Regulations for Celebrating Passover

9 ^(A) During the first month of Israel's second year in the Sinai Desert,^[a] the Lord had told Moses ² to say to the people, “Celebrate Passover ³ in the evening of the fourteenth day of this month^[b] and do it by following all the regulations.” ^4-5 Moses told the people what the Lord had said, and they celebrated Passover there in the desert in the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.

⁶ Some people in Israel's camp had touched a dead body and had become unfit to worship the Lord, and they could not celebrate Passover. But they asked Moses and Aaron, ⁷ “Even though we have touched a dead body, why can't we celebrate Passover and offer sacrifices to the Lord at the same time as everyone else?”

⁸ Moses said, “Wait here while I go into the sacred tent and find out what the Lord says about this.”

⁹ The Lord then told Moses ¹⁰ to say to the community of Israel:

If any of you or your descendants touch a dead body and become unfit to worship me, or if you are away on a long journey, you may still celebrate Passover. ¹¹ But it must be done in the second month,^[c] in the evening of the fourteenth day. Eat the Passover lamb with thin bread and bitter herbs, ^12 (B) and don't leave any of it until morning or break any of the animal's bones. Be sure to follow these regulations.

¹³ But if any of you are fit to worship me, and yet refuse to celebrate Passover when you are not away on a journey, you will no longer belong to my people. You will be punished because you did not offer sacrifices to me at the proper time.

¹⁴ Anyone, including foreigners who live among you, can celebrate Passover, if they follow all the regulations.

The Cloud over the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 40.34-38)

^15-16 As soon as the sacred tent was set up,^[d] a thick cloud appeared and covered it. The cloud was there each day, and during the night, a fire could be seen in it. ^17-19 The Lord used this cloud to tell the Israelites when to move their camp and where to set it up again. As long as the cloud covered the tent, the Israelites did not break camp. But when the cloud moved, they followed it, and wherever it stopped, they camped and stayed there, ^20-22 whether it was only one night, a few days, a month, or even a year. As long as the cloud remained over the tent, the Israelites stayed where they were. But when the cloud moved, so did the Israelites. ²³ They obeyed the Lord's commands and went wherever he directed Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord told Moses:

² Have someone make two trumpets out of hammered silver. These will be used to call the people together and to give the signal for moving your camp. ³ If both trumpets are blown, everyone is to meet with you at the entrance to the sacred tent. ⁴ But if just one is blown, only the twelve tribal leaders need to come together.

^5-6 Give a signal on a trumpet when it is time to break camp. The first blast will be the signal for the tribes camped on the east side, and the second blast will be the signal for those on the south. ⁷ But when you want everyone to come together, sound a different signal on the trumpet. ⁸ The priests of Aaron's family will be the ones to blow the trumpets, and this law will never change.

⁹ Whenever you go into battle against an enemy attacking your land, give a warning signal on the trumpets. Then I, the Lord, will hear it and rescue you. ¹⁰ During the celebration of the New Moon Festival and other religious festivals, sound the trumpets while you offer sacrifices. This will be a reminder that I am the Lord your God.

The Israelites Begin Their Journey

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month^[e] of that same year, the cloud over the sacred tent moved on. ¹² So the Israelites broke camp and left the Sinai Desert. And some time later, the cloud stopped in the Paran Desert.^{[f] 13} This was the first time the Lord had told Moses to command the people of Israel to move on.

¹⁴ Judah and the tribes that camped alongside it marched out first, carrying their banner. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the leader of the Judah tribe, ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar was the leader of the Issachar tribe, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was the leader of the Zebulun tribe.

¹⁷ The sacred tent had been taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites carried it, marching behind the Judah camp.

¹⁸ Reuben and the tribes that camped alongside it marched out second, carrying their banner. Elizur son of Shedeur was the leader of the Reuben tribe, ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was the leader of the Simeon tribe, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel was the leader of the Gad tribe.

²¹ Next were the Kohathites, carrying the objects for the sacred tent, which was to be set up before they arrived at the new camp.

²² Ephraim and the tribes that camped alongside it marched next, carrying their banner. Elishama son of Ammihud was the leader of the Ephraim tribe, ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was the leader of the Manasseh tribe, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was the leader of the Benjamin tribe.

²⁵ Dan and the tribes that camped alongside it were to protect the Israelites against an attack from behind, and so they marched last, carrying their banner. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was the leader of the tribe of Dan, ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran was the leader of the Asher tribe, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was the leader of the Naphtali tribe.

²⁸ This was the order in which the Israelites marched each time they moved their camp.

²⁹ Hobab^[g] the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses, was there. And Moses said to him, “We're leaving for the place the Lord has promised us. He has said that all will go well for us. So come along, and we will make sure that all goes well for you.”

³⁰ “No, I won't go,” Hobab answered. “I'm returning home to be with my own people.”

³¹ “Please go with us!” Moses said. “You can be our guide because you know the places to camp in the desert. ³² Besides that, if you go, we will give you a share of the good things the Lord gives us.”

³³ The people of Israel began their journey from Mount Sinai.^[h] They traveled three days, and the Levites who carried the sacred chest led the way, so the Lord could show them where to camp. ³⁴ And the cloud always stayed with them.

^35 (C) Each day as the Israelites began their journey, Moses would pray, “Our Lord, defeat your enemies and make them run!” ³⁶ And when they stopped to set up camp, he would pray, “Our Lord, stay close to Israel's thousands and thousands of people.”

The Israelites Complain

11 One day the Israelites started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard them and became so angry that he destroyed the outer edges of their camp with fire.

² When the people begged Moses to help, he prayed, and the fire went out. ³ They named the place “Burning,”^[i] because in his anger the Lord had set their camp on fire.

The People Grumble about Being Hungry

⁴ One day some foreigners among the Israelites became greedy for food, and even the Israelites themselves began moaning, “We don't have any meat! ⁵ In Egypt we could eat all the fish we wanted, and there were cucumbers, melons, all kinds of onions, and garlic. ⁶ But we're starving out here, and the only food we have is this manna.”

^7 (D) The manna was like small whitish seeds ^8-9 (E) and tasted like something baked with sweet olive oil. It appeared at night with the dew. In the morning the people would collect the manna, grind or crush it into flour, then boil it and make it into thin wafers.

¹⁰ The Israelites stood around their tents complaining. Moses heard them and was upset that they had made the Lord angry. ¹¹ He prayed:

I am your servant, Lord, so why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? You've made me responsible for all these people, ¹² but they're not my children. You told me to nurse them along and to carry them to the land you promised their ancestors. ¹³ They keep whining for meat, but where can I get meat for them? ¹⁴ This job is too much for me. How can I take care of all these people by myself? ¹⁵ If this is the way you're going to treat me, just kill me now and end my miserable life!

Seventy Leaders Are Chosen To Help Moses

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses:

Choose 70 of Israel's respected leaders and go with them to the sacred tent. ¹⁷ While I am talking with you there, I will give them some of your authority, so they can share responsibility for my people. You will no longer have to care for them by yourself.

¹⁸ As for the Israelites, I have heard them complaining about not having meat and about being better off in Egypt. So tell them to make themselves acceptable to me, because tomorrow they will have meat. ^19-20 In fact, they will have meat day after day for a whole month—not just a few days, or even 10 or 20. They turned against me and wanted to go back to Egypt. Now they will eat meat until they get sick of it.

²¹ Moses replied, “At least 600,000 grown men are here with me. How can you say there will be enough meat to feed them and their families for a whole month? ²² Even if we butchered all our sheep and cattle, or caught every fish in the sea, we wouldn't have enough to feed them.”

²³ The Lord answered, “I can do anything! Watch and you'll see my words come true.”

²⁴ Moses told the people what the Lord had said. Then he chose 70 respected leaders and went with them to the sacred tent. While the leaders stood in a circle around the tent, Moses went inside, ²⁵ and the Lord spoke with him. Then the Lord took some authority^[j] from Moses and gave it to the 70 leaders. And when the Lord's Spirit took control of them, they started shouting like prophets. But they did it only this one time.

²⁶ Eldad and Medad were two leaders who had not gone to the tent. But when the Spirit took control of them, they began shouting like prophets right there in camp. ²⁷ A boy ran to Moses and told him about Eldad and Medad.

²⁸ Joshua^[k] was there helping Moses, as he had done since he was young. And he said to Moses, “Sir, you must stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you concerned what this might do to me? I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people so everyone could be a prophet.” ³⁰ Then Moses and the 70 leaders went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Some time later the Lord sent a strong wind that blew quails in from the sea until Israel's camp was completely surrounded with birds, piled up about a meter high for many kilometers in every direction. ³² The people picked up quails for two days—each person filled at least ten large baskets. Then they spread them out to dry. ³³ But before the meat could be eaten, the Lord became angry and sent a deadly disease through the camp.

³⁴ After they had buried the people who had been so greedy for meat, they called the place “Graves for the Greedy.”^[l]

³⁵ Israel then broke camp and traveled to Hazeroth.

A Man with Evil Spirits

(Matthew 8.28-34; Luke 8.26-39)

5 Jesus and his disciples crossed Lake Galilee and came to shore near the town of Gerasa.^{[a] 2} When he was getting out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit quickly ran to him ³ from the graveyard^[b] where he had been living. No one was able to tie the man up anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ He had often been put in chains and leg irons, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one could control him. ⁵ Night and day he was in the graveyard or on the hills, yelling and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ When the man saw Jesus in the distance, he ran up to him and knelt down. ⁷ He shouted, “Jesus, Son of God in heaven, what do you want with me? Promise me in God's name that you won't torture me!” ⁸ The man said this because Jesus had already told the evil spirit to come out of him.

⁹ Jesus asked, “What is your name?”

The man answered, “My name is Lots, because I have ‘lots’ of evil spirits.” ¹⁰ He then begged Jesus not to send them away.

¹¹ Over on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. ¹² So the evil spirits begged Jesus, “Send us into those pigs! Let us go into them.” ¹³ Jesus let them go, and they went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd of about 2,000 pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

¹⁴ The men taking care of the pigs ran to the town and the farms to spread the news. Then the people came out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had once been full of demons. He was sitting there with his clothes on and in his right mind, and they were terrified.

¹⁶ Everyone who had seen what had happened told about the man and the pigs. ¹⁷ Then the people started begging Jesus to leave their part of the country.

¹⁸ When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man begged to go with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how good he has been to you.”

²⁰ The man went away into the region near the ten cities known as Decapolis^[c] and began telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him. Everyone who heard what had happened was amazed.

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