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).
Numbers 9
English Standard Version
The Passover Celebrated
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, (A)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 (B)On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules 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, at twilight, 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 (C)unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and (D)they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord's (E)offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Wait, that (F)I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. 11 (G)In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. (H)They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 (I)They shall leave none of it until the morning, (J)nor break any of its bones; (K)according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. 13 But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, (L)that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord's (M)offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. 14 And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. (N)You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”
The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle
15 (O)On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And (P)at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day[a] and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud (Q)lifted 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 camped. 18 At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. (R)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 (S)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 lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted 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 (T)remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. (U)They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks by day
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
