⁷The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸These are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their clans: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹The sons of Kohath, by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰The sons of Merari, by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, listed clan by clan.

²¹The clans of the Libnites and the Shimeites come from Gershon. These are the clans of the Gershonites.²²All the males from a month old and older were counted, totaling 7,500.²³The clans of the Gershonites must camp on the west side of the tabernacle.

²⁴Eliasaph son of Lael must lead the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites.²⁵The family of Gershon must care for the tent of meeting including the tabernacle. They must care for the tent, its covering, and the curtain used as the entrance to the tent of meeting.²⁶They must care for the courtyard hangings, the curtain at the courtyard entrance—the courtyard that surrounds the sanctuary and the altar. They must care for the ropes of the tent of meeting and for everything in it.

²⁷These clans come from Kohath: the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites. These clans belong to the Kohathites.²⁸8,600 males have been counted aged one month old and older to perform the duties of the sanctuary.²⁹The Kohath clans must camp on the south side of the tabernacle.

³⁰Elizaphan son of Uzziel must lead the ancestral households of the Kohathites.³¹They must care for the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the holy things that are used in their service, the curtain, and all the work around it.³²Eleazar son of Aaron the priest must lead the men who lead the Levites. He must supervise the men who perform the duties of the holy place.

³³Two clans have come from Merari: the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites. These clans have come from Merari.³⁴6,200 males have been counted aged one month old and older.³⁵Zuriel son of Abihail must lead the ancestral households of Merari. They must camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

³⁶The descendants of Merari must care for the framing of the tabernacle, the crossbars, posts, bases, all the hardware, and everything related to them, including³⁷the pillars and posts of the courtyard that surround the tabernacle, with their sockets, pegs, and ropes.

³⁸Moses and Aaron and his sons must camp on the east side of the tabernacle, in front of the tent of meeting, toward the sunrise. They are responsible for performing the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the people of Israel. Any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death.

³⁹Moses and Aaron counted all the males in the clans of Levi who were aged one month old and older, just as Yahweh commanded. They counted twenty-two thousand men.

⁴⁰Yahweh said to Moses, "Count all the firstborn males of the people of Israel who are aged one month old and older. List their names.⁴¹You must take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of the firstborn of the livestock of the descendants of Israel."

⁴²Moses counted all the firstborn people of Israel as Yahweh had commanded him to do.⁴³He counted all the firstborn males by name, aged one month old and older. He counted 22,273 men.

⁴⁴Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁴⁵"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and take the Levites' livestock instead of the people's livestock. The Levites belong to me—I am Yahweh.

⁴⁶For the redemption of the 273 firstborn sons of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites⁴⁷you must collect five shekels for each of them. You must use the shekel of the sanctuary as your standard weight. The shekel equals twenty gerahs.⁴⁸You must give the redemption money that you paid to Aaron and his sons."

⁴⁹So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those redeemed by the Levites.⁵⁰Moses collected the money from the firstborn of the people of Israel. He collected 1,365 shekels, weighing with the shekel of the sanctuary.⁵¹Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons. Moses did everything he was told to do by Yahweh's word, as Yahweh had commanded him.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,²"Conduct a census of the male descendants of Kohath from among the Levites, by their clans and ancestral households.³Count all the men who are thirty to fifty years old. These men must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.⁴The descendants of Kohath must take care of the most holy things reserved for me in the tent of meeting.

⁵When the camp prepares to move forward, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent, take down the screening curtain that separates the most holy place from the holy place and cover the ark of the testimony with it.⁶They must cover the ark with a piece of fine leather. They must spread a cloth that is completely blue over it. They must insert the poles to carry it.

⁷They are to spread a blue cloth on the table of the bread of the presence. On it they must put the dishes, spoons, bowls, and jars for the drink offering. Bread must always continue to be on the table.⁸They are to spread over them a scarlet cloth and cover the same with hides of fine leather. They must insert poles to carry the table.

⁹They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, along with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the jars of oil for the lamps.¹⁰They must put the lampstand and all its accessories into a covering of fine leather, and they must put it on a carrying frame.¹¹They must spread a cloth of blue on the gold altar. They must cover it with a covering of fine leather, and then insert the carrying poles.

¹²They must take all the equipment for the ministry, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and wrap it in a blue cloth. They must cover that with the hides of fine leather and put the equipment on the carrying frame.¹³They must clear away the ashes of fat from the altar and spread a purple cloth on the altar.¹⁴They must put on the carrying frame all the equipment that they use in the work of the altar. These objects are the firepans, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the other equipment for the altar. They must cover the altar with fine leather hides and then insert the carrying poles.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have completely covered the holy place and all its equipment, and when the camp moves forward, then the descendants of Kohath must come to carry the holy place. If they touch the holy instruments, they must die. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath, to carry the furnishings in the tent of meeting.¹⁶Eleazar son of Aaron the priest oversees the care of the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil. He oversees the care of the entire tabernacle and all that is in it, the holy place and its equipment."

¹⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,¹⁸"Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites.¹⁹So do this for them that they may live and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons must go in, and assign each man to his work and his responsibility.²⁰But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy place, even for a moment, or they must die."

²¹Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,²²"Conduct a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by their ancestor's families and by their clans.²³Count those who are thirty years old to fifty years old. Count all of them who will join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

²⁴This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites, when they serve and what they carry.²⁵They must carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of fine leather hides that is on it, and the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting.²⁶They must carry the curtains of the court, the curtain for the doorway of the court's gate, which is near the tabernacle and near the altar, their ropes, and all the instruments for their service. Whatever should be done with these things, they must do it.

²⁷Aaron and his sons must direct all the service of the descendants of the Gershonites, in everything that they transport, and in all their service. You must assign them to all their responsibilities.²⁸This is the service of the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites for the tent of meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest must lead them in their service.

²⁹You must count the descendants of Merari by their clans, and order them by their ancestor's families,³⁰from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. Count everyone who is going to join the company and serve in the tent of meeting.

³¹This is their responsibility and their burden in all their service for the tent of meeting. They must care for the framing of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, and sockets,³²along with the posts of the courtyard around the tabernacle, their sockets, pegs, and their ropes, with all their hardware. List by name the articles they must carry.

³³This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Merari, what they are to do for the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest."

³⁴Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the descendants of the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestor's families.³⁵They counted them from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.³⁶They counted 2,750 men by their clans.

³⁷This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites who served in the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to Yahweh's command that was given through Moses.

³⁸The descendants of Gershon were counted in their clans, by their ancestor's families,³⁹from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.⁴⁰All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 2,630.

⁴¹Moses and Aaron counted the clans of the descendants of Gershon who would serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

⁴²The descendants of Merari were counted in their clans by their ancestor's families,⁴³from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.⁴⁴All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 3,200.

⁴⁵This was the list of the clans of the descendants of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to Yahweh's command that came by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶So Moses, Aaron, and the chiefs of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans in their ancestral families⁴⁷from thirty to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would do work in the tabernacle, and who would carry and care for the items in the tent of meeting.⁴⁸They counted 8,580 men.

⁴⁹At Yahweh's command, Moses counted each man, keeping count of each by the type of work he was assigned to do. He counted each man by the kind of responsibility he would bear. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Command the people of Israel to send away from the camp every leper, everyone who has an oozing sore, and whoever is unclean through touching a dead body.³Whether male or female, you must send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it."⁴The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.

⁵Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁶"Speak to the people of Israel. When a man or woman commits any sin such as people do to one another, and is unfaithful to me, that person is guilty.⁷Then he must confess the sin that he has done. He must completely pay back the price of his guilt and add to the price one-fifth more. He must give this to the one he has wronged.

⁸But if the wronged person has no close relative to receive the payment, he must pay the price for his guilt to me through a priest, along with a ram to atone for himself.⁹Every contribution, everything the people of Israel have set apart, which they have brought to the priest, will belong to him.¹⁰The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him."

¹¹Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,¹²"Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and is unfaithful to her husband.

¹³If a man lies with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and her impurity is undetected even though she defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not caught in the act,¹⁴nevertheless, a spirit of jealousy might still inform the husband that his wife is defiled. However, a spirit of jealousy might falsely come on a man when his wife is not defiled.

¹⁵In such cases, the man must bring his wife to the priest. The husband must take an offering required on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He must pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, as a reminder of the iniquity.

¹⁶The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh.¹⁷The priest must take a jar of holy water and take dust from the floor of the tabernacle. He must put the dust into the water.

¹⁸The priest will set the woman before Yahweh and he will untie the hair on the woman's head. He will put into her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that can bring a curse.¹⁹The priest will put the woman under an oath and say to her, 'If no other man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray and committed uncleanness, then you will be free from this bitter water that can bring a curse.

²⁰But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority and you have defiled yourself, and some other man has had sexual relations with you,²¹then, (the priest must cause the woman to swear an oath that can bring down a curse on her, and then he must continue speaking to the woman) 'Yahweh will make you into a curse that will be shown to your people to be such. This will happen if Yahweh causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell.²²This water that brings the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thighs waste away.' The woman is to reply, 'Amen. Amen.'

²³The priest must write these curses on a scroll, and then he must wash away the written curses into the bitter water.

²⁴The priest must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse. The water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter.²⁵The priest must take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand. He must hold up the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it to the altar.²⁶The priest must take a handful of the grain offering as a representative offering, and burn it on the altar. Then he must give the woman the bitter water to drink.

²⁷When he gives her the water to drink, if she is defiled because she has committed a sin against her husband, then the water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter. Her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away. The woman will be cursed among her people.²⁸But if the woman is not defiled and if she is clean, then she must be free. She will be able to conceive children.

²⁹This is the law of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who goes astray from her husband and is defiled.³⁰It is the law for a man with a spirit of jealousy when he is jealous of his wife. He must bring the woman before Yahweh, and the priest must do to her everything that this law of jealousy describes.

³¹The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have."

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'When a man or a woman consecrates himself to Yahweh with the special vow of a Nazirite,³he must abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from strong drink. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.⁴In all the days of his consecration, he must eat nothing that is made from the grape vine, including everything from the seeds to the skins.

⁵During all the time of his vow of consecration, no razor is to be used on his head until the days of his consecration to Yahweh are fulfilled. He must be set apart to Yahweh. He must let the hair grow long on his head.

⁶During all the time that he sets himself apart to Yahweh, he must not come near a dead body.⁷He must not make himself unclean even for his father, mother, brother, or sister, if they die. This is because he is consecrated to God, as everyone can see by his long hair.⁸During all the time of his consecration he is holy, reserved for Yahweh.

⁹If someone very suddenly dies beside him and defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification—on the seventh day he must shave it.

¹⁰On the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.¹¹The priest must offer one bird as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. These will atone for him because he sinned by being near the dead body. He must consecrate his head again on that day.

¹²He must set himself apart to Yahweh for the days of his consecration. He must bring a male lamb one year old as a guilt offering. The days before he defiled himself must not be counted, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³This is the law about the Nazirite for when the time of his consecration is complete. He must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting.¹⁴He must present his offering to Yahweh. He must offer as a burnt offering a male lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring as a sin offering a female lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring a ram as a fellowship offering that is without blemish.¹⁵He must also bring a basket of bread made without yeast, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, wafers without yeast rubbed with oil, together with their grain offering and drink offerings.

¹⁶The priest must present them before Yahweh. He must offer his sin offering and burnt offering.¹⁷With the basket of unleavened bread, he must present the ram as a sacrifice, the fellowship offering to Yahweh. The priest must present also the grain offering and the drink offering.

¹⁸The Nazirite must shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He must take the hair from his head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of fellowship offerings.

¹⁹The priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one loaf of bread without yeast out of the basket, and one wafer without yeast. He must place them into the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair.²⁰The priest must wave them as an offering before Yahweh, a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was the contribution for the priest. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh for his consecration. Whatever else he may give, he must keep the obligations of the vow he has taken, to keep the promise indicated by the law of his consecration.'"

²²Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²³"Speak to Aaron and to his sons. Say, 'You must bless the people of Israel in this way. You must say to them,

²⁴"May Yahweh bless you

and keep you.

²⁵May Yahweh make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you.

²⁶May Yahweh look on you with favor

and give you peace."'

²⁷It is in this way that they must give my name to the people of Israel. Then I will bless them."

¹On the day that Moses completed the tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart to Yahweh, together with all of its furnishings. He did the same for the altar and all its utensils. He anointed them and set them apart to Yahweh.²On that day, the leaders of Israel, the heads of their ancestor's families, offered sacrifices. These men were leading the tribes. They had overseen the counting of the men in the census.³They brought their offerings before Yahweh. They brought six covered carts and twelve oxen. They brought one cart for every two leaders, and each leader brought one ox. They presented these things in front of the tabernacle.

⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁵"Accept the offerings from them and use the offerings for the work in the tent of meeting. Give the offerings to the Levites, to each one as his work needs them."

⁶Moses took the carts and the oxen, and he gave them to the Levites.⁷He gave two carts and four oxen to the descendants of Gershon, because of what their work needed.⁸He gave four carts and eight oxen to the descendants of Merari, in the care of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. He did this because of what their work required.

⁹But he gave none of those things to the descendants of Kohath, because theirs would be the work related to the things that belong to Yahweh that they would carry on their own shoulders.

¹⁰The leaders offered their goods for the dedication of the altar on the day that Moses anointed the altar. The leaders offered their sacrifices in front of the altar.¹¹Yahweh said to Moses, "Each leader must offer on his own day his sacrifice for the dedication of the altar."

¹²On the first day, Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, offered his sacrifice.

¹³His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.¹⁴He gave one gold dish that weighed ten shekels and was full of incense.

¹⁵He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.¹⁶He gave one male goat as a sin offering.¹⁷He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day, Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, offered his sacrifice.

¹⁹He offered as his sacrifice one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.

²⁰He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.²¹He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.²²He gave one male goat as a sin offering.²³He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day, Eliab son of Helon, leader of the descendants of Zebulun, offered his sacrifice.

²⁵His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.²⁶He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

²⁷He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.²⁸He gave one male goat as a sin offering.²⁹He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day, Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the descendants of Reuben, offered his sacrifice.

³¹His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.³²He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

³³He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.³⁴He gave one male goat as a sin offering.³⁵He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the descendants of Simeon, offered his sacrifice.

³⁷His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.³⁸He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

³⁹He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁴⁰He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁴¹He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴²On the sixth day, Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the descendants of Gad, offered his sacrifice.

⁴³His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁴⁴He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁴⁵He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁴⁶He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁴⁷He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸On the seventh day, Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the descendants of Ephraim, offered his sacrifice.

⁴⁹His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁵⁰He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁵¹He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁵²He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁵³He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the descendants of Manasseh, offered his sacrifice.

⁵⁵His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁵⁶He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁵⁷He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁵⁸He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁵⁹He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰On the ninth day, Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the descendants of Benjamin, offered his sacrifice.

⁶¹His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁶²He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁶³He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁶⁴He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁶⁵He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶On the tenth day, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the descendants of Dan, offered his sacrifice.

⁶⁷His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁶⁸He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁶⁹He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb..⁷⁰He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁷¹He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷²On the eleventh day, Pagiel son of Okran, leader of the descendants of Asher, offered his sacrifice.

⁷³His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁷⁴He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁷⁵He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁷⁶He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁷⁷He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Pagiel son of Okran.

⁷⁸On the twelfth day, Ahira son of Enan, leader of the descendants of Naphtali, offered his sacrifice.

⁷⁹His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.⁸⁰He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense.

⁸¹He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.⁸²He gave one male goat as a sin offering.⁸³He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴This was the dedication offering for the altar on the day that it was anointed: the chiefs of Israel set apart the twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold dishes.⁸⁵Each silver platter weighed 130 shekels and each bowl weighed seventy shekels. All the silver vessels weighed 2,400 shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel.⁸⁶Each of the twelve gold dishes, full of incense, weighed ten shekels by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. All the gold dishes weighed 120 shekels.

⁸⁷They set apart all the animals for the burnt offerings, twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve year-old male lambs. They gave their grain offering. They gave twelve male goats as a sin offering.⁸⁸From all their cattle, they gave twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old, as the sacrifice for the fellowship offering. This was for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him. Yahweh spoke to him from above the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Speak to Aaron. Say to him, 'The seven lamps must give light in front of the lampstand when you light them.'"

³Aaron did this. He lit the lamps on the lampstand to give light toward the front of it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.⁴The lampstand was made in this way and Yahweh showed Moses the pattern for it. It was to be hammered gold from its base to its top, with hammered cups like blossoms.

⁵Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁶"Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and purify them.

⁷Do this to them to purify them: Sprinkle the water of atonement on them. Make them shave their entire body, wash their clothes, and purify themselves.⁸Then have them take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil. Let them take another young bull as a sin offering.

⁹You will bring the Levites in front of the tent of meeting and assemble the whole community of the people of Israel.¹⁰When you bring the Levites before Yahweh, the people of Israel must lay their hands on the Levites.¹¹Aaron must offer the Levites before Yahweh, as a wave offering from the people of Israel so that they may do the service of Yahweh.

¹²The Levites must place their hands on the heads of the bulls. You must offer one bull for a sin offering and the other bull for a burnt offering to me, to atone for the Levites.¹³Present the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and lift them up as a wave offering to me.

¹⁴In this way you must separate the Levites from among the people of Israel. The Levites will belong to me.¹⁵After that, the Levites must go in to serve in the tent of meeting. You must purify them. You must offer them as a wave offering.

¹⁶Do this, because they are entirely mine from among the people of Israel. They will take the place of each firstborn, the first issue of the womb, of all the descendants of Israel. I have taken the Levites for myself.¹⁷All the firstborn from among the people of Israel are mine, both man or animal. On the day that I took the lives of all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set them apart for myself.

¹⁸I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of all the firstborn.¹⁹I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from among the people of Israel to do the work of the people of Israel in the tent of meeting. I have given them to atone for the people of Israel so that no plague will harm the people when they come near to the holy place."

²⁰Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of the people of Israel did this with the Levites. They did everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. The people of Israel did this with them.²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothing, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering to Yahweh and he made atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before Aaron's sons. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses about the Levites. They treated all the Levites in this way.

²³Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said,²⁴"All of this is for the Levites who are twenty-five years old and more. They must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting.

²⁵They must stop serving in this way at the age of fifty years. At that age they must not serve any longer.²⁶They may help their brothers who continue to work at the tent of meeting, to perform their duties, but they must serve no more. This is how you must deal with the Levites in all their responsibilities."

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt. He said,²"Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its fixed time of year.³On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you must keep the Passover at its fixed time of year. You must keep it, follow all the regulations, and obey all the decrees that are related to it."

⁴So, Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Festival of the Passover.⁵So they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. The people of Israel obeyed everything that Yahweh commanded Moses to do.

⁶There were certain men who became unclean by the body of a dead man. They could not keep the Passover on that day. They went before Moses and Aaron on that same day.⁷Those men said to Moses, "We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why do you keep us from offering the sacrifice to Yahweh at the fixed time of year among the people of Israel?"⁸Moses said to them, "Wait for me to hear what Yahweh will instruct about you."

⁹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,¹⁰"Speak to the people of Israel. Say, 'If any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body, or are on a long journey, he may still keep the Passover to Yahweh.'

¹¹In the second month on the fourteenth day at evening, they will eat the Passover meal. They must eat the Passover lamb with bread that is made without yeast and with bitter herbs.¹²They must not leave any of it until the morning, or break any of its bones. They must follow all the regulations for the Passover.

¹³But any person who is clean and is not on a journey, but who fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not bring the offering that Yahweh requires at the fixed time of year. That man must carry his sin.¹⁴If a stranger lives among you and keeps the Passover to Yahweh, he must keep it according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule. You must have one statute both for the sojourner and for the one who was born in the land."

¹⁵On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant decrees. At evening the cloud was over the tabernacle. It appeared like fire until morning.¹⁶It continued that way. The cloud covered the tabernacle and appeared like fire at night.¹⁷Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the people of Israel would set out on their journey. Wherever the cloud stopped, the people would camp.

¹⁸At Yahweh's command, the people of Israel would travel, and at his command, they would camp. While the cloud stopped over the tabernacle, they would stay in their camp.¹⁹When the cloud remained on the tabernacle for many days, then the people of Israel would obey Yahweh's instructions and not travel.

²⁰Sometimes the cloud remained a few days on the tabernacle. In that case, they would obey Yahweh's command—they would make camp and then travel on again at his command.²¹Sometimes the cloud was present in camp from evening until morning. When the cloud lifted in the morning, they journeyed. If it continued for a day and for a night, only when the cloud lifted would they journey on.

²²Whether the cloud stayed on the tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, for as long as it stayed there, the people of Israel would stay in their camp and not travel. But whenever the cloud was taken up, they would set out on their journey.²³They would camp at Yahweh's command, and they would travel at his command. They obeyed Yahweh's command given through Moses.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Make two silver trumpets. Hammer the silver to make them. You must use the trumpets to call the community together and to call the community to move their camps.

³The priests must blow the trumpets to call all the community together in front of you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.⁴If the priests blow only one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, must gather to you.⁵When you blow a loud signal, the tribes camped on the east side must begin their journey.

⁶When you blow a loud signal the second time, the tribes camped on the south side must begin their journey. They must blow a loud signal for their journeys.⁷When the community gathers together, blow the trumpets, but not loudly.⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blow the trumpets. This will always be an ordinance for you throughout your people's generations.

⁹When you go to war in your land against an adversary who oppresses you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets. I, Yahweh your God, will call you to mind and save you from your enemies.

¹⁰Also, at the times of celebration, both your regular festivals and at the beginnings of the months, you must blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices for your fellowship offerings. These will act as a reminder of you to me, your God. I am Yahweh your God."

¹¹In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted from the tabernacle of the covenant decrees.¹²The people of Israel then went on their journey from the wilderness of Sinai. The cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran.¹³They made their first journey, following Yahweh's command given through Moses.

¹⁴The camp under the banner of Judah's descendants went out first, moving out their individual armies. Nahshon son of Amminadab led Judah's army.¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar led the army of the tribe of Issachar's descendants.¹⁶Eliab son of Helon led the army of the tribe of Zebulun's descendants.

¹⁷The descendants of Gershon and of Merari, who cared for the tabernacle, took down the tabernacle and then set out on their journey.¹⁸Next, the armies under the banner of Reuben's camp set out on their journey. Elizur son of Shedeur led Reuben's army.¹⁹Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai led the army of the tribe of Simeon's descendants.²⁰Eliasaph son of Deuel led the army of the tribe of Gad's descendants.

²¹The Kohathites set out. They carried the sanctuary's holy equipment. Others would set up the tabernacle before the Kohathites arrived at the next camp.²²The armies under the banner of Ephraim's descendants set out next. Elishama son of Ammihud led Ephraim's army.²³Gamaliel son of Pedahzur led the army of the tribe of Manasseh's descendants.²⁴Abidan son of Gideoni led the army of the tribe of Benjamin's descendants.

²⁵The armies that camped under the banner of Dan's descendants set out last. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai led Dan's army.²⁶Pagiel son of Okran led the army of the tribe of Asher's descendants.²⁷Ahira son of Enan led the army of the tribe of Naphtali's descendants.²⁸This is the way that the armies of the people of Israel set out on their journey.

²⁹Moses spoke to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite. Reuel was the father of Moses' wife. Moses spoke to Hobab and said, "We are traveling to a place that Yahweh described. Yahweh said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will do you good. Yahweh has promised to do good for Israel."³⁰But Hobab said to Moses, "I will not go with you. I will go to my own land and my own relatives."

³¹Then Moses replied, "Please do not leave us. You know how to camp in the wilderness. You must watch out for us.³²If you go with us, we will do for you the same good that Yahweh does to us."

³³They journeyed from the mountain of Yahweh for three days. The ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them for three days to find a place for them to rest.³⁴Yahweh's cloud was over them in the daytime as they journeyed.

³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, "Rise up, Yahweh. Scatter your enemies. Make those who hate you run from you."³⁶Whenever the ark stopped, Moses would say, "Return, Yahweh, to Israel's many tens of thousands."

¹Now the people complained about their troubles as Yahweh listened. Yahweh heard the people and became angry. Fire from Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the camp on its edges.²Then people called out to Moses, so Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire stopped.³That place was named Taberah, because Yahweh's fire burned among them.

⁴Some foreign people began to camp with Israel's descendants. They wanted better food to eat. Then the people of Israel began to weep and say, "Who will give us meat to eat?⁵We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.⁶Now our appetite is gone, because all we can see is this manna."

⁷Manna was like coriander seed. It looked like resin.⁸The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it in mills, beat it in mortars, boiled it in pots, and made it into cakes. It tasted like a delicacy baked with olive oil.

⁹When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna also fell.¹⁰Moses heard the people weeping in their families, and every man was at the entrance to his tent. Yahweh was very angry, and in Moses' eyes their complaining was wrong.

¹¹Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why are you not pleased with me? You make me carry the load of all these people.¹²Did I conceive all these people? Have I given them birth so that you should say to me, 'Carry them closely to your chest as a father carries a baby?' Should I carry them to the land that you swore to their ancestors to give them?

¹³Where can I find meat to give to all this people? They are weeping in front of me and are saying, 'Give us meat to eat.'¹⁴I cannot bear all these people alone. They are too much for me.¹⁵Since you are treating me this way, kill me now—if I find favor in your eyes—do not let me see my misery."

¹⁶Yahweh said to Moses, "Bring to me seventy of Israel's elders. Be sure that they are elders and officers of the people. Bring them to the tent of meeting to stand there with you.¹⁷I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will bear the burden of the people with you. You will not have to bear it alone.

¹⁸Say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow you will indeed eat meat, for you have wept and Yahweh has heard. You said, "Who will give us meat to eat? It was good for us in Egypt." Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat it.¹⁹You will not eat meat for only one day, two days, five days, ten days, or twenty days,²⁰but you will eat meat for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils. It will disgust you because you have rejected Yahweh, who is among you. You have wept before him. You said, "Why did we leave Egypt?"'"

²¹Then Moses said, "The people I am with are 600,000 footmen, and you have said, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.'²²Should we kill flocks and herds to satisfy them? Should we catch all the fish in the sea to satisfy them?"²³Yahweh said to Moses, "Is my hand short? Now you will see whether or not my word is true."

²⁴Moses went out and told the people Yahweh's words. He gathered seventy of the people's elders and positioned them around the tent.²⁵Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Yahweh took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but only on that occasion and not again.

²⁶Two men remained in the camp, named Eldad and Medad. The Spirit also rested on them. Their names were written on the list, but they had not gone out to the tent. Nevertheless, they prophesied in the camp.²⁷A young man in the camp ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

²⁸Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his chosen men, said to Moses, "My master Moses, stop them."²⁹Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all of Yahweh's people were prophets and that he would put his Spirit on them all!"³⁰Then Moses and the elders of Israel went back to the camp.

³¹Then a wind came from Yahweh and brought quail from the sea. They fell near the camp, about a day's journey on one side and a day's journey on the other side. The quail surrounded the camp about two cubits above the ground.³²The people were busy gathering quail all that day, all the night, and all the next day. No one gathered less than ten homers of quail. They shared the quail all through the camp.

³³While the meat was still between their teeth, while they were chewing it, the anger of Yahweh was kindled at them. He attacked the people with a very great disease.³⁴That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved meat.³⁵From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed.

¹Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married.²They said, "Has Yahweh spoken only with Moses? Has he not spoken also with us?" Now Yahweh heard what they said.³Now the man Moses was very humble, humbler than anyone else on earth.

⁴Right away Yahweh spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." So the three of them went out.⁵Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent and called Aaron and Miriam. They both came forward.

⁶Yahweh said, "Now listen to my words.

When a prophet of mine is with you,

I will reveal myself to him in visions

and speak to him in dreams.

⁷My servant Moses is not like that.

He is faithful in all my house.

⁸I speak to Moses directly, not with visions or riddles.

He sees my form.

So why are you unafraid

to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

⁹Yahweh's anger burned against them, and then he left them.¹⁰The cloud rose from over the tent, and Miriam was suddenly leprous—she was as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she had leprosy.

¹¹Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my master, please do not hold this sin against us. We have spoken foolishly, and we have sinned.¹²Please do not let her be like a dead newborn whose flesh is half consumed when it emerges from its mother's womb."

¹³So Moses called out to Yahweh. He said, "Please heal her, God, please."¹⁴Yahweh said to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, she would be disgraced for seven days. Shut her outside the camp for seven days. After that bring her in again."¹⁵So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days. The people did not journey until she had returned to the camp.

¹⁶After that, the people journeyed from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Send some men to examine the land of Canaan, which I have given to the people of Israel. Send a man from every tribe of their ancestors. Each man must be a leader among them."

³Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, so that they might obey Yahweh's command. All of them were leaders among the people of Israel.⁴These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

⁶from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

⁷from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

⁸from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;

⁹from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

¹⁰from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

¹¹from the tribe of Joseph (that is to say, from the tribe Manasseh), Gaddi son of Susi;

¹²from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

¹³from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

¹⁴from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

¹⁵from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

¹⁶These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to examine the land. Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name of Joshua.

¹⁷Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan. He said to them, "Approach from the Negev and go up into the hill country.¹⁸Examine the land to see what it is like. Observe the people who live there, whether they are strong or weak, and whether they are few or many.¹⁹See what the land is like where they live. Is it good or bad? What cities are there? Are they like camps, or are they fortified cities?²⁰See what the land is like, whether it is good for growing crops or not, and whether there are trees there or not. Be brave and bring back samples of the land's produce." Now the time was the season for the first ripe grapes.

²¹So the men went up and examined the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath.²²They went up from the Negev and arrived at Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

²³When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut down a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a staff between two of their group. They also brought pomegranates and figs.²⁴That place was named the Valley of Eshkol, because of the grape cluster that the people of Israel cut down there.

²⁵After forty days, they returned from examining the land.²⁶They came back to Moses, Aaron, and all the community of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the community, and showed them the produce from the land.

²⁷They told Moses, "We reached the land to which you sent us. It certainly flows with milk and honey. Here is some produce from it.²⁸However, the people who make their homes there are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. We also saw descendants of Anak there.²⁹The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites have their homes in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan River."

³⁰Then Caleb silenced the people who were before Moses and said, "Let us go up and take possession of the land, for we are certainly able to conquer it."³¹But the other men who had gone with him said, "We are not able to attack the people because they are stronger than we are."

³²So they spread around a discouraging report to the people of Israel about the land that they had examined. They said, "The land that we looked at is a land that eats up its inhabitants. All the people whom we saw there are people of great height.³³There we saw the Nephilim, descendants of Anak, people who came from giants. In our own sight we were like grasshoppers in comparison with them, and this is what we were in their sight, too."

¹That night all the community wept loudly.²All the people of Israel criticized Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them, "We wish we had died in the land of Egypt, or here in this wilderness!³Why did Yahweh bring us to this land to die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become victims. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?"

⁴They said to one another, "Let us choose another leader, and let us return to Egypt."⁵Then Moses and Aaron lay facedown before all the assembly of the community of the people of Israel.

⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were some of those sent to examine the land, tore their clothes.⁷They spoke to all the community of the people of Israel. They said, "The land that we passed through and examined is a very good land.⁸If Yahweh is pleased with us, then he will take us into this land and give it to us. The land flows with milk and honey.

⁹But do not rebel against Yahweh, and do not fear the people in the land, for they are bread to us. Their protection will be removed from them, because Yahweh is with us. Do not fear them."¹⁰Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of Yahweh appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

¹¹Yahweh said to Moses, "How long must this people despise me? How long must they fail to trust me, despite all the signs of my power that I have done among them?¹²I will attack them with plague, disinherit them, and make from your own clan a nation that will be greater and mightier than they are."

¹³Moses said to Yahweh, "If you do this, then the Egyptians will hear about it, because you rescued this people from them by your power.¹⁴They will tell it to this land's inhabitants. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are present with this people, because you are seen face to face. Your cloud stands over our people. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations that have heard this report about you will say,¹⁶'Because Yahweh could not take this people into the land that he swore to give them, he has killed them in the wilderness.'

¹⁷Now, I beg you, may the power of my Lord be great. For you have said,¹⁸'Yahweh is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He forgives iniquity and transgression. He will by no means clear the guilty when he brings the punishment of the ancestors' sin on their descendants, to the third and fourth generation.'¹⁹Pardon, I plead with you, this people's iniquity because of the greatness of your covenant faithfulness, just as you have always forgiven this people from the time they were in Egypt until now."

²⁰Yahweh said, "I have pardoned them in keeping with your request,²¹but truly, as I live, and as all the earth will be filled with my glory,²²all those people who saw my glory and the signs of power that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness—they have still tested me these ten times and have not listened to my voice.

²³So I say that they will certainly not see the land about which I made an oath to their ancestors. Not one of them who despised me will see it,²⁴except for my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly. I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants will take possession of it.²⁵(Now the Amalekites and Canaanites lived in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and go to the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Reeds."

²⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,²⁷"How long must I tolerate this evil community that criticizes me? I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel against me.

²⁸Say to them, 'As I live—this is Yahweh's declaration—as you have spoken in my hearing, I will do this to you:²⁹Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all you who complained against me, you who were counted in the census, the whole number of the people from twenty years old and upward.³⁰You will certainly not go into the land that I promised to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

³¹But your little ones who you said would be victims, I will take them into the land. They will experience the land that you have rejected!³²As for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness.³³Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years. They must bear the punishment for your acts of rebellion until the end of your corpses in the wilderness.

³⁴According to the number of the days during which you examined the land, forty days, you will bear the punishment for your sins for forty years, one year for every day, and you will know my opposition.³⁵I, Yahweh, have spoken. I will certainly do this to all this evil community that is gathered together against me. They will be completely cut off in this wilderness, and here they will die.'"

³⁶So the men Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made the entire community grumble against Moses by spreading a bad report about the land—³⁷these men who had brought out a bad report about the land were struck down, and they died of a plague before Yahweh.³⁸Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.

³⁹When Moses reported these words to all the people of Israel, they mourned very deeply.⁴⁰They rose up early in the morning and went to the top of the mountain and said, "Look, we are here, and we will go to the place that Yahweh has promised, for we have sinned."

⁴¹But Moses said, "Why are you now violating Yahweh's command? You will not succeed.⁴²Do not go, because Yahweh is not with you to prevent you from being defeated by your enemies.⁴³The Amalekites and Canaanites are there, and you will die by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh. So he will not be with you."

⁴⁴But they arrogantly went up into the hill country; however, neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of Yahweh left the camp.⁴⁵Then the Amalekites came down, and also the Canaanites who lived on those hills. They attacked the Israelites and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you go into the land where you will live, which Yahweh will give to you,³you are to prepare an offering by fire to Yahweh, either a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or a freewill offering, or an offering at your feasts, to produce a pleasing aroma for Yahweh from the herd or the flock.

⁴You must offer to Yahweh a burnt offering as well as a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil.⁵You must also offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, one-fourth of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.

⁶If you are offering a ram, you must prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.⁷For the drink offering, you must offer a third of a hin of wine. It will produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh.

⁸When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a fellowship offering to Yahweh,⁹then you must offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil.¹⁰You must offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh.

¹¹It must be done this way for each bull, for each ram, and for each of the male lambs or young goats.¹²Every sacrifice that you prepare and offer must be done as described here.¹³All who are native-born must do these things in this way, when anyone brings an offering made by fire, to produce an aroma that is pleasing to Yahweh.

¹⁴If a sojourner is staying with you, or whoever may live among you throughout your people's generations, he must make an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. He must act as you act.¹⁵There must be the same law for the community and for the foreigner who stays with you, a permanent law throughout your people's generations. As you are, so also must be the sojourner staying with you. He must act as you act before Yahweh.¹⁶The same law and decree must apply to you and to the foreigner who is staying with you.'"

¹⁷Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,¹⁸"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land where I will take you,¹⁹when you eat the food produced in the land, you must lift up a contribution to Yahweh.

²⁰From the first of your dough you must offer a loaf to lift it up as a contribution, a contribution from the threshing floor. You must lift it up in this way.²¹You must give to me a lifted contribution throughout your people's generations from the first of your dough.

²²You will sometimes sin without intending to do so, when you do not obey all these commands that I have spoken to Moses—²³everything that I have commanded you through Moses from the day that I began to give you commands and onward throughout your people's generations.²⁴In the case of unintentional sin without the community's knowledge, then all the community must offer one young bull as a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. Along with this must be made a grain offering and drink offering, as commanded by the decree, and one male goat as a sin offering.

²⁵The priest must make atonement for all the community of the people of Israel. They will be forgiven because the sin was an error. They have brought their sacrifice, an offering made by fire to me. They have brought their sin offering before me for their error.²⁶Then all the community of the people of Israel will be forgiven, and also the foreigners who are staying with them, because all the people committed the sin unintentionally.

²⁷If a person sins unintentionally, then he must offer a female goat a year old as a sin offering.²⁸The priest must make atonement before Yahweh for the person who goes astray and sins unintentionally. That person will be forgiven when atonement has been made.²⁹You must have the same law for the one who does anything unintentionally, the same law for the one who is native born among the people of Israel and for the foreigners who are staying among them.

³⁰But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native born or a foreigner, blasphemes me. That person must be cut off from among his people.³¹Because he has despised my word and has broken my commandment, that person must be cut off completely. His iniquity will be on him.'"

³²While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.³³Those who found him brought him to Moses, Aaron, and all the community.³⁴They kept him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done with him.

³⁵Then Yahweh said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death. All the community must stone him with stones outside the camp."³⁶So all the community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁷Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,³⁸"Speak to the descendants of Israel and command them to make for themselves tassels to hang from the borders of their garments, to hang them from each border by a blue cord. They must do this throughout their people's generations.³⁹It will be a special reminder to you, when you may look at it, of all my commandments, to carry them out so that you do not look to your own heart and your own eyes and prostitute yourselves to them.

⁴⁰Do this so that you may call to mind and obey all my commandments, and so that you may be holy, reserved for me, your God.⁴¹I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to become your God. I am Yahweh your God."

¹Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, gathered some men.²They rose up against Moses, along with other men from the people of Israel, 250 leaders of the community who were men of reputation in the community.³They assembled themselves together to confront Moses and Aaron. They said to them, "You have gone too far! All the community is set apart, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them. Why do you lift up yourselves above the rest of Yahweh's community?"

⁴When Moses heard that, he lay facedown.⁵He spoke to Korah and all his companions, "In the morning Yahweh will make known who belongs to him and who is set apart to him. He will bring that person near to him. The one he chooses he will bring near to himself.

⁶Do this, Korah and all your group. Take censers⁷tomorrow and put fire and incense in them before Yahweh. The one whom Yahweh chooses, that man will be set apart to Yahweh. You have gone too far, you descendants of Levi."

⁸Again, Moses said to Korah, "Now listen, you descendants of Levi:⁹is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do work in Yahweh's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to serve them?¹⁰He has brought you near, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking the priesthood also!¹¹Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh. Who is Aaron that you grumble against him?"

¹²Then Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up.¹³Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now you want to make yourself ruler over us!¹⁴In addition, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us the fields and vineyards as an inheritance. Now do you want to blind us with empty promises? We will not come to you."

¹⁵Moses was very angry and said to Yahweh, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any of them."¹⁶Then Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and all your companions must go before Yahweh—you and they, and Aaron.¹⁷Each of you must take his censer and put incense in it. Then each man must bring before Yahweh his censer, 250 censers. You and Aaron, also, must each bring your censer."

¹⁸So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.¹⁹Korah assembled all the community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory appeared to all the community.

²⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron:²¹"Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately."²²Moses and Aaron lay facedown and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all humanity, if one man sins, must you be angry with all the community?"

²³Yahweh replied to Moses. He said,²⁴"Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"

²⁵Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him.²⁶He spoke to the community and said, "Now leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be consumed by all their sins."²⁷So the community on every side of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram left them. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, sons, and their little ones.

²⁸Then Moses said, "By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord.²⁹If these men die a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh has not sent me.³⁰But if Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that they possess, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you must understand that these men have despised Yahweh."

³¹As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men.³²The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions.

³³So they and all that they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community.³⁴All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, "The earth may swallow us up also!"³⁵Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.

³⁶Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,³⁷"Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest and let him take up the censers out of the flames, for the censers are set apart to me. Then let him scatter the burning coals at a distance.³⁸Take the censers of those who lost their lives because of their sin. Let them be made into hammered plates as a covering over the altar. Those men did offer them before me, so they are set apart to me. They will be a sign of my presence to the people of Israel."

³⁹Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been used by the men who were burned up, and they were hammered out into a covering for the altar,⁴⁰to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider who was not descended from Aaron should come up to burn incense before Yahweh, so they might not become like Korah and his group—just as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

⁴¹But the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, "You have killed Yahweh's people."⁴²Then it happened, when the community had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting and, behold, the cloud was covering it. Yahweh's glory appeared,⁴³and Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.

⁴⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,⁴⁵"Go away from in front of this community so that I may consume them immediately." Then Moses and Aaron lay down with their faces to the ground.⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, "Take the censer, put fire in it from off the altar, put incense in it, carry it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because anger is coming from Yahweh. The plague has begun."

⁴⁷So Aaron did as Moses directed. He ran into the middle of the community. The plague had quickly started to spread among the people, so he put in the incense and made atonement for the people.⁴⁸Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague was stopped.

⁴⁹Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in the matter of Korah.⁵⁰Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,²"Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff.

³You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe.⁴You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you.⁵It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you."

⁶So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them.⁷Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

⁸The next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant decrees and, behold, Aaron's staff for the tribe of Levi had budded. It grew buds and produced blossoms and ripe almonds!⁹Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the people of Israel, and each man took his staff.

¹⁰Yahweh said to Moses, "Put Aaron's staff in front of the covenant decrees. Keep it as a sign of guilt against the people who rebelled so that you may end complaints against me, or they will die."¹¹Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.

¹²The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, "We will die here. We will all perish!¹³Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?"

¹Yahweh said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your ancestor's clan will be responsible for all sins committed against the sanctuary. But only you and your sons with you will be responsible for all sins committed by anyone in the priesthood.²As for your fellow members of the tribe of Levi, your ancestors' tribe, you must bring them with you so they may join you and help you when you and your sons serve in front of the tent of the covenant decrees.

³They must perform your duties and the duties of the whole tent. However, they must not come near to anything in the holy place or connected with the altar, or they and also you will die.⁴They must join you and perform the duties connected with the tent of meeting, for all the work connected with the tent. A foreigner must not come near you.⁵You must perform the duties for the holy place and for the altar so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again.

⁶Look, I myself have chosen your fellow members of the Levites from among the descendants of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to me to do the work connected to the tent of meeting.⁷But only you and your sons may exercise the priesthood regarding everything connected with the altar and everything inside the curtain. You yourselves must fulfill those responsibilities. I am giving you the priesthood as a gift. Any foreigner who approaches must be put to death."

⁸Then Yahweh said to Aaron, "Look, I have given you the duty of handling the contributions lifted up to me, and all the holy offerings that the people of Israel give to me. I have given these offerings to you as a consecrated portion and to your sons as your assigned portion for all time.⁹This will belong to you from the most holy things that are kept from the fire. From every offering of theirs—every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering—they are set apart to you and to your sons.

¹⁰These offerings are very holy; every male must eat it, for they are holy to you.¹¹These are the contributions that will belong to you, set apart out of all their gifts of the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, your sons, and your daughters, as your portion forever. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your family may eat any of these offerings.

¹²All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and grain, the firstfruits that the people give to me—all these things I have given to you.¹³The first ripe produce of all that is in their land, which they bring to me, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your family may eat these things.

¹⁴Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours.¹⁵Every first issue of the womb, all the firstborn that the people offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the people must certainly redeem every firstborn son, and they must redeem the firstborn male of unclean animals.¹⁶Those that are to be redeemed by the people must be redeemed after becoming one month old. Then the people may redeem them for the price of five shekels of silver, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.

¹⁷But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat—you must not redeem these animals; they are set apart to me. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahweh.¹⁸Their meat will be yours. Like the breast and the right thigh that are lifted as an offering, their meat will be yours.

¹⁹All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to Yahweh, I have given to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a continual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt, a binding covenant forever, before Yahweh for both you and your descendants with you."²⁰Yahweh said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in the people's land, nor will you have any share of property among the people. I am your share and inheritance among the people of Israel.

²¹To the descendants of Levi, look, I have given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the service that they provide in working at the tent of meeting.²²From now on the people of Israel must not come near the tent of meeting, or they will be responsible for this sin and die.

²³The Levites must do the work connected to the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any iniquity regarding it. This will be a permanent law throughout your people's generations. Among the people of Israel they must have no inheritance.²⁴For the tithes of the people of Israel, which they offer as a contribution to Yahweh—it is these that I have given to the Levites as their inheritance. That is why I said to them, 'They must have no inheritance among the people of Israel.'"

²⁵Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,²⁶"You must speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive from the people of Israel the tenth that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, you will present a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tenth of the tithe.²⁷Your contribution must be considered by you as if it were a tenth of the grain from the threshing floor or of the production from the winepress.

²⁸So you also must make a contribution to Yahweh from all the tithes that you receive from the people of Israel. From them you must give his contribution to Aaron the priest.²⁹Out of all the gifts you receive, you must make every contribution to Yahweh. You must do this from all the best and the holiest things that have been given to you.'

³⁰Therefore you must say to them, 'When you present the best of it, then it must be credited to the Levites as the product from the threshing floor and the winepress.³¹You may eat the rest of your gifts in any place, you and your families, because it is your pay in return for your work in the tent of meeting.³²You will not bear any sin by eating and drinking it, if you have presented to Yahweh the best of what you have received. But you must not profane the holy offerings of the people of Israel, or you will die.'"

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,²"This is a statute, a law which Yahweh is commanding you: Say to the people of Israel that they must bring to you a red heifer without flaw or blemish, and which has never carried a yoke.

³Give the heifer to Eleazar the priest. He must bring it outside the camp, and someone must kill it in front of him.⁴Eleazar the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.⁵The heifer must be burned in his sight—its hide, its flesh, and its blood with its dung, must be burned.⁶The priest must take cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet wool, and throw it all into the middle of the burning heifer.

⁷Then he must wash his clothes and bathe in water. Then he may come into the camp, where he will remain unclean until the evening.⁸The one who has burned the heifer must wash his clothes in water and bathe in water. He will remain unclean until the evening.

⁹A man who is clean must gather up the heifer's ashes and put them outside the camp in a clean place. These ashes must be kept for the community of the people of Israel. They will mix the ashes with water for purification from sin, since the ashes were from a sin offering.¹⁰The one who gathered the heifer's ashes must wash his clothes. He will remain unclean until the evening. This will be a permanent law for the people of Israel and the foreigners who stay with them.

¹¹Whoever touches the dead body of any man will be unclean for seven days.¹²Such a person must purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day. Then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third day, then he will not be clean on the seventh day.¹³Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself—this person defiles Yahweh's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him. He will remain unclean; his uncleanness will remain on him.

¹⁴This is the law for when someone dies in a tent. Everyone who goes into the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days.¹⁵Every open container with no cover becomes unclean.¹⁶In the same way, anyone outside a tent who touches someone who has been killed with a sword, any other dead body, a human bone, or a grave—that person will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷Do this for the unclean person: Take some ashes from the burnt sin offering and mix them in a jar with fresh water.¹⁸Someone who is clean must then take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers inside the tent, on the persons who were there, and on anyone who touched the bone, the one who was killed, the one who died, or the grave.¹⁹On the third day and on the seventh day, the clean person must sprinkle the unclean person. On the seventh day the unclean person must purify himself. He must wash his clothes and bathe in water. At evening he will become clean.

²⁰But anyone who remains unclean, who refuses to purify himself—that person will be cut off from the community, because he has defiled Yahweh's sanctuary. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he remains unclean.²¹This will be an ongoing law concerning these situations. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity must wash his clothes. The one who touches the water for impurity will become unclean until evening.²²Whatever the unclean person touches will become unclean. The person who touches it will become unclean until evening."

¹So the people of Israel, the whole community, went into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

²There was no water for the community, so they assembled together against Moses and Aaron.³The people complained against Moses. They said, "It would have been better if we had died when our fellow Israelites died in front of Yahweh!

⁴Why have you brought Yahweh's community into this wilderness to die here, we and our animals?⁵Why did you make us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this horrible place? There is no place for seed, figs, vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."

⁶So Moses and Aaron went away from in front of the assembly. They went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and lay facedown. There Yahweh's brilliant glory appeared to them.

⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,⁸"Take the staff and assemble the community, you, and Aaron your brother. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and command it to flow with water. You will produce water for them out of that rock, and you must give it to the community and their livestock to drink."⁹Moses took the staff from before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock. Moses said to them, "Listen now, you rebels. Must we bring water out of this rock for you?"¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, and much water came out. The community drank, and their livestock drank.

¹²Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me or honor me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them."¹³This place was called the waters of Meribah because the people of Israel had quarreled with Yahweh there, and he showed himself to them as holy.

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Your brother Israel says this: "You know all the hardship that has found us.¹⁵You know that our ancestors went down to Egypt and lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians treated us harshly and also our ancestors.¹⁶When we called out to Yahweh, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your land.

¹⁷I am asking you to let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, nor will we drink the water in your wells. We will go along the king's highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed your border."

¹⁸But the king of Edom replied to him, "You may not pass through here. If you do, I will come with the sword to attack you."

¹⁹Then the people of Israel said to him, "We will go along the highway. If we or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. Just let us walk through on foot, without doing anything else."

²⁰But the king of Edom replied, "You may not pass through." So the king of Edom came against Israel with a strong hand with many soldiers.²¹The king of Edom refused to allow Israel to cross over their border. Because of this, Israel turned away from the land of Edom.

²²So the people journeyed from Kadesh. The people of Israel, the whole community, came to Mount Hor.²³Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on Edom's border. He said,²⁴"Aaron must be gathered to his people, for he will not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel. This is because you both rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor.²⁶Take Aaron's priestly garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron must die and be gathered to his people there."

²⁷Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the community.²⁸Moses took Aaron's priestly garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down.²⁹When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the entire house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty days.

¹When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was traveling by the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.²Israel vowed to Yahweh and said, "If you give us victory over these people, then we will completely destroy their cities."³Yahweh listened to Israel's voice and he gave them victory over the Canaanites. They completely destroyed them and their cities. That place was named Hormah.

⁴They traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Reeds to go around the land of Edom. The people became very discouraged on the way.⁵The people spoke against God and Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, no water, and we hate this miserable food."

⁶Then Yahweh sent poisonous snakes among the people. The snakes bit the people; many people of Israel died.⁷The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and you. Pray to Yahweh for him to take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸Yahweh said to Moses, "Make a snake and attach it to a pole. It will happen that everyone who is bitten will survive, if he looks at it."⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and attached it to a pole. When a snake bit any person, if he looked at the bronze snake, he survived.

¹⁰Then the people of Israel traveled on and camped at Oboth.¹¹They traveled from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the east.

¹²From there they traveled on and camped in the Valley of Zered.¹³From there they traveled on and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites. The Arnon River forms the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴That is why it says in the scroll of the Wars of Yahweh,

"... Zahab ¹ in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

¹⁵the slope of the valleys that lead toward the town of Ar

and lie along the border of Moab."

¹⁶From there they traveled to Beer, the well where Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather the people together for me to give them water."

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song:

"Spring up, well!

Sing about it,

¹⁸about the well that our leaders dug,

the well the nobles of the people dug,

with the scepter and their staffs."

Then from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah.

¹⁹From Mattanah they traveled to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,²⁰and from Bamoth to a valley in the land of Moab. That is where the top of Mount Pisgah looks down on the wilderness.

²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites saying,²²"Let us pass through your land. We will not turn into any field or vineyard. We will not drink the water from your wells. We will travel by the king's highway until we have crossed your border."

²³But King Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his army together and went out into the wilderness against Israel. He came to Jahaz, where he fought against Israel.

²⁴Israel attacked the army of Sihon with the edge of the sword and took their land from the Arnon to the Jabbok river, as far as the land of the people of Ammon. Now the border of the people of Ammon was fortified.²⁵Israel took all the Amorite cities and lived in all of them, including Heshbon and all of its villages.²⁶Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab. Sihon had taken all his land from his territory to the Arnon River.

²⁷That is why those who speak in proverbs say,

"Come to Heshbon.

Let the city of Sihon be rebuilt and established again.

²⁸A fire blazed from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon

that devoured Ar of Moab,

and the owners of the high places of Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab!

You have perished, people of Chemosh.

He has made his sons to be fugitives

and his daughters to be prisoners

of Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰But we have conquered Sihon.

Heshbon is devastated all the way to Dibon.

We have defeated them all the way to Nophah,

which reaches to Medeba."

³¹So Israel began to live in the Amorites' land.³²Then Moses sent men to look at Jazer. They took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up by the road of Bashan. Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his army, to fight them at Edrei.³⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not fear him, because I have given you victory over him, all his army, and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."³⁵So they killed him, his sons, and all his army, until none of his people were left alive. Then they took over his land.

¹Some modern English translations read, Waheb .

22¹The people of Israel traveled on until they camped in the plains of Moab near Jericho, on the other side of the Jordan River from the city.

²Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.³Moab was very afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was in terror of the people of Israel.⁴The king of Moab said to the elders of Midian, "This multitude will eat up all that is around us as an ox eats up the grass in a field." Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

⁵He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor which is by the Euphrates River, in the land of his nation and his people. He called him and said, "Look, a nation has come here from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and they are right now next to me.⁶Please come now and curse this nation for me, because they are too strong for me. Perhaps then I can manage to attack them and drive them out of the land. I know that those you bless will be blessed, and that those you curse will be cursed."

⁷So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left, taking payment for divination. They came to Balaam and spoke to him Balak's words.⁸Balaam said to them, "Stay here tonight. I will bring you what Yahweh says to me." So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam that night.

⁹God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men who came to you?"¹⁰Balaam answered God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me. He said,¹¹'Look, the people who have come from Egypt cover the surface of my land. Now come and curse them for me. Perhaps I will manage to fight them and drive them out.'"

¹²God replied to Balaam, "You must not go with those men. You must not curse the people of Israel because they have been blessed."¹³Balaam rose up in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your land because Yahweh refuses to allow me to go with you."¹⁴So the leaders of Moab left and went back to Balak. They said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

¹⁵Balak sent again more leaders who were even more honored than the first group.¹⁶They came to Balaam and said to him, "Balak son of Zippor says this, 'Please let nothing stop you from coming to me,¹⁷because I will pay you extremely well and give you great honor, and I will do whatever you tell me to do. So please come and curse this people for me.'"

¹⁸Balaam answered and said to Balak's servants, "Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Yahweh, my God, and do less or more than what he tells me.¹⁹Now then, please wait here tonight too, so that I may learn anything further that Yahweh says to me."²⁰God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them. But only do what I tell you to do."

²¹Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.²²But because he went, God's anger was kindled. The angel of Yahweh placed himself in the road as someone hostile to Balaam, who was riding on his donkey. Balaam's two servants were also with him.²³The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. The donkey turned off the road and went into a field. Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back to the road.

²⁴Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow part of the road between some vineyards, with a wall on his right side and another wall on his left side.²⁵The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh again. She went against the wall and pinned Balaam's foot against it. Balaam struck her again.

²⁶The angel of Yahweh went further and stood in another narrow place where there was no way to turn to either side.²⁷The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸Then Yahweh opened the donkey's mouth so she could talk. She said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that induced you to strike me these three times?"²⁹Balaam replied to the donkey, "It was because you acted so stupidly with me. I wish there were a sword in my hand. If there were, by now I would have killed you."³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life long to this present day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such things to you before?" Balaam said, "No."

³¹Then Yahweh opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed down and lay facedown.³²The angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Look, I have come as someone hostile to you because your actions before me have been wicked.³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you and spared her life."

³⁴Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, "I have sinned. I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back."³⁵But the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, "Go on ahead with the men. But you must only speak the words that I tell you." So Balaam went with the leaders of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at a city in Moab at the Arnon, which is on the border.³⁷Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send men to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?"

³⁸Then Balaam replied to Balak, "See, I have come to you. Do I now have any power to say anything? I can only say the words that God puts into my mouth."³⁹Balaam went with Balak, and they arrived at Kiriath Huzoth.⁴⁰Then Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and gave some meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹In the morning, Balak took Balaam up to the high place of Baal. From there Balaam could see only a part of the Israelites in their camp.

¹Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me and prepare seven bulls and seven rams."²So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.³Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you." So he went away to a hilltop with no trees.

⁴Then God met Balaam, and Balaam said to him, "I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one."⁵Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and speak to him."⁶So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him.

⁷Then Balaam began to speak his proverb and said,

"Balak has brought me from Aram,

the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.

'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said.

'Come, denounce Israel.'

⁸How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?

How can I denounce those whom Yahweh does not denounce?

⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him;

from the hills I look at him.

See, there is a people who live alone

and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob

or number even only one-fourth of Israel?

Let me die the death of a righteous person,

and let my life's end be like his!"

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them."¹²Balaam answered and said, "Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?"

¹³So Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me."¹⁴So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.¹⁵Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there."

¹⁶So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, "Return to Balak and give him my message."¹⁷Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, "What has Yahweh said?"

¹⁸Balaam began his prophecy. He said,

"Rise up, Balak, and hear.

Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie,

or a human being, that he should change his mind.

Has he promised anything without doing it?

Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?

²⁰Look, I have been commanded to bless.

God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

²¹He has not looked upon disaster in Jacob,

and he has not seen trouble in Israel.

Yahweh their God is with them,

and the shout of the king is among them.

²²God brought them out of Egypt

with strength like that of a wild ox.

²³There is no sorcery that works against Jacob,

and no divination harms Israel.

Now it must be said about Jacob and Israel,

'Look what God has done!'

²⁴Look, the people rise like a lioness,

as a lion emerges and attacks.

He does not lie down until he eats his victim

and drinks the blood of what he has killed."

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them or bless them at all."²⁶But Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?"²⁷So Balak replied to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me."

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wilderness.²⁹Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams."³⁰So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he did not go, as at the other times, to use sorcery. Instead, he looked toward the wilderness.

²Balaam raised his eyes and saw that Israel was camped, each in their own tribe, and the Spirit of God came on him.³He received this prophecy and said,

"This is the declaration of Balaam son of Beor,

the declaration of the man whose eyes are wide open,

⁴the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who bows down with his eyes open.

⁵How delightful are your tents, Jacob,

the place where you live, Israel!

⁶Like valleys they spread out,

like gardens by the riverside,

like aloes planted by Yahweh,

like cedars beside the waters.

⁷Water will flow from their buckets,

and their seed will have abundant water.

Their king will be greater than Agag,

and their kingdom will be honored.

⁸God will bring him out of Egypt.

He will have strength like a wild ox.

He will eat up the nations who fight against him.

He will break their bones to pieces.

He will shoot them with his arrows.

⁹He crouches down like a lion,

like a lioness. Who dares disturb him?

May everyone who blesses him be blessed;

may everyone who curses him be cursed."

¹⁰Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam and he struck his hands together in anger. Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them three times.¹¹So flee home now. I said I would greatly reward you, but Yahweh has kept you from getting any reward."

¹²Then Balaam replied to Balak, "I said to the messengers that you sent to me,¹³'Even if Balak gave me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond Yahweh's word and anything bad or good, or anything at all that I might want to do. I can say only what Yahweh tells me to say.' Did I not say this to them?¹⁴So now, look, I will go back to my people. But first let me advise you about what this people will do to your people in the days ahead."

¹⁵Balaam began this prophecy. He said,

"This is the declaration of Balaam son of Beor,

the declaration of the man whose eyes are wide open.

¹⁶This is the declaration of someone who hears words from God,

who has knowledge from the Most High,

who sees visions from the Almighty,

who bows down with open eyes.

¹⁷I see him, but he is not here now.

I look at him, but he is not near.

A star will come out of Jacob,

and a scepter will rise out of Israel.

He will shatter Moab's leaders

and destroy all the descendants of Seth.

¹⁸Then Edom will become a possession of Israel,

and Seir will also become their possession,

enemies of Israel,

whom Israel will conquer with force.

¹⁹Out of Jacob a king will come who will have dominion,

and he will destroy the survivors of their city."

²⁰Then Balaam looked at Amalek and began his prophecy. He said,

"Amalek was once the greatest of nations,

but his end will be eternal destruction."

²¹Then Balaam looked toward the Kenites and began his prophecy. He said,

"The place where you live is strong,

and your nest is in the rocks.

²²Nevertheless you Kenites will be consumed by fire

when Assyria carries you away captive."

²³Then Balaam began his final prophecy. He said,

"Woe! Who will survive when God does this?

²⁴Ships will come from the coast of Cyprus ¹;

they will attack Assyria and will conquer Eber,

but they, too, will end in destruction."

²⁵Then Balaam got up and left. He returned to his home, and Balak also went away.

¹Some modern English translations read, Kittim .

¹Israel stayed in Shittim, and the men began to prostitute themselves with women of Moab,²for the Moabites had invited the people to the sacrifices to their gods. So the people ate and bowed down to Moabite gods.³The men of Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel.

⁴Yahweh said to Moses, "Kill all the leaders of the people and hang them up before me to expose them in the daylight, so that my fierce anger may turn away from Israel."⁵So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you must kill his people who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor."

⁶Then one of the men of the sons of Israel came and brought among his family members a Midianite woman. This happened in the sight of Moses and all the community of the people of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.⁷When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw that, he rose up from among the community and took a spear in his hand.

⁸He followed the man of Israel into the tent and thrust the spear through both of their bodies, both the man of Israel and the woman. So a plague that God had sent on the people of Israel stopped.⁹Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.

¹⁰Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,¹¹"Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned my rage away from the people of Israel because he was passionate with my zeal among them. So I have not consumed the people of Israel in my jealousy.

¹²Therefore say, 'Yahweh says, "Look, I am giving to Phinehas my covenant of peace.¹³For him and his descendants after him, it will be a covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for me, his God. He has atoned for the people of Israel."'"

¹⁴Now the name of the man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of an ancestor's family among the Simeonites.¹⁵The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kozbi daughter of Zur, who was head of a tribe and ancestral household in Midian.

¹⁶So Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,¹⁷"Treat the Midianites as enemies and attack them,¹⁸for they treated you like enemies with their deceitfulness. They led you into evil in the case of Peor and in the case of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a leader in Midian, who was killed on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor."

¹It came about after the plague that Yahweh spoke to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He said,²"Count all the community of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and up, by their ancestor's families, all who are able to go to war for Israel."

³So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,⁴"Count the people, from twenty years old and up, as Yahweh commanded Moses and the people of Israel, who came out of the land of Egypt."

⁵Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. From his son Hanok came the clan of the Hanokites. From Pallu came the clan of the Palluites.

⁶From Hezron came the clan of the Hezronites. From Karmi came the clan of the Karmites.

⁷These were the clans of Reuben, who numbered 43,730 men.

⁸Eliab was a son of Pallu.⁹Eliab's sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These were the same Dathan and Abiram who were in the company of Korah when they rebelled against Moses and Aaron and rebelled against Yahweh.

¹⁰The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah when all his company died. At that time, fire devoured 250 men, who became a warning sign.¹¹But Korah's line did not die out.

¹²The clans of Simeon's descendants were these:

Through Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites,

through Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites,

through Jakin, the clan of the Jakinites,

¹³through Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites,

through Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites.

¹⁴These were the clans of Simeon's descendants, who numbered 22,200 men.

¹⁵The clans of Gad's descendants were these:

Through Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites,

through Haggi, the clan of the Haggites,

through Shuni, the clan of the Shunites,

¹⁶through Ozni, the clan of the Oznites,

through Eri, the clan of the Erites,

¹⁷through Arod, the clan of the Arodites,

through Areli, the clan of the Arelites.

¹⁸These were the clans of Gad's descendants, who numbered 40,500 men.

¹⁹Judah's sons were Er and Onan, but these men died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The clans of Judah's other descendants were these:

through Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites,

through Perez, the clan of the Perezites, and

through Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites.

²¹The descendants of Perez were these:

Through Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites,

through Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites.

²²These were the clans of Judah's descendants, who numbered 76,500 men.

²³The clans of Issachar's descendants were these:

Through Tola, the clan of the Tolaites,

through Puah, the clan of the Puites,

²⁴through Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites,

through Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites.

²⁵These were the clans of Issachar, who numbered 64,300 men.

²⁶The clans of Zebulun's descendants were these:

Through Sered, the clan of the Seredites,

through Elon, the clan of the Elonites,

through Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites.

²⁷These were the clans of the Zebulunites, who numbered 60,500 men.

²⁸The clans of Joseph's descendants were Manasseh and Ephraim.²⁹The descendants of Manasseh were these:

through Makir, the clan of the Makirites (Makir was Gilead's father),

through Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites.

³⁰Gilead's descendants were these:

Through Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites,

through Helek, the clan of the Helekites,

³¹through Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites,

through Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites,

³²through Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites,

through Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites.

³³Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters.

The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.

³⁴These were the clans of Manasseh, who numbered 52,700 men.

³⁵The clans of Ephraim's descendants were these:

Through Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites,

through Beker, the clan of the Bekerites,

through Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites.

³⁶The descendants of Shuthelah were, by Eran, the clan of the Eranites.

³⁷These were the clans of Ephraim's descendants, who numbered 32,500 men. These were Joseph's descendants, counted in each of their clans.

³⁸The clans of Benjamin's descendants were these:

Through Bela, the clan of the Belaites,

through Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites,

through Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites,

³⁹through Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites,

through Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites.

⁴⁰The descendants of Bela were Ard and Naaman. From Ard came the clan of the Ardites, and from Naaman came the clan of the Naamites.

⁴¹These were the clans of Benjamin's descendants. They numbered 45,600 men.

⁴²The clans of Dan's descendants were, by Shuham, the clans of the Shuhamites. These were the clans of Dan's descendants.⁴³All the clans of the Shuhamites numbered 64,400 men.

⁴⁴The clans of Asher's descendants were these:

Through Imnah, the clan of the Imnites,

through Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites,

through Beriah, the clan of the Beriites.

⁴⁵The descendants of Beriah were these:

Through Heber, the clan of the Heberites,

through Malkiel, the clan of the Malkielites.

⁴⁶The name of Asher's daughter was Serah.

⁴⁷These were the clans of Asher's descendants, who numbered 53,400 men.

⁴⁸The clans of Naphtali's descendants were these:

Through Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites,

through Guni, the clan of the Gunites,

⁴⁹through Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites,

through Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites.

⁵⁰These were the clans of Naphtali's descendants, who numbered 45,400 men.

⁵¹This was the complete count of men of Israel: 601,730.

⁵²Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,⁵³"The land must be divided among these men as an inheritance according to the number of their names.

⁵⁴To the larger clans you must give more inheritance, and to the smaller clans you must give less inheritance. To every family you must give an inheritance according to the number of men who were counted.⁵⁵However, the land must be divided by random lots. They must inherit the land according to the names of their ancestors' tribes.⁵⁶Their inheritance must be divided among the larger and the smaller clans, distributed to them by random lot."

⁵⁷The Levite clans, counted clan by clan, were these:

Through Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites,

through Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites,

through Merari, the clan of the Merarites.

⁵⁸The clans of Levi were these:

the clan of the Libnites,

the clan of the Hebronites,

the clan of the Mahlites,

the clan of the Mushites,

and the clan of the Korahites.

Kohath was Amram's ancestor.

⁵⁹The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to Levites in Egypt. She bore to Amram their children, who were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.

⁶⁰To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.⁶¹Nadab and Abihu died when they offered before Yahweh unacceptable fire.

⁶²The males who were counted among them numbered twenty-three thousand, all males one month old and up. But they were not counted among Israel's descendants because no inheritance was given to them among the people of Israel.

⁶³These are the ones who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest. They counted the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.⁶⁴But among these there was no man who had been counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when the descendants of Israel were counted in the wilderness of Sinai.

⁶⁵For Yahweh had said that all of those people would certainly die in the wilderness. There was not a man left among them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

¹Then to Moses came the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Makir son of Manasseh, of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.

²They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and before all the community at the entrance to the tent of meeting. They said,³"Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company that gathered themselves together to oppose Yahweh, in the company of Korah. He died for his own sin, and he had no sons.

⁴Why should our father's name be taken away from among his clan members because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's relatives."⁵So Moses brought their case before Yahweh.

⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,⁷"Zelophehad's daughters are speaking correctly. You must certainly give them a possession as an inheritance among their father's relatives, and you must ensure that their father's inheritance passes on to them.⁸You must speak to the people of Israel and say, 'If a man dies and has no son, then you must cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.

⁹If he has no daughter, then you must give his inheritance to his brothers.¹⁰If he has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his father's brothers.¹¹If his father has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his clan, and he must take it for his own. This will be a law established by decree for the people of Israel, as Yahweh has commanded me.'"

¹²Yahweh said to Moses, "Go up this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel.¹³After you have seen it, you, too, must be gathered to your people, like Aaron your brother.¹⁴This will happen because you two rebelled against my command in the wilderness of Zin during the strife of the congregation. There, when the water flowed from the rock, in your anger you failed to honor me as holy before the eyes of the whole community." These are the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

¹⁵Then Moses spoke to Yahweh and said,¹⁶"May you, Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all humanity, appoint a man over the community,¹⁷a man who may go out and come in before them and lead them out and bring them in, so that your community is not like sheep that have no shepherd."

¹⁸Yahweh said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom my Spirit lives, and lay your hand on him.¹⁹Place him before Eleazar the priest and before all the community, and command him before their eyes to lead them.

²⁰You must put some of your authority on him, so that all the community of the people of Israel may obey him.²¹He will go before Eleazar the priest to seek my will for him by the decisions of the Urim. It will be at his command that the people will go out and come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole community."

²²So Moses did as Yahweh had commanded him. He took Joshua and placed him before Eleazar the priest and all the community.²³Moses laid his hands on him and commanded him to lead, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,²"Command the people of Israel and say to them, 'You must offer sacrifices to me at the appointed times, the food of my offerings made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for me.'

³You must also say to them, 'This is the offering made by fire that you must offer to Yahweh—male lambs a year old without blemish, two each day, as a regular burnt offering.⁴One lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer in the evening.⁵You must offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil.

⁶This is the regular burnt offering that was commanded at Mount Sinai to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.⁷The drink offering with it must be one-fourth of a hin for one of the lambs. You must pour out in the holy place a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh.⁸The other lamb you must offer in the evening along with another grain offering like the one offered in the morning. You must also offer another drink offering with it, an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh.

⁹On the Sabbath day you must offer two male lambs, each a year old without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, and the drink offering with it.¹⁰This is to be the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it.

¹¹At the beginning of each month, you must offer a burnt offering to Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old without blemish.¹²You must also offer three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil for each bull, and two-tenths of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil for the one ram.¹³You must also offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb. This is to be the burnt offering, to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

¹⁴The people's drink offerings must be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is to be the burnt offering for every month throughout the months of the year.¹⁵One male goat as a sin offering to Yahweh must be offered. This will be in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it.

¹⁶During the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, comes Yahweh's Passover.¹⁷On the fifteenth day of this month a feast is to be held. For seven days, bread without yeast must be eaten.¹⁸On the first day, there must be a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day.

¹⁹However, you must offer a sacrifice made by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, without blemish.²⁰Along with the bull, you must offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and along with the ram, two-tenths.²¹With each of the seven lambs, you must offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil,²²and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for yourselves.

²³You must offer these in addition to the regular burnt offering required each morning.²⁴As described here, you must offer these sacrifices daily, for the seven days of the Passover, the food of the offering made by fire, a sweet aroma for Yahweh. It must be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it.²⁵On the seventh day you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh, and you must not do regular work on that day.

²⁶Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a new grain offering to Yahweh in your Festival of Weeks, you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh, and you must not do regular work on that day.²⁷You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old.²⁸Offer also grain offering to go with them: Fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each bull and two-tenths for the one ram.

²⁹Offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each of the seven lambs,³⁰and one male goat to make atonement for yourselves.³¹When you offer those animals without blemish, along with their drink offerings, this must be in addition to the regular burnt offering and the grain offering with it.

¹In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day. It will be a day when you blow trumpets.

²You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, each without blemish.

³You must offer with them their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,⁴and one-tenth for each lamb of the seven lambs.⁵You must offer one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for yourselves.

⁶Make these offerings in the seventh month in addition to all of the offerings you will make on the first of each month: the special burnt offering and the grain offering to go with it. These must be in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings. As you make these offerings, you will obey what has been decreed to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

⁷On the tenth day of the seventh month you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must humble yourselves and do no work.⁸You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They must each be without blemish.

⁹You must offer with them a grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram,¹⁰and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs.¹¹You must offer one male goat as a sin offering. This will be in addition to the sin offering of atonement, the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹²On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day, and you must celebrate the festival for him seven days.¹³You must offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old. Each must be without blemish.

¹⁴You must offer with them a grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each ram of the two rams,¹⁵and a tenth of an ephah for each of the fourteen lambs.¹⁶You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and the drink offering with it.

¹⁷On the second day of the assembly, you must offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.¹⁸You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.¹⁹You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰On the third day of the assembly, you must offer eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.²¹You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.²²You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²³On the fourth day of the assembly, you must offer ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.²⁴You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.²⁵You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁶On the fifth day of the assembly, you must offer nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.²⁷You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.²⁸You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁹On the sixth day of the assembly, you must offer eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.³⁰You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.³¹You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³²On the seventh day of the assembly, you must offer seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish.³³You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.³⁴You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³⁵On the eighth day you must have another solemn assembly. You must not do regular work on that day.³⁶You must make a burnt offering, an offering made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, each without blemish.

³⁷You must offer their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded.³⁸You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³⁹These are what you must offer to Yahweh at your fixed festivals. These must be in addition to your vows and freewill offerings. You must offer these as your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and fellowship offerings.'"⁴⁰Moses told the people of Israel everything that Yahweh had commanded him to say.

¹Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the people of Israel. He said, "This is what Yahweh has commanded.²When a man makes a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind himself with a binding promise, he must not break his word. He must keep his promise to do everything that comes out of his mouth.

³When a young woman living in her father's house makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself with a promise, while within the house of her father,⁴if her father hears the vow and the promise by which she has bound herself, and if he says nothing to reverse her, then all her vows will remain in force, and every pledge by which she has bound herself will stand.

⁵But if her father overrules her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; Yahweh will forgive her because her father has forbidden her.

⁶If she marries a husband after she makes a vow or her lips uttered a rash promise by which she has bound herself,⁷and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows will stand, and the pledges by which she bound herself will stand.

⁸But if her husband stops her on the day that he hears about it, then he cancels the vow that she has made, the rash talk of her lips with which she has bound herself, and Yahweh will forgive her.

⁹But any vow of a widow or a divorced woman will stand against her.¹⁰If a woman made a vow in her husband's house or bound herself by a promise with an oath,¹¹and her husband hears of it but he says nothing to her and he does not oppose her, then all her vows will stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself will stand.

¹²But if her husband cancels them on the day that he heard about them, then whatever came out of her lips about her vows or promises will not stand. Her husband has canceled them, and Yahweh will forgive her.

¹³Any vow and any binding oath to afflict her, her husband may make it stand or her husband may cancel it.¹⁴But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows and binding promises that she has made, and they will stand, because he has said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them.

¹⁵If her husband cancels his wife's vow after he has heard about them, then he will be responsible for her guilt."¹⁶These are the statutes that Yahweh commanded Moses to announce—statutes for what is between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter when she is in her youth in her father's family.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,²"Take vengeance on the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After doing that, you will die and be gathered to your people."

³So Moses spoke to the people. He said, "Arm some of your men for war so they may go against Midian and carry out Yahweh's vengeance on it.⁴Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war."⁵So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand from each tribe were provided from the clans of Israel, twelve thousand men armed for war.

⁶Then Moses sent them to battle, a thousand from every tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and with some articles from the holy place and the trumpets in his possession for sounding signals.⁷They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man.⁸They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their dead: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor, with the sword.

⁹The army of Israel took captive the women of Midian, their children, all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They took these as plunder.¹⁰They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps.

¹¹They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals.¹²They brought the prisoners, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the people of Israel. They brought these to the camp in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan near Jericho.

¹³Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.¹⁴But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from serving in the battle.¹⁵Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live?

¹⁶Look, these women caused the people of Israel, through Balaam's advice, to commit faithlessness against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, when the plague spread among Yahweh's community.¹⁷Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by lying with him.

¹⁸But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man by lying with him.¹⁹All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you must purify yourselves and your captives.²⁰You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood."

²¹Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, "This is a decreed law that Yahweh has commanded Moses:²²The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead,²³and everything that resists fire, you must put it through the fire, and it will become clean. You must then purify those things with the water of cleansing. Whatever cannot go through the fire you must cleanse with that water.²⁴You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp."

²⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,²⁶"You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the community's ancestral clans are to count all the plundered things that were captured, both men and animals. ²⁷Divide the plunder into two parts. Divide it between the soldiers who went out to battle and all the rest of the community.

²⁸Then levy a tax to be given to me from the soldiers who went out to battle. This tax must be one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats.²⁹Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for a contribution to Yahweh.

³⁰Also from the people of Israel's half, you must take one out of every fifty—from the persons, cattle, donkeys, and sheep—from all the animals. Give these to the Levites who perform the duties of my tabernacle."³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³²Now the booty that remained of the spoil that the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep,³³seventy-two thousand cattle,³⁴sixty-one thousand donkeys,³⁵and thirty-two thousand women who had not known a man by lying with him.

³⁶The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep,³⁷and the tax for Yahweh of the sheep was 675.

³⁸The cattle were thirty-six thousand, from which the tax for Yahweh was seventy-two.

³⁹The donkeys were 30,500 from which the tax for Yahweh was sixty-one.

⁴⁰The persons were sixteen thousand women, from which the tax for Yahweh was thirty-two.

⁴¹Moses took the tax that was to be a contribution presented to Yahweh. He gave it to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁴²As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war—⁴³the community's half was 337,500 sheep,⁴⁴thirty-six thousand oxen,⁴⁵30,500 donkeys,⁴⁶and sixteen thousand women.

⁴⁷From the people of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of people and animals. He gave them to the Levites who performed the duties of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

⁴⁸Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came to Moses.⁴⁹They said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man is missing.

⁵⁰We have brought Yahweh's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh."⁵¹Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold—all the articles of craftsmanship.

⁵²All the gold of the contribution that they gave to Yahweh—the offerings from the commanders of thousands and from the captains of hundreds—weighed 16,750 shekels.⁵³Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself.⁵⁴Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and captains of hundreds. They took it into the tent of meeting as a reminder of the people of Israel for Yahweh.

¹Now the descendants of Reuben and of Gad had large numbers of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer and Gilead, the land was a wonderful place for livestock.²So the descendants of Gad and Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the community. They said,³"This is a list of places we have surveyed: Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon.

⁴These are the lands that Yahweh attacked before the community of Israel, and they are good places for livestock. We, your servants, have a lot of livestock."⁵They said, "If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to us, your servants, as a possession. Do not make us cross over the Jordan."

⁶Moses replied to the descendants of Gad and Reuben, "Should your brothers go to war while you settle down here?⁷Why discourage the hearts of the people of Israel from going over into the land that Yahweh has given them?

⁸Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to examine the land.⁹They went up to the Valley of Eshkol. They saw the land and then discouraged the hearts of the people of Israel so that they refused to enter the land that Yahweh had given them.

¹⁰Yahweh's anger was kindled on that day. He took an oath and said,¹¹'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and up, will see the land about which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not completely followed me, except for¹²Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun. Only Caleb and Joshua have completely followed me.'

¹³So Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel. He made them wander around in the wilderness for forty years until all the generation who had done evil in his sight was destroyed.¹⁴Look, you have risen up in your fathers' place, like just more sinful men, to add to Yahweh's burning anger toward Israel.¹⁵If you turn away from following him, he will again leave Israel in the wilderness and you will have destroyed all this people."

¹⁶So they came near Moses and said, "Allow us to build fences here for our livestock and cities for our families.¹⁷However, we ourselves will be ready and armed to go with Israel's army until we have led them into their place. But our families will live in the fortified cities because of the other people who still live in this land.

¹⁸We will not return to our houses until every one of the people of Israel has obtained his inheritance.¹⁹We will not inherit the land with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance is here on the east side of the Jordan."

²⁰So Moses replied to them, "If you do what you say, if you arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to war,²¹then every one of your armed men must cross over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him²²and the land is subdued before him. Then afterward you may return. You will be guiltless toward Yahweh and toward Israel. This land will be your possession before Yahweh.

²³But if you do not do so, look, you will have sinned against Yahweh. Be sure that your sin will find you out.²⁴Build cities for your families and pens for your sheep; then do what you have said."²⁵The descendants of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses and said, "Your servants will do as you, our master, commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our cattle, and all our livestock will stay there in the cities of Gilead.²⁷However, we, your servants, every man who is armed for war, will cross over before Yahweh to battle, as our master says."

²⁸So Moses gave instructions concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders of the ancestor's clans in the tribes of the people of Israel.²⁹Moses said to them, "If the descendants of Gad and Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and if the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession.³⁰But if they do not cross over with you armed, then they will acquire their possessions among you in the land of Canaan."

³¹So the descendants of Gad and Reuben answered and said, "As Yahweh has said to us, your servants, this is what we will do.³²We will cross over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, but our possessed inheritance will remain with us on this side of the Jordan."

³³So to the descendants of Gad and Reuben, and also to the half tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, Moses gave the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan. He gave to them the land, and distributed to them all its cities with their borders, the cities of the land around them.

³⁴The descendants of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,³⁵Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,³⁶Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities with pens for sheep.

³⁷The descendants of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,³⁸Nebo, Baal Meon—their names were later changed, and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities that they rebuilt.³⁹The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it away from the Amorites who were in it.

⁴⁰Then Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh, and his people settled there.⁴¹Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured its towns and called them Havvoth Jair.⁴²Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

¹These were the movements of the people of Israel after they left the land of Egypt by their armed groups under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.²Moses wrote down the places from where they left to where they went, as commanded by Yahweh. These were their movements, departure after departure.

³They traveled from Rameses during the first month, leaving on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morning after the Passover, the people of Israel left openly, in the sight of all the Egyptians.⁴This happened while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, those whom Yahweh had killed among them, for he also made judgments against their gods.

⁵The people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Sukkoth.⁶They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.⁷They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is opposite Baal Zephon, where they camped opposite Migdol.

⁸Then they set out from opposite Pi Hahiroth and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They traveled three days' journey into the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.⁹They set out from Marah and arrived at Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. That is where they camped.¹⁰They set out from Elim and camped by the Sea of Reeds.

¹¹They set out from the Sea of Reeds and camped in the wilderness of Sin.¹²They set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.¹³They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.¹⁴They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where no water was found for the people to drink.

¹⁵They set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.¹⁶They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.¹⁷They set out from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.¹⁸They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.²⁰They set out from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.²¹They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.²²They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.²⁴They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.²⁵They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.²⁶They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.²⁸They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.²⁹They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.³⁰They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.³²They set out from Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.³³They set out from Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.³⁴They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.³⁶They set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh.³⁷They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at Yahweh's command and died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.³⁹Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the southern wilderness in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹They set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.⁴²They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.⁴³They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.⁴⁵They set out from Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.⁴⁶They set out from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

⁴⁷They set out from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, opposite Nebo.⁴⁸They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.⁴⁹They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,⁵¹"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,⁵²then you must drive out all the land's inhabitants before you. You must destroy all their carved figures. You must destroy all their cast metal images and demolish all their high places.

⁵³You must take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given you the land to possess.⁵⁴You must inherit the land by lot, according to each clan. To the larger clans you must give a larger share of land, and to the smaller clans you must give a smaller share of land. Wherever the lot falls to each clan, that land will belong to it. You will inherit the land according to your ancestors' tribes.

⁵⁵But if you do not drive out the land's inhabitants before you, then the people you allow to stay will become like objects in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will make your lives difficult in the land where you settle.⁵⁶Then it will happen that what I now intend to do to those people, I will do also to you.'"

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,²"Command the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan, the land that will belong to you, the land of Canaan and its borders,

³your southern border will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. The eastern end of the southern border will be on a line that ends at the southern end of the Salt Sea.

⁴Your border will turn south from the hill of Akrabbim and pass along through the wilderness of Zin. From there, it will run south of Kadesh Barnea and continue to Hazar Addar and further to Azmon.⁵From there, the border will turn from Azmon toward the brook of Egypt and follow it to the sea.

⁶The western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea. This will be your western border.

⁷Your northern border will extend along a line that you must mark out from the Great Sea to Mount Hor,⁸then from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath, then on to Zedad.⁹Then the border will continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰Then you must mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan south to Shepham.¹¹Then the eastern border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border will continue along the east side of the Sea of Kinnereth.¹²Then the border will continue south along the Jordan River to the Salt Sea and continue down the eastern border of the Salt Sea. This will be your land, following its borders all around.'"

¹³Then Moses commanded the people of Israel and said, "This is the land that you will receive by lot as a possession, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half tribe.¹⁴The tribe of the descendants of Reuben, following the assignment of property to their ancestor's tribe, and the tribe of the descendants of Gad, following the assignment of property to their ancestor's tribe, and the half tribe of Manasseh have all received their land.¹⁵The two tribes and the half tribe have received their possession beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise."

¹⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,¹⁷"These are the names of the men who will divide the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.¹⁸You must choose one leader from every tribe to divide the land as their possession.

¹⁹These are the names of the men:

From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

²⁰From the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, Shemuel son of Ammihud.

²¹From the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon.

²²From of the tribe of the descendants of Dan a leader, Bukki son of Jogli.

²³From the descendants of Joseph, of the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel son of Ephod.

²⁴From the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan.

²⁵From the tribe of the descendants of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnak.

²⁶From the tribe of the descendants of Issachar a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan.

²⁷From the tribe of the descendants of Asher a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi.

²⁸From the tribe of the descendants of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud."

²⁹Yahweh commanded these men to divide the land of Canaan and to give it to each of the tribes of Israel as their possession.

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,²"Command the people of Israel to give some of their own shares of the inheritance that they possess to the Levites. They must give them cities to live in and pastureland surrounding those cities.

³The Levites will have these cities to live in. The pastureland will be for their cattle, their flocks, and all their other animals.⁴The pasturelands around the cities that you will give to the Levites must extend from the city walls for one thousand cubits in every direction.

⁵You must measure two thousand cubits from outside the city on the east side, and two thousand cubits to the south side, two thousand cubits to the west side, and two thousand cubits to the north side. This will be the pasturelands for their cities. The cities will be in the center.

⁶Six of the cities that you will give to Levites must serve as cities of refuge. You must provide these as places to which a person who has killed someone can flee. Also provide forty-two other cities.⁷The cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight. You must give their pasturelands with them.

⁸As for the cities which you will give from the possession of the children of Israel, from tribes with many you shall take many, and from tribes with few you shall take few. Every tribe according to its inheritance shall give some of his cities to the Levites."

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,¹⁰"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,¹¹then you must choose cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, a place to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

¹²These cities must be your refuge from the avenger, so that the killer will not die without first standing trial before the community.¹³You must choose six cities as cities of refuge.

¹⁴You must provide three cities beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge.¹⁵For the people of Israel, for the foreigner, and for the sojourner, these six cities will serve as a refuge to which anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee.

¹⁶But if an accused man has struck his victim with an instrument of iron, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.¹⁷If an accused man has struck his victim with a stone in his hand that might kill the victim, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.¹⁸If an accused man has struck his victim with a wooden weapon that might kill the victim, and if the victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

¹⁹The avenger of blood must put the murderer to death. When he meets him, the avenger of blood must put him to death.²⁰If he strikes another in hatred or throws something at him, while hiding to ambush him, so that the victim dies,²¹or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²But if an accused man suddenly hits a victim without premeditated hate or throws something that hits the victim without lying in wait²³or if he throws a stone that could kill a victim without seeing the victim, then the accused was not the victim's enemy; he was not trying to hurt the victim. But this is what to do if the victim dies anyway.

²⁴In that case, the community must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood on the basis of these rules.²⁵The community must rescue the killer from the power of the avenger of blood. The community must return the accused to the city of refuge to which he had originally fled. He must live there until the death of the current high priest, the one who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶But if the killer at any time goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he fled,²⁷and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and if he kills the killer, the avenger of blood will not be guilty of murder.²⁸This is because the accused man should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the killer may return to the land where he has his own property.

²⁹These laws must be statutes for you through all your people's generations in all the places where you live.³⁰Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be killed, as testified to by the words of witnesses. But one witness's word alone may not cause any person to be put to death.

³¹Also, you must not accept ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of murder. He must certainly be put to death.³²You must not accept ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge. You must not in this way allow him to reside on his own property until the high priest dies.

³³Do not pollute in this way the land where you live, because blood from murder pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.³⁴So you must not defile the land in which you live because I am living in it. I, Yahweh, live among the people of Israel.'"

¹Then the leaders of the ancestors' families of the clan of Gilead son of Makir (who was Manasseh's son), who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and before the leaders who were the heads of the ancestor's families of the people of Israel.²They said, "Yahweh commanded you, our master, to give a share of land by lot to the people of Israel. You were commanded by Yahweh to give the possession of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

³But if his daughters marry men in another tribe of the people of Israel, then their share of land will be removed from our ancestor's share. It will be added to the share of the tribes that they join. In that case, it will be removed from the assigned share of our inheritance.⁴In that case, when the year of Jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their possession will be joined to the possession of the tribe that they have joined. In this way, their possession will be taken away from the possession of our ancestors' tribe."

⁵So Moses gave a command to the people of Israel, at Yahweh's word. He said, "What the tribe of Joseph's descendants says is right.⁶This is what Yahweh commands concerning Zelophehad's daughters. He says, 'Let them be married to whom they think best, but they must marry only within the clan of the tribe of their father.'

⁷No possession of the people of Israel must change from one tribe to another. Each one of the people of Israel must continue with the possession of his ancestor's tribe.

⁸Every woman of the people of Israel who has a possession in her tribe must marry someone from the clans belonging to her father's tribe. This is so that everyone of the people of Israel may own an inheritance from his ancestors.⁹No share may change hands from one tribe to another. Everyone of the tribes of the people of Israel must keep his own inheritance."

¹⁰So Zelophehad's daughters did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.¹¹Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married descendants of Manasseh.¹²They married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph. In this way, their inheritances remained in the tribe to which their father's clan belonged.

¹³These are the commands and the decrees that Yahweh gave by Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

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