Numbers 9
Lexham English Bible
The Passover
9 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, 2 “Let the Israelites[a] observe the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month at twilight[b] you will perform it at its appointed time according to all its decrees; and according to all its stipulations you will observe it.” 4 So Moses spoke to the Israelites[c] to observe the Passover. 5 And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight[d] in the desert of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, thus the Israelites[e] did.
6 And it happened, men who were unclean by a dead person[f] were not able to perform the Passover on that day. And they came before[g] Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “Although we are unclean by a dead person,[h] why are we hindered from presenting the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time in the midst of the Israelites?”[i] 8 Moses said to them, “Stay. I will hear what Yahweh commands to you.”
9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the Israelites,[j] saying, ‘Each man that is unclean by a dead person[k] or is on a far journey, you or your descendants,[l] he will observe the Passover of Yahweh. 11 On the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight[m] they will observe it; they will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter plants. 12 They will leave none of it until morning, and they will not break a bone in it; they will observe it according to every decree of the Passover. 13 But the man who is clean and not on a journey, and he fails to observe the Passover, that person will be cut off from the people because he did not present the offering of Yahweh on its appointed time. That man will bear his guilt. 14 If an alien dwells with you he will observe the Passover of Yahweh according to the decree of the Passover and according to its stipulation; thus you will have one decree for you, for the alien and for the native of the land.’”
The Cloud and the Fire
15 And on a day setting up the tabernacle, the cloud covered the tent of the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; in the evening it was on the tabernacle as an appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was[n] continually; the cloud would cover it and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted up from on the tent, after that the Israelites[o] would set out, and in the place where the cloud dwelled, there the Israelites[p] camped. 18 On the command of Yahweh[q] the Israelites[r] would set out, and on the command of Yahweh[s] they encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelled on the tabernacle they encamped. 19 And when the cloud prolonged on the tabernacle many days the Israelites[t] kept the kept requirement of Yahweh and did not set out. 20 When the cloud remained[u] a number of days on the tabernacle, on the command of Yahweh[v] they encamped; and on the command of Yahweh[w] they set out. 21 When the cloud remained[x] from evening until morning, and the cloud lifted up in the morning, they would set out, or if it remained in the daytime and at night, when the cloud lifted up they set out. 22 When it was two days, a month, or a year[y] that the cloud prolonged to dwell on the tabernacle, the Israelites[z] encamped, and they did not set out; when it lifted up they set out. 23 On the command of Yahweh[aa] they encamped, and on the command of Yahweh[ab] they set out. They kept the requirement of Yahweh, on the command of Yahweh[ac] in the hand of Moses.[ad]
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:3 Literally “between the two evenings”
- Numbers 9:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:5 Literally “between the two evenings”
- Numbers 9:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:6 Literally “by a life of a person”
- Numbers 9:6 Literally “in the presence of”
- Numbers 9:7 Literally “by a life of a person”
- Numbers 9:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:10 Literally “by a life of a person”
- Numbers 9:10 Literally “generations”
- Numbers 9:11 Literally “between the two evenings”
- Numbers 9:16 Hebrew “it will be”
- Numbers 9:17 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:17 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:18 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:18 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:18 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:20 Literally “it was there”
- Numbers 9:20 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:20 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:21 Literally “it was there”
- Numbers 9:22 Literally “or days”
- Numbers 9:22 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 9:23 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:23 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:23 Literally “mouth of Yahweh”
- Numbers 9:23 Or “through Moses”
Numbers 9
Living Bible
9 Jehovah gave these instructions to Moses while he and the rest of the Israelis were on the Sinai peninsula, during the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt: 2-3 “The people of Israel must celebrate the Passover annually on April first,[a] beginning in the evening. Be sure to follow all of my instructions concerning this celebration.”
4-5 So Moses announced that the Passover celebration would begin on the evening of April first, there in the Sinai peninsula, just as the Lord had commanded. 6-7 But as it happened, some of the men had just attended a funeral and were ceremonially defiled by having touched the dead, so they couldn’t eat the Passover lamb that night. They came to Moses and Aaron and explained their problem and protested at being forbidden from offering their sacrifice to the Lord at the time he had appointed.
8 Moses said he would ask the Lord about it, 9 and this was God’s reply: 10 “If any of the people of Israel, now or in the generations to come, are defiled at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present, they may still celebrate the Passover, but one month later, 11 on May first,[b] beginning in the evening. They are to eat the lamb at that time, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it until the next morning, and must not break a bone of it, and must follow all the regular instructions concerning the Passover.
13 “But anyone who is not defiled, and anyone who is not away on a trip, and yet refuses to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, shall be excommunicated from the people of Israel for refusing to sacrifice to Jehovah at the proper time; he must bear his guilt. 14 And if a foreigner is living among you and wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, he shall follow all these same instructions. There is one law for all.”
15 On the day the Tabernacle was raised the Cloud covered it; and that evening the Cloud changed to the appearance of fire, and stayed that way throughout the night. 16 It was always so—the daytime Cloud changing to the appearance of fire at night. 17 When the Cloud lifted, the people of Israel moved on to wherever it stopped, and camped there. 18 In this way they journeyed at the command of the Lord and stopped where he told them to, then remained there as long as the Cloud stayed. 19 If it stayed a long time, then they stayed a long time. But if it stayed only a few days, then they remained only a few days; for so the Lord had instructed them. 20-21 Sometimes the fire-cloud stayed only during the night and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when it moved, the people broke camp and followed. 22 If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved. 23 So it was that they camped or traveled at the commandment of the Lord; and whatever the Lord told Moses they should do, they did.
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:2 on April first, literally, “on the fourteenth day of the first month” (of the Hebrew calendar). This corresponds approximately to our first day of April.
- Numbers 9:11 May first, literally, “on the fourteenth day of the second month” (of the Hebrew calendar).
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