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Numbers 17

Aaron's Walking Stick Blooms and Produces Almonds

    ^2-3Call together the twelve tribes of Israel and tell the leader of each tribe to write his name on the walking stick he carries as a symbol of his authority. Make sure Aaron's name is written on the one from the Levi tribe, then collect all the sticks.

    ⁴Place these sticks in the tent right in front of the sacred chest where I appear to you. ⁵I will then choose a man to be my priest, and his stick will sprout. After that happens, I won't have to listen to any more complaints about you.

    ⁶Moses told the people what the LORD had commanded, and they gave him the walking sticks from the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron's from the Levi tribe. ⁷Moses took them and placed them in the LORD's sacred tent.

    ⁸The next day when Moses went into the tent, flowers and almonds were already growing on Aaron's stick. ⁹Moses brought the twelve sticks out of the tent and showed them to the people. Each of the leaders found his own and took it.

    ¹⁰But the LORD told Moses, " Put Aaron's stick back! Let it stay near the sacred chest as a warning to anyone who might think about rebelling. If these people don't stop their grumbling about me, I will wipe them out." ¹¹Moses did what he was told.

    ¹²The Israelites cried out to Moses, " We're done for ¹³and doomed if we even get near the sacred tent!"

Numbers 18

The Duties of the Priests and Levites

   You, your sons, and the other Levites of the Kohath clan, are responsible for what happens at the sacred tent. ^[a] And you and your sons will be responsible for what the priests do. ²The Levites are your relatives and are here to help you in your service at the tent. ³You must see that they perform their duties. But if they go near any of the sacred objects or the altar, all of you will die. ⁴No one else is allowed to take care of the sacred tent or to do anything connected with it. ⁵Follow these instructions, so I won't become angry and punish the Israelites ever again. ⁶I alone chose the Levites from all the other tribes to belong to me, and I have given them to you as your helpers. ⁷But only you and your sons can serve as priests at the altar and in the most holy place. Your work as priests is a gift from me, and anyone else who tries to do that work must be put to death.

The Priests' Share of Offerings Given to the LORD

(Deuteronomy 18.1-8)

   I have put you in charge of the sacred gifts and sacrifices that the Israelites bring to me. And from now on, you, your sons, and your descendants will receive part of the sacrifices for sin, as well as part of the grain sacrifices, and the sacrifices to make things right. Your share of these sacrifices will be the parts not burned on the altar. ¹⁰Since these things are sacred, they must be eaten near the sacred tent, but only men are allowed to eat them.

    ¹¹You will also receive part of the special gifts and offerings that the Israelites bring to me. Any member of your family who is clean and acceptable for worship can eat these things. ¹²For example, when the Israelites bring me the first batches of oil, wine, and grain, you can have the best parts of those gifts. ¹³And the first part of the crops from their fields and vineyards also belongs to you. The people will offer this to me, then anyone in your family who is clean may have some of it.

    ¹⁴Everything in Israel that has been completely dedicated to me ^[b] will now belong to you. ¹⁵The first-born son in every Israelite family, as well as the first-born males of their flocks and herds, belong to me. But a first-born son and every first-born donkey ^[c] must be bought back from me. ¹⁶The price for a first-born son who is at least one month old will be five pieces of silver, weighed according to the official standards. ¹⁷However, all first-born cattle, sheep, and goats belong to me and cannot be bought back. Splatter their blood on the altar and send their fat up in smoke, so I can smell it and be pleased. ¹⁸You are allowed to eat the meat of those animals, just as you can eat the choice ribs and the right hind leg of the special sacrifices. ¹⁹From now on, the sacred offerings that the Israelites give to me will belong to you, your sons, and your daughters. This is my promise to you and your descendants, and it will never change.

    ²⁰You will not receive any land in Israel as your own. I am the LORD, and I will give you whatever you need.

What the Levites Receive

The LORD said to Aaron:

   Since the Levites won't be given any land in Israel as their own, ²⁴they will be given the crops and newborn animals that the Israelites offer to me.

What the Levites Must Give

   When you receive from the people of Israel ten percent of their crops and newborn animals, you must offer a tenth of that to me. ²⁷Just as the Israelites give me part of their grain and wine, you must set aside part of what you receive ²⁸as an offering to me. That amount must then be given to Aaron, ²⁹so the best of what you receive will be mine.

    ³⁰After you have dedicated the best parts to me, you can eat the rest, just as the Israelites eat part of their grain and wine after offering them to me. ^{[d] 31}Your share may be eaten anywhere by anyone in your family, because it is your pay for working at the sacred tent. ³²You won't be punished for eating it, as long as you have already offered the best parts to me. The gifts and sacrifices brought by the people must remain sacred, and if you eat any part of them before they are offered to me, you will be put to death.

Numbers 19

The Ceremony To Wash Away Sin

   The people of Israel must bring Moses a reddish-brown cow that has nothing wrong with it and that has never been used for plowing. ³Moses will give it to Eleazar the priest, then it will be led outside the camp and killed while Eleazar watches. ⁴He will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the sacred tent. ⁵Then the whole cow, including its skin, meat, blood, and insides must be burned. ⁶A priest ^[e] is to throw a stick of cedar wood, a hyssop ^[f] branch, and a piece of red yarn into the fire. ⁷After the ceremony, the priest is to take a bath and wash his clothes. Only then can he go back into the camp, but he remains unclean and unfit for worship until evening. ⁸The man who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and take a bath, but he is also unclean until evening.

    ⁹A man who isn't unclean must collect the ashes of the burnt cow and store them outside the camp in a clean place. The people of Israel can mix these ashes with the water used in the ceremony to wash away sin. ¹⁰The man who collects the ashes must wash his clothes, but will remain unclean until evening. This law must always be obeyed by the people of Israel and the foreigners living among them.

What Must Be Done after Touching a Dead Body

The LORD said:

    ¹⁴If someone dies in a tent while you are there, you will be unclean for seven days. And anyone who later enters the tent will also be unclean. ¹⁵Any open jar in the tent is unclean.

    ¹⁶If you touch the body of someone who was killed or who died of old age, or if you touch a human bone or a grave, you will be unclean for seven days.

    ^17-18Before you can be made clean, someone who is clean must take some of the ashes from the burnt cow and stir them into a pot of spring water. That same person must dip a hyssop branch in the water and ashes, then sprinkle it on the tent and everything in it, including everyone who was inside. If you have touched a human bone, a grave, or a dead body, you must be sprinkled with that water. ¹⁹If this is done on the third day and on the seventh day, you will be clean. Then after you take a bath and wash your clothes, you can worship that evening.

    ²⁰If you are unclean and refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes, you will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean, and you will no longer belong to the people of Israel. ²¹These laws will never change.

   The man who sprinkled the water and the ashes on you when you were unclean must also wash his clothes. And whoever touches this water is unclean until evening. ²²When you are unclean, everything you touch becomes unclean, and anyone who touches you will be unclean until evening.

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Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

(Matthew 14.13-21; Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14)

    ³⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd that was like sheep without a shepherd. He felt sorry for the people and started teaching them many things.

    ³⁵That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, "This place is like a desert, and it is already late. ³⁶Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the farms and villages near here and buy something to eat."

    ³⁷Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat."

   But they asked him, "Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages ^[c] to buy all of these people something to eat?"

    ³⁸Then Jesus said, "How much bread do you have? Go and see!"

   They found out and answered, "We have five small loaves of bread ^[d] and two fish." ³⁹Jesus told his disciples to have the people sit down on the green grass. ⁴⁰They sat down in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty.

    ⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples to give to the people. He also divided the two fish, so that everyone could have some.

    ⁴²After everyone had eaten all they wanted, ⁴³Jesus' disciples picked up twelve large baskets of leftover bread and fish.

    ⁴⁴There were five thousand men who ate the food.

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Matthew 14.22-33; John 6.15-21)

    ⁴⁷Later that evening he was still there by himself, and the boat was somewhere in the middle of the lake. ⁴⁸He could see that the disciples were struggling hard, because they were rowing against the wind. Not long before morning, Jesus came toward them. He was walking on the water and was about to pass the boat.

    ⁴⁹When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost, and they started screaming. ⁵⁰All of them saw him and were terrified. But at that same time he said, "Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid." ⁵¹He then got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely confused. ⁵²Their minds were closed, and they could not understand the true meaning of the loaves of bread.

Jesus Heals Sick People in Gennesaret

(Matthew 14.34-36)