Numbers 11-25

New American Standard Bible

The People Complain

11 Now the people became like ^(A)those who complain of adversity ^(B)in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp. ^2 (C)The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire ^[a]died out. ³ So that place was named ^[b](D)Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ Now the ^(E)rabble who were among them ^[c]had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “^(F)Who will give us ^[d]meat to eat? ^5 (G)We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now ^(H)our ^[e]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ^[f]to look at except this manna!”

^7 (I)Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of ^[g](J)bdellium. ⁸ The people would roam about and gather it and grind it ^[h]between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of ^[i]cake baked with oil. ^9 (K)When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down ^[j]with it.

The Complaint of Moses

¹⁰ Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the Lord became very hot, and ^[k]Moses was displeased. ^11 (L)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You ^[l]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them ^[m]in your arms, as a ^[n](M)nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which ^(N)You swore to their fathers’? ¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to ^(O)all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’ ^14 (P)I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too ^[o]burdensome for me. ^15 (Q)So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”

Seventy Elders to Assist Moses

¹⁶ The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me ^(R)seventy men from the elders of Israel, ^(S)whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you. ^17 (T)Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of ^(U)the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself. ¹⁸ And you shall say to the people, ‘^(V)Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^(W)in the ears of the Lord, saying, “^[p]Oh that someone would 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 [q]but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and ^[r]makes you nauseated; because ^(X)you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” ²¹ But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ ²² Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be ^[s]caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?” ²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is ^(Y)the Lord’s ^[t]power too little? Now you shall see whether ^(Z)My word will ^[u]come true for you or not.”

²⁴ So Moses went out and ^(AA)told the people the words of the Lord. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent. ^25 (AB)Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.

²⁶ But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the ^[v]other, Medad. And ^(AC)the Spirit rested upon them (and 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 informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ Then ^(AD)Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “^(AE)My lord Moses, restrain them!” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(AF)If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰ Then Moses ^[w]returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

^31 (AG)Now a wind burst forth from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about ^[x]two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. ³² And the people ^[y]spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ^[z]ten ^(AH)homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ^33 (AI)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 the people with a very severe plague. ³⁴ So that place was named ^[aa](AJ)Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. ³⁵ From Kibroth-hattaavah ^(AK)the people set out for Hazeroth, and they ^[ab]remained at Hazeroth.

The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a ^(AL)Cushite woman); ^2 (AM)and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this. ³ (Now the man Moses was ^(AN)very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴ And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “You three go out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. ^5 (AO)Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, ⁶ He said,

⁹ And the anger of the Lord burned against them and ^(AV)He departed. ¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, ^(AW)Miriam was leprous, as ^(AX)white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. ¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^(AY)do not ^[ae]hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. ¹² Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “God, ^(AZ)heal her, please!” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only ^(BA)spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut ^(BB)outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” ¹⁵ So ^(BC)Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Spies View the Land

13 Then ^(BD)the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(BE)Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the ^[af]command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. ⁴ These then 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, ^(BF)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, ^(BG)Hoshea 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, from 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 and 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 ^(BH)Hoshea the son of Nun, ^[ag]Joshua.

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into ^(BI)the ^[ah]Negev; then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortifications? ²⁰ And ^(BJ)how is the land, is it ^[ai]productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And ^(BK)show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from ^(BL)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, ^[aj](BM)at Lebo-hamath. ²² When they had gone up into ^(BN)the Negev, ^[ak]they came to Hebron where ^(BO)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^[al]descendants of ^(BP)Anak were. (Hebron was built seven years before ^(BQ)Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ Then they came to the ^[am]Valley of ^[an](BR)Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of ^[ao]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.

The Spies’ Reports

²⁵ When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶ they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^[ap]in the wilderness of Paran at ^(BS)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and ^(BT)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^(BU)this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, ^(BV)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw ^(BW)the ^[aq]descendants of Anak there! ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of ^(BX)the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and ^(BY)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^(BZ)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people ^[ar]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “^(CA)We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” ³² So they brought ^(CB)a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is ^(CC)a land that devours its inhabitants; and ^(CD)all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. ³³ We also saw the ^[as](CE)Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^(CF)we were like ^[at]grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation ^[au]raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept ^[av]that night. ² And all the sons of Israel ^(CG)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^(CH)If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! ³ So why is the Lord bringing us into this land ^(CI)to fall by the sword? ^(CJ)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “^(CK)Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

^5 (CL)Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. ⁶ And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; ⁷ and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “^(CM)The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. ^8 (CN)If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—^(CO)a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only ^(CP)do not rebel against the Lord; and do not ^(CQ)fear the people of the land, for they will be our ^[aw]prey. Their ^[ax]protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ^10 (CR)But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then ^(CS)the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

^11 (CT)And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will ^(CU)they not ^[ay]believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? ¹² I will strike them with ^[az](CV)plague and dispossess them, and I ^(CW)will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

^13 (CX)But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people up from their midst, ¹⁴ and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people, because ^(CY)You, Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if You put this people to death ^[ba]all at once, ^(CZ)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will ^[bb]say, ¹⁶ ‘Since the Lord ^(DA)could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, ¹⁸ ‘^(DB)The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but ^(DC)He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(DD)inflicting the ^[bc]punishment of the fathers on the children ^[bd]to the third and the fourth generations.’ ¹⁹ Please ^(DE)forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

The Lord Pardons and Rebukes

²⁰ So the Lord said, “^(DF)I have forgiven them in accordance with your word; ²¹ however, ^(DG)as I live, ^[be](DH)all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. ²² Certainly ^(DI)all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^(DJ)have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, ^23 (DK)shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it. ²⁴ But as for My servant Caleb, ^(DL)because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ^(DM)I will bring him into the land which he ^[bf]entered, and his ^[bg]descendants shall take possession of it. ^25 (DN)Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ^[bh]Red Sea.”

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are ^(DO)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are ^[bi]voicing against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘^(DP)As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as ^(DQ)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; ^29 (DR)your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all ^(DS)your ^[bj]numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ³⁰ By no means will you come into the land where I ^[bk]swore to settle you, ^(DT)except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31 (DU)Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. ^32 (DV)But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for ^(DW)forty years, and they will ^[bl]suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. ³⁴ In accordance with the ^(DX)number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your ^[bm]guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. ^35 (DY)I, the Lord, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”

^36 (DZ)As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land, ^37 (EA)those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a ^(EB)plague in the presence of the Lord. 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 Now when Moses spoke ^(EC)these words to all the sons of Israel, ^(ED)the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ^[bn]ridge of the hill country, saying, “^(EE)Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the Lord has ^[bo]promised, for ^[bp]we have sinned.” ⁴¹ But Moses said, “^(EF)Why then are you ^(EG)violating the ^[bq]command of the Lord, when doing so will not succeed? ^42 (EH)Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, ^[br]to prevent you from being defeated ^[bs]by your enemies. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there ^[bt]to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” ⁴⁴ But they foolishly dared to go up to the ^[bu]ridge of the hill country; neither ^(EI)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 them and scattered them as far as ^(EJ)Hormah.

Laws for Canaan

15 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(EK)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land ^[bv]where you are going to live, which I am giving you, ³ and you make ^(EL)an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to ^[bw](EM)fulfill a special vow, or as a ^[bx]voluntary offering or at your ^(EN)appointed times, to make a ^(EO)soothing aroma to the Lord from the herd or from the flock, ⁴ then ^(EP)the one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ^[by]ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a ^[bz]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 ^(EQ)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 ^(ER)a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to ^[ca]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 ^(ES)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 ^(ET)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 ^[cb](EU)food of the land, you shall lift up an ^[cc]offering to the Lord. ^20 (EV)Of the first of your ^[cd]dough you shall lift up a loaf as an ^[ce]offering; as ^(EW)an ^[cf]offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. ²¹ From the first of your ^[cg]dough you shall give to the Lord an ^[ch]offering throughout your generations.

²² ‘But when you ^(EX)unintentionally do wrong and fail to ^[ci]comply with all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses, ²³ that is, all that the Lord has commanded you ^[cj]through Moses from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward, throughout your generations, ²⁴ then it shall be, if it is done ^(EY)unintentionally, ^[ck]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, ^(EZ)with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ Then ^(FA)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 ^(FB)unintentional wrong.

²⁷ ‘Also, if one person sins ^(FC)unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. ²⁸ And ^(FD)the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him ^[cl]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 ^[cm](FE)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 ^(FF)despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; ^(FG)his ^[cn]guilt will be on him.’”

Sabbath-breaking Punished

³² Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man ^(FH)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, ^(FI)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; ^(FJ)all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him ^[co]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 ^(FK)tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a ^[cp]violet thread. ³⁹ It shall be a tassel for you ^[cq]to look at and ^(FL)remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not ^[cr]follow your own heart and your own eyes, ^[cs]which led you to prostitute yourselves, ⁴⁰ so that you will remember and do all My commandments and ^(FM)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.”

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now ^(FN)Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^(FO)Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, ² and they stood before Moses, ^[ct]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation ^[cu](FP)chosen in the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled together ^(FQ)against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^[cv](FR)You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^(FS)the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, ^(FT)he fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and ^(FU)who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, ^(FV)the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and ^[cw]your whole group, ⁷ and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^[cx](FW)You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ^9 (FX)Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, ^(FY)to bring you near to Himself, to perform 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, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you ^(FZ)seeking the priesthood as well? ¹¹ Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together ^(GA)against the Lord; but as for Aaron, ^[cy]who is he, that ^(GB)you grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent ^[cz]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^[da]not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^(GC)land flowing with milk and honey ^(GD)to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us ^(GE)into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of ^(GF)fields and vineyards. Would you ^(GG)gouge out the eyes of ^[db]these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “^(GH)Pay no attention to their offering! ^(GI)I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ And each of you take his censer and put incense on ^[dc]it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” ¹⁸ So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on ^[dd]it, and placed incense on ^[de]it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And ^(GJ)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “^(GK)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, ^(GL)so that I may consume them instantly.” ²² But they fell on their faces and said, “God, ^(GM)the God of the spirits of ^[df]humanity, ^(GN)when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^(GO)Get away from the areas around the ^[dg]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^(GP)Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, ^(GQ)or you will be swept away in all their sin!” ²⁷ So they moved away from the areas around the ^[dh]tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, ^(GR)their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^(GS)the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not ^[di]my doing. ²⁹ If these men die ^[dj]the death of all mankind, or ^[dk]if they suffer the ^(GT)fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But ^(GU)if the Lord ^[dl]brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they ^(GV)descend alive into ^[dm]Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

³¹ And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; ³² and ^(GW)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and ^(GX)all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to ^[dn]Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ^[do]outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” ^35 (GY)Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the ^(GZ)250 men who were offering the incense.

^36 [dp]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the ^[dq]burning coals farther away. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[dr]men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and ^(HA)they shall ^[ds]serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that ^(HB)no ^[dt]layman, anyone who was not of the ^[du]descendants of Aaron, would approach ^(HC)to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the Lord had spoken to him ^[dv]through Moses.

Murmuring and Plague

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(HD)grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people!” ⁴² It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^(HE)the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “^(HF)Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^(HG)make atonement for them, for ^(HH)wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^(HI)So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt. ^49 (HJ)But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who ^(HK)died on account of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

Aaron’s Staff Buds

17 ^[dw]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of ^(HL)the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ And it will come about that the staff of ^(HM)the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs. ⁷ Then Moses left the staffs before the Lord in ^(HN)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^(HO)Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron ^(HP)back in front of the testimony ^[dx]to be kept as a sign against the ^[dy](HQ)rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.” ¹¹ Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “^(HR)Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing! ^13 (HS)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall ^(HT)bear the guilt ^[dz]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[ea]in connection with your priesthood. ² But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may ^(HU)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but ^(HV)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(HW)the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ^[eb]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. ⁵ So you shall perform the ^(HX)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(HY)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself ^(HZ)have taken your ^[ec]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(IA)a gift to you, ^[ed]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall ^(IB)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(IC)a ^[ee]service that is a gift, and ^(ID)the ^[ef]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My ^[eg](IE)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. ⁹ This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely ^(IF)every grain offering, every ^(IG)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. ¹¹ This also is yours, ^(IH)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^(II)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^12 (IJ)All the ^[eh]best of the fresh oil and all the ^[ei]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. ^13 (IK)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ^14 (IL)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. ^15 [ej](IM)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ As to ^[ek]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five ^[el]shekels in silver by the ^[em]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But ^(IN)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^(IO)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ However, their ^[en]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^(IP)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. ^19 (IQ)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is ^(IR)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your ^[eo]descendants with you.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “^(IS)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; ^(IT)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

²¹ “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^(IU)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. ²² And ^(IV)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. ²³ Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^(IW)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^(IX)they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘^(IY)They shall have no inheritance among the sons 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 sons of Israel ^(IZ)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a ^(JA)tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. ²⁸ So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; 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 ^[ep]best of them, ^[eq]the sacred part from them.’ ³⁰ And you shall say to them, ‘When you have ^[er]offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat. ³¹ You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have ^[es]offered the ^[et]best of it. But you shall not ^(JB)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’”

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, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an ^(JC)unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and ^(JD)on which a yoke has never ^[eu]been mounted. ³ And you shall give it to ^(JE)Eleazar the priest, and it shall ^(JF)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and ^(JG)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; ^(JH)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(JI)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the ^[ev]burning heifer. ⁷ The priest ^(JJ)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his ^[ew]body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be ^[ex]unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burns ^[ey]the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his ^[ez]body in water, and will be unclean until evening. ⁹ Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and ^[fa]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for ^(JK)water to remove impurity; it is ^[fb]purification from sin. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(JL)shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.

¹¹ ‘^(JM)The one who touches the dead body of any ^[fc]person will also be unclean for seven days. ¹² That one shall ^(JN)purify himself with ^[fd]the water 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 (JO)Anyone who touches a dead body, the ^[fe]body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, ^(JP)defiles the ^[ff]tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not ^(JQ)sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ ‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean. ^16 (JR)Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷ Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ^[fg]ashes of the ^[fh]burnt ^[fi](JS)purification from sin and ^[fj]running water shall be ^[fk]added to them in a container. ¹⁸ And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons 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 ^(JT)shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be clean by evening.

²⁰ ‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has ^(JU)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. ²¹ So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one ^(JV)who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening. ^22 (JW)Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Death of Miriam

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the ^(JX)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

^2 (JY)There was no water for the congregation, ^(JZ)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. ^3 (KA)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “^(KB)If only we had perished ^(KC)when our brothers perished before the Lord! ^4 (KD)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die ^[fl]here? ⁵ Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? ^(KE)It is not a place of ^[fm]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(KF)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; ⁷ then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Waters of Meribah

⁸ “Take ^(KG)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff ^(KH)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “^(KI)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and ^(KJ)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “^(KK)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³ Those were called the waters of ^[fn](KL)Meribah, ^[fo]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^(KM)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You ^(KN)know all the hardship that has ^[fp]overtaken us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But ^(KO)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent ^(KP)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please ^(KQ)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

^18 (KR)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[fq]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and ^(KS)my livestock do drink any of your water, ^(KT)then I will ^[fr]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[fs]nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, “^(KU)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy ^[ft]force and a strong hand. ^21 (KV)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^(KW)then Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from ^(KX)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at ^(KY)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be ^(KZ)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because ^(LA)you rebelled against My ^[fu]command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son ^(LB)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be ^(LC)gathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and ^(LD)put them on his son Eleazar, ^(LE)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, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty ^(LF)days.

Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of ^(LG)Arad, who lived in the ^[fv]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So ^(LH)Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ^[fw]utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ^[fx]utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^[fy](LI)Hormah.

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^[fz]Red Sea, to ^(LJ)go around the land of Edom; and the ^[ga]people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^(LK)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^[gb]food and no water, and ^[gc](LL)we are disgusted with ^[gd]this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

^6 (LM)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^(LN)they bit the people, so that ^(LO)many people of Israel died. ^7 (LP)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(LQ)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^[ge]Make a ^(LR)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a ^(LS)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^10 (LT)Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^[gf]east. ^12 (LU)From there they set out and camped in ^[gg]Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^(LV)for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

^16 (LX)From there they continued to ^[gi]Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

^17 (LY)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ^[gj]desert.

Two Victories

^21 (LZ)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “^(MA)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” ^23 (MB)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^(MC)Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then ^(MD)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^(ME)border of the sons of Ammon was ^[gk]Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities, and ^(MF)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ^[gl]villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ For that reason those who use proverbs say,

³¹ So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Now Moses sent men to spy out ^(MO)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

^33 (MP)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ^[go]with all his people, for battle at ^(MQ)Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “^(MR)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³⁵ So ^(MS)they ^[gp]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 ^(MT)Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

² Now ^(MU)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3 (MV)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of ^(MW)Midian, “Now this ^[gq]horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to ^(MX)Balaam the son of Beor, at ^(MY)Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ^6 (MZ)Now, therefore, please come, ^(NA)curse this people for me since they are too ^[gr]mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to ^[gs]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for ^(NB)divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and ^[gt]repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Then ^(NC)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^(ND)you shall not curse the people, for they ^(NE)are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than ^[gu]the previous. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. ^(NF)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^(NG)Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the ^[gv]command of the Lord my God. ¹⁹ Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.” ²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do ^(NH)only the thing that I tell you.”

^21 (NI)So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel and Balaam

²² But God was angry that he was going, ^(NJ)and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, the donkey turned off from the road and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey to guide her back onto the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a stone wall on this side and on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so ^(NK)Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then ^(NL)the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For ^(NM)I would have killed you by now!” ³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw ^(NN)the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed ^[gw]all the way to the ground. ³² Then the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was ^(NO)reckless and contrary to me. ³³ But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.” ³⁴ So Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “^(NP)I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” ³⁵ But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but ^(NQ)you shall speak only the word that I ^[gx]tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ^[gy]at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! ^(NR)Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.” ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ^[gz](NS)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there ^[ha]a ^(NT)portion of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴ Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” ⁵ Then the Lord ^(NU)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ⁶ So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷ And he took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(OC)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” ¹² He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^(OD)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹³ Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.” ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ Then the Lord met Balaam and ^(OE)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ¹⁷ So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶ But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘^[hc](OR)Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”

²⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be ^[hd]agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the ^[he]desert. ²⁹ And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰ Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

The Prophecy from Peor

24 When Balaam saw that it ^[hf]pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to ^[hg]seek ^(OS)omens, rather he turned his ^[hh]attention toward the ^(OT)wilderness. ² And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel ^[hi]camping tribe by tribe; and ^(OU)the Spirit of God came upon him. ³ Then he took up his discourse and said,

¹⁰ Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his ^[ho]hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! ¹¹ So ^[hp]flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, “^(PH)Did I not in fact tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³ ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the ^[hq]command of the Lord, either good or bad, ^(PI)of my own ^[hr]accord. ^(PJ)What the Lord speaks, I will ^[hs]speak’? ¹⁴ So now, behold, ^(PK)I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you of what this people will do to your people in the ^[ht]days to come.”

¹⁵ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁰ And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

²¹ And he looked at the ^(PR)Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

²³ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balaam arose, and he departed and returned to ^(PW)his place, and Balak also went on his way.

The Sin of Peor

25 While Israel remained at ^(PX)Shittim, the people began ^(PY)to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. ² For ^(PZ)they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So ^(QA)Israel ^[ia]became followers of ^[ib]Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel. ⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and ^[ic]execute them ^[id]in broad daylight before the Lord, ^(QB)so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^(QC)kill his men who have ^[ie]become followers of ^[if]Baal of Peor.”

⁶ Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a ^(QD)Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ^(QE)while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ^7 (QF)When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, ⁸ and he went after the man of Israel into the inner room of the tent and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through the abdomen. ^(QG)So the plague on the sons of Israel was brought to a halt. ^9 (QH)But those who died from the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(QI)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was ^[ig]jealous with My ^[ih]jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel ^(QJ)in My ^[ii]jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘^(QK)Behold, I am giving him My ^(QL)covenant of peace; ¹³ and it shall be for him and for his ^[ij]descendants after him, a covenant of a ^(QM)permanent priesthood, because he was ^[ik]jealous for his God and ^(QN)made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

¹⁴ Now the name of the ^[il]dead man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was ^(QO)Cozbi the daughter of ^(QP)Zur, ^[im]who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “^(QQ)Be hostile to the Midianites and attack them; ¹⁸ for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was killed on the day of the plague because of Peor.”