Bamidbar 19-21
Orthodox Jewish Bible
19 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and unto Aharon, saying,
2 This is the chukkat hatorah which Hashem hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel, that they bring thee a completely red female cow [that has not produced a calf], wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came ol (yoke):
3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar HaKohen, that he may bring her forth outside the machaneh, and one shall slaughter (shachat) her before his face;
4 And Eleazar HaKohen shall take of her dahm with his finger, and sprinkle of her dahm directly before the Ohel Mo’ed seven times;
5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her hide, and her basar, and her dahm, with her dung, shall he burn;
6 And the kohen shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and crimson thread, and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer.
7 Then the kohen shall wash his clothes, and he shall immerse his basar in mayim, and afterward he shall come into the machaneh, and the kohen shall be tamei until the erev.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in mayim, and immerse his basar in mayim, and shall be tamei until the erev.
9 And a man that is tahor shall gather up the ashes of the cow, and lay them up outside the machaneh in a makom tahor, and it shall be in safekeeping for HaEdah Bnei Yisroel for water of sprinkling; it is for sinpurification.
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be tamei until the erev; and it shall be unto the Bnei Yisroel, and unto the ger that sojourneth among them, for a chukkat olam.
11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be tamei shivat yamim.
12 He shall make himself tahor with it on the Yom HaShelishi, and on the seventh day he shall be tahor; but if he does not make himself tahor on the Yom HaShelishi, then the seventh day he shall not be tahor.
13 Whosoever toucheth the body of any man that is dead, and maketh not himself tahor, makes tamei the Mishkan Hashem; and that nefesh shall be cut off from Yisroel; because the water of sprinkling was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be tamei; his tumah is yet upon him.
14 This is the torah, when a man dieth in an ohel, all that come into the ohel, and all that is in the ohel, shall be tamei seven days.
15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is tamei.
16 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a cherev in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a kever, shall be tamei seven days.
17 And for one who is tamei they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the purification [animal], and running mayim shall be put thereto in a vessel;
18 And an ish tahor shall take hyssop, and dip it in the mayim, and sprinkle it upon the ohel, and upon all the vessels, and upon the nefashot that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a kever;
19 And the tahor (clean person) shall sprinkle upon the tamei on the Yom HaShelishi, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall make himself tahor, and wash his clothes, and immerse himself in mayim, and shall be tahor at erev [T.N. On the messianic mikveh see Co 2:11-12].
20 But the man that shall be tamei, and shall not purify himself, that nefesh shall be cut off from among the Kahal, because he hath contaminated the Mikdash Hashem; the water of sprinkling hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is tamei.
21 And it shall be a chukkat olam unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of sprinkling shall immerse his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of sprinkling shall be tamei until erev.
22 And whatsoever the tamei person toucheth shall be tamei; and the nefesh that toucheth it shall be tamei until erev.
20 Then came the Bnei Yisroel, even the kol HaEdah into the Midbar of Tzin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miryam died there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no mayim for the Edah; and they gathered themselves together against Moshe and against Aharon.
3 And the people contended with Moshe, and spoke, saying, If only we had died when our brethren died before Hashem!
4 And why have ye brought up the Kahal Hashem into this midbar, that we and our livestock should die here?
5 And why have ye made us to come up out of Mitzrayim, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of zera (grain), or of te’enah (fig), or of gefen (grapevine), or of pomegranates; neither is there any mayim to drink.
6 And Moshe and Aharon went from the presence of the Kahal unto the entrance of the Ohel Mo’ed, and they fell upon their faces; and the kavod Hashem appeared unto them.
7 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,
8 Take the rod and gather thou the Edah together, thou and Aharon thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth its mayim, and thou shalt bring forth to them mayim out of the rock; so thou shalt give the Edah and their beasts drink.
9 And Moshe took the rod from before Hashem, just as He commanded him.
10 And Moshe and Aharon gathered the Kahal together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye morim (rebels, contentious ones); must we fetch you mayim out of this rock?
11 And Moshe lifted up his hand, and with his rod he struck the rock twice; and the mayim came out abundantly, and the Edah drank, and their beasts also.
12 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and Aharon, Because ye believed Me not, to honor Me as kadosh in the eyes of the Bnei Yisroel, therefore ye shall not bring this Kahal into HaAretz which I have given them.
13 These were the Waters of Merivah (Quarreling); because the Bnei Yisroel quarreled with Hashem, and He showed Himself kadosh among them.
14 And Moshe sent messengers from Kadesh unto the melech of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Yisroel, Thou knowest all the hardship that hath befallen us:
15 How Avoteinu went down into Mitzrayim, and we have dwelt in Mitzrayim a long time; and the Egyptians did evil to us, and Avoteinu;
16 And when we cried unto Hashem, He heard our voice, and sent a malach, and hath brought us forth out of Mitzrayim; and, hinei, we are in Kadesh, a town in the edge of thy border;
17 Let us pass, please, through thy country; we will not pass through the fields, or through the kerem (vineyards), neither will we drink of the mayim of the wells; we will go by the Derech HaMelech; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed through thy territory.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out against thee with the cherev.
19 And the Bnei Yisroel said unto him, We will go by the main road; and if I and my livestock drink of thy mayim, then I will pay for it; I will only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with a large army, and with a yad chazakah.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Yisroel passage through his border; wherefore Yisroel turned away from him.
22 And the Bnei Yisroel, even Kol HaEdah, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mt Hor.
23 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe and Aharon in Mt Hor, by the border of Eretz Edom, saying,
24 Aharon shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into HaAretz which I have given unto the Bnei Yisroel, because ye rebelled against My word at the Waters of Merivah.
25 Take Aharon and Eleazar bno, and bring them up unto Mt Hor;
26 And strip Aharon of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar bno; and Aharon shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moshe did as Hashem commanded; and they went up into Mt Hor in the sight of Kol HaEdah.
28 And Moshe stripped Aharon of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar bno; and Aharon died there on the top of the mount; and Moshe and Eleazar came down from the mount.
29 And when Kol HaEdah saw that Aharon was dead, they mourned for Aharon shloshim yom, even Kol Bais Yisroel.
21 And when melech of Arad the Kena’ani, which dwelt in the Negev, heard that Yisroel came by the Derech HaAtarim; then he fought against Yisroel, and took some of them prisoners.
2 And Yisroel vowed a neder unto Hashem, and said, If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
3 And Hashem paid heed to the kol Yisroel, and delivered up the Kena’ani; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and the place was named Chormah (Utter Destruction).
4 And they journeyed from Mt Hor by the way of the Yam Suf, to go around Eretz Edom; and the nefesh haAm was much impatient because of the way.
5 And the people spoke against Elohim, and against Moshe, Why have ye brought us up out of Mitzrayim to die in the midbar? For there is no lechem, neither is there any mayim; and our nefesh loatheth this wretched lechem.
6 And Hashem sent fiery nechashim among the people, and they bit the people; and Am rav miYisroel died.
7 Therefore HaAm came to Moshe, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against Hashem, and against thee; pray unto Hashem that He take away the Nachash from us. And Moshe davened for the people.
8 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Make thee a fiery serpent, set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moshe made a nachash of nechoshet, put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a nachash had bitten any man, when he beheld the nachash hanechoshet, then he lived [see Yn 3:14-15].
10 And the Bnei Yisroel set out, and encamped in Ovot.
11 And they journeyed from Ovot, and encamped at Iyei-HaAvarim, in the midbar which is before Moav, toward the mizrach hashemesh.
12 From thence they removed, and encamped in the Wadi Zered.
13 From thence they removed, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the midbar encroaching the Emori; for Arnon is the border of Moav, between Moav and the Emori.
14 Wherefore it is said in the Sefer Michamot Hashem, Vahev v’sufah and in the Vadis Arnon,
15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the site of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moav.
16 And from thence they went to Beer; that is the Well whereof Hashem spoke unto Moshe, Gather the people together, and I will give them mayim.
17 Then Yisroel sang this shirah (song), Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it.
18 The sarim (princes) dug the well, the nobles of the people dug it, by the direction of the Mechokek (Lawgiver), with their rods. And from the midbar they went to Mattanah;
19 And from Mattanah to Nachaliel; and from Nachaliel to Bamot;
20 And from Bamot in the valley, that is in the country of Moav, to the top of Pisgah, overlooking the surface of the wasteland.
21 And Yisroel sent messengers unto Sichon Melech HaEmori, saying,
22 Let me pass through thy land; we will not turn into the fields, or into the kerem (vineyards); we will not drink of the waters of the well, but we will go along by the Derech HaMelech until we be past thy borders [Yn 14:6].
23 And Sichon would not suffer Yisroel to pass through his border; but Sichon gathered all his army together, and went out against Yisroel into the midbar; and he came to Yachatz and fought against Yisroel.
24 And Yisroel struck down him with the edge of the cherev, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Yabbok, even unto the Bnei Ammon; for the border of the Bnei Ammon was fortified.
25 And Yisroel took all these cities; Yisroel dwelt in all the cities of the Emori, in Cheshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
26 For Chesbon was the city of Sichon Melech HaEmori, who had fought against the former king of Moav, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Cheshbon, let the city of Sichon be built and prepared;
28 For there is a fire gone out of Cheshbon, a flame from the city of Sichon; it hath consumed Ar of Moav, and citizens of the heights of Arnon.
29 Woe to thee, Moav! Thou art undone, O people of Kemosh; he hath given his banim as fugitives, and his banot, captives unto Sichon Melech Emori.
30 Down they have been cast; Chesbon is perished even unto Divon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophach, which reacheth unto Meidva.
31 Thus Yisroel dwelt in Eretz HaEmori.
32 And Moshe sent to spy out Yazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out HaEmori that were there.
33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og Melech HaBashan went out against them, he, and all his army, to the battle at Edrei.
34 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, all his army, his land; thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sichon Melech HaEmori, which dwelt at Chesbon.
35 So they struck him down, and his banim, and all his army, until there was none alive left to him: and they possessed his land.
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