Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), but you shall cleanse them [first] and present them as a wave offering; ¹⁶ for they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for Myself instead of ^[a]all who are born first, the firstborn of all the Israelites. ¹⁷ For all the firstborn among the Israelites are Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified and set the Israelites apart for Myself. ¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the Israelites. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and to make atonement for them, so that there will be no plague among the Israelites if they should approach the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did [these things] to the Levites; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the Israelites did to them. ²¹ The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and they washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement

²³ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁵ but at the age of fifty years, they shall ^[b]retire from the service of the [tabernacle] work and serve no longer. ²⁶ They may assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting to keep an obligation, but they shall do no [heavy or difficult] work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”

The Passover

9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ² “The sons of Israel are to keep the Passover at its appointed time. ³ On the fourteenth day of this month ^[c]at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and ordinances you shall keep it.” ⁴ So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover. ⁵ They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the Wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did. ⁶ But there were certain men who were [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] the dead body of a man, so they could not observe the Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron that same day. ⁷ Those men said to Moses, “We are [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body. Why are we being restrained from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” ⁸ Therefore, Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Say to the Israelites, ‘If any one of you or of your descendants becomes [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the Lord. ¹¹ On the fourteenth day of the second month [thirty days later] at twilight, they shall observe it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They shall leave none of it until morning nor break any of its bones; in accordance with all the statutes of the Passover they shall observe it.^{(A) 13} But the man who is [ceremonially] clean and is not on a journey, and yet does not observe the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them] because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man will bear [the penalty of] his sin. ¹⁴ If a stranger lives among you as a resident alien and observes the Passover to the Lord, in accordance with its statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

¹⁵ Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God’s presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was over the tabernacle, appearing like [a pillar of] fire until the morning.^{(B) 16} So it was continuously; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent (tabernacle), afterward the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites would camp. ¹⁸ At the Lord’s command the Israelites would journey on, and at His command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the Lord and not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud remained only a few days over the tabernacle, and in accordance with the command of the Lord they remained camped. Then at His command they set out. ²¹ If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out. ²³ At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed on; they kept their obligation to the Lord, in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying, ² “Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out. ³ When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ⁴ However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ⁵ When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. ⁶ When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys]. ⁷ When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹ When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

The Tribes Leave Sinai

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony, ¹² and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord’s guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran. ¹³ So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses. ¹⁴ The ^[d]standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, moved out first, Nahshon the son of Amminadab was [commander] over its army, ¹⁵ and Nethanel the son of Zuar was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar; ¹⁶ and Eliab the son of Helon was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

¹⁷ Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out. ¹⁸ Next the ^[e]standard of the camp of the sons of Reuben, according to their armies, moved out, with Elizur the son of Shedeur [commander] over its army, ¹⁹ and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

²¹ Then the Kohathites moved out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived. ²² Next the ^[f]standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim moved out, according to their armies, with Elishama the son of Ammihud [commander] over its army, ²³ and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan the son of Gideoni was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵ Then the ^[g]standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, moved out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [commander] over its army, ²⁶ and Pagiel the son of Ochran was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira the son of Enan was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali. ²⁸ This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they moved out.

²⁹ Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are going to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will be good to you, for the Lord has promised good [things] concerning Israel.” ³⁰ But Hobab [Moses’ brother-in-law] said to him, “I will not go; I will return to my own land and to my family.” ³¹ Then Moses said, “^[h]Please do not leave us, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us [as we make our trek through the desert]. ³² So if you will go with us, it shall be that ^[i]whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do the same for you.”

³³ So they set out from the mountain of the Lord (Sinai) three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went in front of them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them. ³⁴ The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,

³⁶ And when the ark rested, Moses said,

The People Complain

11 Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp. ² So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire died out. ³ He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ The ^[j]rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now our ^[k]appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] ^[l]to be seen but this manna.”

⁷ The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like ^[m]bdellium. ⁸ The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes with it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh [olive] oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.

The Complaint of Moses

¹⁰ Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and ^[n]Moses regarded their behavior as evil. ¹¹ So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have placed the burden of all these people on me? ¹² Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your ^[o]arms as a nurse carries the nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? ¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, so that we may eat.’ ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ So if this is the way You are going to deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”

Seventy Elders to Assist

¹⁶ Accordingly, the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for Me ^[p]seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it all alone. ¹⁸ Say to the people, ‘Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ²⁰ but a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept [in self-pity] before Him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”^{(D) 21} But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!’ ²² Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?” ²³ The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not.”^(E)

²⁴ So Moses went out and spoke to the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered seventy men from among the elders of the people and stationed them around the Tent (tabernacle). ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took some of the Spirit who was upon Moses and put Him upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [praising God and declaring His will], but they did not do it again.^(F)

²⁶ But two men had remained in the camp; one named Eldad and the other named Medad. The Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the Tent), and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying [extolling the praises of God and declaring His will] in the camp.” ²⁸ Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”^{(G) 30} Then Moses went back into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

³¹ Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground. ³² The people spent all that day and all night and all the next day and caught and gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves around the camp [to cure them by drying]. ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague. ³⁴ So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah (the graves of greediness), because there they buried the people who had been greedy [for more than the manna that God provided them].^{(H) 35} From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Now ^[q]Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the ^[r]Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); ² and they said, “Has the Lord really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?” And the Lord heard it. ³ (^[s]Now the man Moses was very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).” And the three of them came out. ⁵ The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward. ⁶ And He said,

⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and He departed. ¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. ¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. ¹² Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.” ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^[t]spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again [and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy].

¹⁶ Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Spies View the Land

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. From each of their fathers’ tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” ³ So Moses sent spies from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites. ⁴ These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] the son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ¹⁶ These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (the Lord is salvation).

¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many, ¹⁹ and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications, ²⁰ and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north]. ²² When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.

The Spies’ Reports

²⁵ When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶ they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the land’s fruit. ²⁷ They reported to Moses and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does ^[u]flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are ^[v]fortified (walled) and very large; moreover, we saw there the descendants of Anak [people of great stature and courage]. ²⁹ [The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are too strong for us.” ³² So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation [of Israel] raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. ² All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us to this land [of Canaan], to fall by the sword? Our wives and ^[w]children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”^{(J) 4} So they said one to another, “Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. ⁶ Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [as a sign of grief], ⁷ and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which ^[x]flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” ¹⁰ But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the [miraculous] signs which I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³ But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say, ¹⁶ ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’^{(K) 19} Please pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.”

The Lord Pardons and Rebukes

²⁰ So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; ²¹ but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.^{(L) 22} Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, ²³ will by no means see the land which I swore to [give to] their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it.^{(M) 24} But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. ²⁵ Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.”

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; ²⁹ your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.^{(N) 30} Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you. ³¹ But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected. ³² But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. ³⁴ According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin]. ³⁵ I, the Lord, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.’”^(O)

³⁶ As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation murmur and complain against him by bringing back a bad report concerning the land, ³⁷ even those [ten] men who brought back the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord.^{(P) 38} But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Israel Repulsed

³⁹ Moses spoke the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ They got up early in the morning and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Look, here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.” ⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? ⁴² Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from following the Lord; therefore the Lord will not be with you.” ⁴⁴ But [in their arrogance] they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck the Israelites and scattered them as far as Hormah.

Laws for Canaan

15 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you, ³ then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock. ⁴ The one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a ^[y]hin of oil, ⁵ and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. ⁶ Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. ⁷ And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁸ When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the Lord, ⁹ then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; ¹⁰ and you shall bring as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

¹¹ ‘Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. ¹² According to the number that you prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number. ¹³ All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

Law of the Stranger

¹⁴ If a stranger lives as a resident alien with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do. ¹⁵ As for the assembly, there shall be one [and the same] statute for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a resident alien with you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. ¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who lives with you as a resident alien.’”

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you, ¹⁹ then, when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering (heave offering) to the Lord. ²⁰ You shall lift up a cake made of the first of your [ground grain which has been made into] dough as an offering [to the Lord]; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it up. ²¹ From the first of your dough (ground grain) you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.

²² ‘But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses, ²³ even all that the Lord has commanded you ^[z]through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward throughout your generations, ²⁴ then it shall be, if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven, for it was an error and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error. ²⁶ So all the congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven as well as the stranger who lives among them as a resident alien, because all the people were involved in the error.

²⁷ ‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a female goat one year old as a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven. ²⁹ You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born among the Israelites or a stranger who is living among them as a resident alien. ³⁰ But the person who does [anything wrong] ^[aa]willfully and defiantly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ³¹ Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.’”

Sabbath-breaking Punished

³² Now while the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; ³⁴ and they put him in custody, because it had not been explained [by God] what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the tassel of each hem. ³⁹ It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, so that you do not follow after [the desires of] your own heart and eyes, [desires] after which you used to follow and play the prostitute, ⁴⁰ so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy (set apart) to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action, ² and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction. ³ They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to Him, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.^{(Q) 6} Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, ⁷ then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, ⁹ does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near [to Him], Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said [defiantly], “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land [of plenty] ^[ab]flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering! I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them.” ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company are to appear before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” ²² But they fell on their faces [before the Lord], and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Say to the congregation, ‘Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷ So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all mankind or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then [you will know for sure that] the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”

³¹ As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open; ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions.^{(R) 33} So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us also.” ³⁵ Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

^36 [ac]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. ³⁸ As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar [of burnt offering], for they were presented before the Lord and they are sacred. They shall be a [warning] sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out [into broad sheets] as a plating for the [bronze] altar [of burnt offering], ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.” ⁴² When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the Lord]. ⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had [already] begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end. ⁴⁹ But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.

Aaron’s Rod Buds

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and get rods from them, a rod for each father’s household, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods. Write every man’s name on his rod, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ It shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud, and I will no longer hear the constant grumblings of the Israelites, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ⁷ So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and ^[ad]the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds. ⁹ Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die.” ¹¹ And Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² The sons of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed! ¹³ Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household (family) with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary [that is, through your service as priests you will atone for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood [that is, your own unintentional offenses]. ² But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father (ancestor), so that they may join with you and serve you [as assistants], while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony [the Holy Place where only priests may go, and the Most Holy Place which only the high priest may enter]. ³ And the Levites shall attend to your duty [as assistants] and to the duties of all the tent (tabernacle); only they shall not approach the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting—all the service of the tent—and no stranger [no layman, anyone who is not a Levite] may approach you [and your sons]. ⁵ So you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense], so that there will no longer be wrath on the Israelites [as with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram].^{(S) 6} Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, given (dedicated) to the Lord, to do the service for the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ⁷ Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense] and [of the Holy of Holies] within the veil, and you are to serve. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the stranger (outsider, layman) who approaches shall be put to death.”^(T)

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I [the Lord] have entrusted you with My heave offerings, even all the holy gifts of the Israelites, I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a continual allotment.^{(U) 9} This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of the people, every grain offering and sin offering and guilt offering, which they shall render (give) to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ You shall eat it as the most holy thing; every male [of your family] shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.^{(V) 11} This also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, including all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you as a continual allotment; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it. ¹² All the best of the fresh [olive] oil, and all the best of the new wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord, I give them to you. ¹³ The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it. ¹⁴ Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been promised to the Lord with an oath] shall be yours. ¹⁵ Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether it is man or animal, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall most certainly redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ And their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem, according to your ^[ae]valuation, for the [fixed] price of five shekels in silver, in accordance with the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But the firstborn of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy [and belong to the Lord]. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ Their meat shall be yours, like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. ¹⁹ All the offerings of the holy things, which the Israelites offer to the Lord I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you as a continual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of ^[af]salt [that cannot be dissolved or violated] before the Lord to you and to your descendants with you.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], nor have any portion [of land] among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ “Behold, I have given the Levites all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ²² The Israelites shall never again approach the Tent of Meeting [the covered sanctuary, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies], or they [who do] will incur sin and die. ²³ Only the Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that the Levites shall have no inheritance [of land] among the children of Israel. ²⁴ But the tithe of the Israelites, which they present as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘They shall ^[ag]have no inheritance among the children of Israel.’”

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe [paid by the people]. ²⁷ Your offering shall be credited to you as the grain from the threshing floor or as the full produce from the wine vat. ²⁸ Likewise you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the Israelites; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all your gifts, you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of it, even the sacred part from them.’ ³⁰ Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered the best from it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat. ³¹ You may eat it anywhere, you and [the members of] your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ³² You will bear no sin because of it when you have offered the best of it; but you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the children of Israel, or you will die [because of it].’”

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Tell the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed. ³ You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) seven times. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its waste, shall be burned (reduced to ash). ⁶ The priest shall take cedar wood and ^[ah]hyssop and scarlet [material] and cast them into the midst of the burning heifer. ⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward come into the camp, but he shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹ Now a man who is [ceremonially] clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the Israelites shall keep it for ^[ai]water to remove impurity; it is [to be used for] purification from sin. ¹⁰ The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.

¹¹ ‘The one who touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean for seven days. ¹² That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a corpse, the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel [that is, excluded from the atonement made for them]. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ Every open container [in the tent], which has no covering tied down on it, is unclean. ¹⁶ Also, anyone in the open field who touches one who has been killed with a sword or who has died [of natural causes], or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷ Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for the purification from sin, and running water shall be added to them in a container. ¹⁸ A clean person shall take ^[aj]hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the people who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died [naturally] or the grave. ¹⁹ Then the clean person shall sprinkle [the water for purification] on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day the unclean man shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be [ceremonially] clean at evening.

²⁰ ‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. ²¹ So it shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity [on another] shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. ²² Furthermore, anything the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening.’”

Death of Miriam

20 Then the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month [in the fortieth year after leaving Egypt]. And the people lived in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.

² Now there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. ³ The people contended with Moses, and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished [in the plague] before the Lord!^{(W) 4} Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness to die here, we and our livestock? ⁵ Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and fell on their faces [before the Lord in prayer]. Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to them; ⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Water of Meribah

⁸ “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock ^[ak]in front of them, so that it will pour out its water. In this way you shall bring water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their livestock drink [fresh water].”

⁹ So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand [in anger] and with his rod he struck the rock twice [instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord had commanded]. And the water poured out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank [fresh water]. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed (trusted) Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, you therefore ^[al]shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”^{(X) 13} These are the waters of Meribah (contention, strife), where the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He showed Himself holy among them.

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of ^[am]Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel, ‘You know all the hardship that has come upon us [as a nation]; ¹⁵ that our fathers (ancestors) went down to Egypt, and we lived there for a long time, and the Egyptians treated [both] us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But when we cried out to the Lord [for help], He heard us and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through a field or through a vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the ^[an]king’s highway, not turning [off-course] to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’”

¹⁸ But [the king of] Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my territory, or I will come out against you with the sword.” ¹⁹ Again, the Israelites said to him, “We will go by the highway [trade route], and if I and my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.” ²⁰ But the king of Edom said, “You shall not pass through [my territory].” And Edom came out against Israel with many people and a strong hand. ²¹ Thus [the king of] Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from Kadesh, the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be gathered to his people [in death]; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you [both] rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.^{(Y) 25} Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. So Aaron will be gathered to his fathers, and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ After Moses stripped Aaron of his [priestly] garments and put them on Eleazar his son, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept (mourned) for him thirty days.

Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died. ⁷ So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.