Numbers 9
Revised Standard Version
The Passover at Sinai
9 And 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 “Let the people of Israel keep the passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, in the evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the passover. 5 And they kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. 6 And there were certain men who were unclean through touching the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day; 7 and those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching the dead body of a man; why are we kept from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Say to the people of Israel, If any man of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is afar off on a journey, he shall still keep the passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day in the evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it. 13 But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the passover, that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not offer the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. 14 And if a stranger sojourns among you, and will keep the passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the passover and according to its ordinance, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”
The Cloud and the Fire
15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was continually; the cloud covered it by day[a] and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped. 18 At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they encamped; as long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out; but when it was taken up they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they encamped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:16 Gk Syr Vg: Heb lacks by day
Numbers 9
Contemporary English Version
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.
Footnotes
- 9.1 first month … Sinai Desert: The book of Numbers begins in the second month of the second year (see 1.1), so 9.1-5 refers to a Passover celebration that had already taken place.
- 9.3 this month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
- 9.11 second month: See the note at 1.1.
- 9.15,16 As soon as the sacred tent was set up: According to Exodus 40.17, this took place “on the first day of the first month of the second year” of the Israelites' stay in the desert.
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