Numbers 15
New American Standard Bible
Laws for Canaan
15 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “(A)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land [a]where you are going to live, which I am giving you, 3 and you make (B)an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to [b](C)fulfill a special vow, or as a [c]voluntary offering or at your (D)appointed times, to make a (E)soothing aroma to the Lord from the herd or from the flock, 4 then (F)the one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an [d]ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a [e]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 (G)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 soothing aroma to the Lord. 8 And when you prepare (H)a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to [f]fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings 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 offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord.
11 ‘This is how it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. 12 According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for each one according to their number. 13 Everyone who is a native shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Law for the Stranger
14 Now if a stranger resides among you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wants to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do so shall he do. 15 As for the assembly, there shall be (I)one statute for you and for the stranger who resides among you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. 16 There is to be (J)one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who resides with you.’”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am bringing you, 19 then it shall be, that when you eat from the [g](K)food of the land, you shall lift up an [h]offering to the Lord. 20 (L)Of the first of your [i]dough you shall lift up a loaf as an [j]offering; as (M)an [k]offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. 21 From the first of your [l]dough you shall give to the Lord an [m]offering throughout your generations.
22 ‘But when you (N)unintentionally do wrong and fail to [n]comply with all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses, 23 that is, all that the Lord has commanded you [o]through Moses from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward, throughout your generations, 24 then it shall be, if it is done (O)unintentionally, [p]without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull as a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, (P)with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25 Then (Q)the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an unintentional wrong, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their unintentional wrong. 26 So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, as well as the stranger who resides among them, for guilt was attributed to all the people through an (R)unintentional wrong.
27 ‘Also, if one person sins (S)unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 And (T)the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him [q]so that he may be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for the native among the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, for one who does anything wrong unintentionally. 30 But the person who does wrong [r](U)defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Since he has (V)despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; (W)his [s]guilt will be on him.’”
Sabbath-breaking Punished
32 Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man (X)gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation; 34 and they placed him in custody, (Y)because it had not been decided what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; (Z)all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him [t]to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
37 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves (AA)tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a [u]violet thread. 39 It shall be a tassel for you [v]to look at and (AB)remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not [w]follow your own heart and your own eyes, [x]which led you to prostitute yourselves, 40 so that you will remember and do all My commandments and (AC)be holy to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 15:2 Lit of your dwellings
- Numbers 15:3 Or make a special votive offering
- Numbers 15:3 Or freewill offering
- Numbers 15:4 An ephah was about 7.4 gallons or 28 liters
- Numbers 15:4 A hin also was about 1 gallon or 3.8 liters
- Numbers 15:8 Or make a special votive offering
- Numbers 15:19 Lit bread
- Numbers 15:19 Or uplifted offering
- Numbers 15:20 Or coarse meal
- Numbers 15:20 Or uplifted offering
- Numbers 15:20 Or uplifted offering
- Numbers 15:21 Or coarse meal
- Numbers 15:21 Or uplifted offering
- Numbers 15:22 Lit perform all
- Numbers 15:23 Lit by the hand of
- Numbers 15:24 Lit away from the eyes of the congregation
- Numbers 15:28 Or and he shall
- Numbers 15:30 Lit with upraised hand
- Numbers 15:31 Or wrongdoing
- Numbers 15:36 Lit with stones and he died
- Numbers 15:38 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 15:39 Lit and you shall look at it
- Numbers 15:39 Lit seek
- Numbers 15:39 Lit after which you played
Numbers 15
International Children’s Bible
Rules About Sacrifices
15 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘You will enter a land that I am giving you as a home. 3 There give the Lord offerings made by fire. These may be from your herds or flocks. And the smell will be pleasing to the Lord. These offerings may be burnt offerings or sacrifices for special promises. They may be offerings which are gifts to the Lord. Or they may be festival offerings. 4 And the one who brings his offering shall also give the Lord a grain offering. It should be two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of olive oil. 5 Each time you offer a lamb as a burnt offering or sacrifice, also prepare a quart of wine. This is a drink offering.
6 “‘If you are giving a male sheep, also prepare a grain offering. It should be four quarts of fine flour mixed with one and one-fourth quarts of olive oil. 7 Also prepare one and one-fourth quarts of wine. This is a drink offering. Offer it to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to him.
8 “‘You might prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice. This might be for a fellowship offering or for a special promise to the Lord. 9 Bring a grain offering with the bull. It should be six quarts of fine flour mixed with two quarts of olive oil. 10 Also bring two quarts of wine as a drink offering. This offering is made by fire. And its smell will be pleasing to the Lord. 11 Prepare each bull or male sheep, lamb or young goat this way. 12 Do this for every one of the animals you bring.
13 “‘All citizens must do these things in this way. And the smell of their offerings by fire will be pleasing to the Lord. 14 From now on foreigners will live among you. They will make offerings by fire so the smell will be pleasing to the Lord. They must offer them the same way you do. 15 The law is the same for you and for foreigners. It will be a law from now on. You and the foreigners are alike before the Lord. 16 The teachings and rules are the same for you and for the foreigners among you.’”
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Tell the Israelites: ‘You are going to another land. I am taking you there. 19 When you eat the food there, offer part of it to the Lord. 20 Offer a loaf of bread from the first of your grain. That will be your offering from the threshing floor. 21 From now on offer to the Lord the first part of your grain.
22 “‘Now what if you forget to obey any of these commands the Lord gave Moses? 23 These are the Lord’s commands given to you through Moses. They began the day the Lord gave them to you. And they will continue from now on. 24 But you might forget to obey one of these commands. The people might not remember the command. Then all the people must offer a young bull as a burnt offering. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. By law you must also give the grain offering and the drink offering with it. And you must bring a male goat as a sin offering.
25 “‘The priest will remove that sin for all the Israelites so they will belong to God. They are forgiven. They didn’t know they were sinning. For the wrong they did they brought offerings to the Lord. They brought an offering by fire and a sin offering. 26 All of the people of Israel and the foreigners living among them will be forgiven. No one meant to do wrong.
27 “‘Just one person might sin without meaning to. He must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. 28 The priest will remove the sin of the person who sinned without meaning to. That person will belong to the Lord again. He will be forgiven. 29 The same teaching is for everyone who sins without meaning to. It is the same for those born Israelites and for foreigners living among you.
30 “‘But anyone who sins on purpose is against the Lord. That person must be separated from his people. It is the same for someone born among you or a foreigner. 31 That person has turned against the Lord’s word. He has not obeyed the Lord’s commands. He must surely be separated from the others. He is guilty.’”
A Man Worked on the Sabbath
32 This happened when the Israelites were still in the desert. They found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the people. 34 They held the man under guard. They did not know what to do with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. All the people must kill him with stones outside the camp.” 36 So the people took him outside the camp. They killed him with stones as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Tassels
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them this: ‘Tie several pieces of thread together. And tie them to the corners of your clothes. Put a blue thread in each one of these tassels. Wear them from now on. 39 You will have these tassels to look at. They will remind you of the Lord’s commands. Then you will obey them. And you won’t follow what your bodies want and what your eyes wish for. 40 Remember to obey all my commands. Then you will be God’s holy people. 41 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
