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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Various Offerings
15 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,(A) 3 and you make an offering by fire[a] to the Lord from the herd or from the flock—whether a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed festivals—to make a pleasing odor for the Lord,(B) 4 then whoever presents such an offering to the Lord shall present also a grain offering, one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil.(C) 5 Moreover, you shall offer one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb.(D) 6 For a ram, you shall offer a grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil,(E) 7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine, a pleasing odor to the Lord. 8 When you offer a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as an offering of well-being to the Lord,(F) 9 then you shall present with the bull a grain offering, three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with half a hin of oil,(G) 10 and you shall present as a drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire,[b] a pleasing odor to the Lord.
11 “Thus it shall be done for each ox or ram or for each of the male lambs or the kids. 12 According to the number that you offer, so you shall do with each and every one. 13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire,[c] a pleasing odor to the Lord. 14 An alien who lives with you or who takes up permanent residence among you and wishes to offer an offering by fire,[d] a pleasing odor to the Lord, shall do as you do. 15 As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord.(H) 16 You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.”
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: After you come into the land to which I am bringing you,(I) 19 whenever you eat of the bread of the land you shall present a donation to the Lord.(J) 20 From your first batch of dough you shall present a loaf as a donation; you shall present it just as you present a donation from the threshing floor.(K) 21 Throughout your generations you shall give to the Lord a donation from the first of your batch of dough.
22 “But if you unintentionally fail to observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses(L)— 23 everything that the Lord has commanded you by Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and thereafter, throughout your generations— 24 then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge[e] of the congregation, the whole congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the Lord, together with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a purification offering.(M) 25 The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the Israelites, and they shall be forgiven; it was unintentional, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire[f] to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their error.(N) 26 All the congregation of the Israelites shall be forgiven, as well as the aliens residing among you, because the whole people was involved in the error.
27 “An individual who sins unintentionally shall present a female goat a year old for a purification offering.(O) 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the one who commits an error, when it is unintentional, to make atonement for the person, who then shall be forgiven.(P) 29 For both the native among the Israelites and the alien residing among you, you shall have the same law for anyone who acts in error.(Q) 30 But whoever acts high-handedly, whether native-born or an alien, affronts the Lord and shall be cut off from among the people. 31 Because of having despised the word of the Lord and broken his commandment, such a person shall be utterly cut off and bear the guilt.”(R)
Penalty for Violating the Sabbath
32 When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.(S) 33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation. 34 They put him in custody because it was not clear what should be done to him.(T) 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.”(U) 36 The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Fringes on Garments
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner.(V) 39 You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes.(W) 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God.(X) 41 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
Numbers 15
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
15 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Speak to the children of Israel and thou shalt say to them: When you shall be come into the land of your habitation, which I will give you,
3 And shall make an offering to the Lord, for a holocaust, or a victim, paying your vows, or voluntarily offering gifts, or in your solemnities burning a sweet savour unto the Lord, of oxen or of sheep:
4 Whosoever immolateth the victim, shall offer a sacrifice of fine flour, the tenth part of an ephi, tempered with the fourth part of a hin of oil:
5 And he shall give the same measure of wine to pour out in libations for the holocaust or for the victim. For every lamb,
6 And for every ram there shall be a sacrifice of hour of two tenths, which shall be tempered with the third part of a hin of oil:
7 And he shall offer the third part of the same measure of wine for the libation, for a sweet savour to the Lord.
8 But when thou offerest a holocaust or sacrifice of oxen, to fulfill thy vow or for victims of peace offerings,
9 Thou shalt give for every ox three tenths of flour tempered with half a hin of oil,
10 And wine for libations of the same measure, for an offering of most sweet savour to the Lord.
11 Thus shalt thou do
12 For every ox and ram and lamb and kid.
13 Both they that are born in the land, and the strangers
14 Shall offer sacrifices after the same rite.
15 There shall be all one law and judgment both for you and for them who are strangers in the land.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
17 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
18 When you are come into the land which I will give you,
19 And shall eat of the bread of that country, you shall separate firstfruits to the Lord,
20 Of the things you eat. As you separate firstfruits of your barnfloors:
21 So also shall you give firstfruits of your dough to the Lord.
22 And if through ignorance you omit any of these things, which the Lord hath spoken to Moses,
23 And by him hath commanded you, from the day that he began to command and thenceforward,
24 And the multitude have forgotten to do it: they shall offer a calf out of the herd, a holocaust for a most sweet savour to the Lord, and the sacrifice and libations thereof, as the ceremonies require, and a buck goat for sin:
25 And the priest shall pray for all the multitude of the children of Israel: and it shall be forgiven them, because they sinned ignorantly, offering notwithstanding a burnt offering to the Lord for themselves and for their sin and their ignorance:
26 And it shall be forgiven all the people of the children of Israel: and the strangers that sojourn among them: because it is the fault of all the people through ignorance.
27 But if one soul shall sin ignorantly, he shall offer a she goat of a year old for his sin.
28 And the priest shall pray for him, because he sinned ignorantly before the Lord: and he shall obtain his pardon, and it shall be forgiven him.
29 The same law shall be for all that sin by ignorance, whether they be natives or strangers.
30 But the soul that committeth any thing through pride, whether he be born in the land or a stranger (because he hath been rebellious against the Lord) shall be cut off from among his people:
31 For he hath contemned the word the Lord, and made void his precept: therefore shall he be destroyed, and shall bear his iniquity.
32 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and had found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day,
33 That they brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole multitude.
34 And they put him into prison, not knowing what they should do with him.
35 And the Lord said to Moses: Let that man die, let all the multitude stone him without the camp.
36 And when they had brought him out, they stoned him, and he died as the Lord had commanded.
37 The Lord also said to Moses:
38 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt tell them I to make to themselves fringes in the corners of their garments, putting in them ribands of blue:
39 That when they shall see them, they may remember all the commandments of the Lord, and not follow their own thoughts and eyes going astray after divers things,
40 But rather being mindful of the precepts of the Lord, may do them and be holy to their God.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God.
Numbers 15
The Message
Matters of Worship
15 1-5 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter your homeland that I am giving to you and sacrifice a Fire-Gift to God, a Whole-Burnt-Offering or any sacrifice from the herd or flock for a Vow-Offering or Freewill-Offering at one of the appointed feasts, as a pleasing fragrance for God, the one bringing the offering shall present to God a Grain-Offering of two quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of oil. With each lamb for the Whole-Burnt-Offering or other sacrifice, prepare a quart of oil and a quart of wine as a Drink-Offering.
6-7 “For a ram prepare a Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with one and a quarter quarts of oil and one and a quarter quarts of wine as a Drink-Offering. Present it as a pleasing fragrance to God.
8-10 “When you prepare a young bull as a Whole-Burnt-Offering or sacrifice for a special vow or a Peace-Offering to God, bring with the bull a Grain-Offering of six quarts of fine flour and two quarts of oil. Also bring two quarts of wine as a Drink-Offering. It will be a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to God.
11-12 “Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this same way. Carry out this procedure for each one, no matter how many you have to prepare.
13-16 “Every native-born Israelite is to follow this procedure when he brings a Fire-Gift as a pleasing fragrance to God. In future generations, when a foreigner or visitor living at length among you presents a Fire-Gift as a pleasing fragrance to God, the same procedures must be followed. The community has the same rules for you and the foreigner living among you. This is the regular rule for future generations. You and the foreigner are the same before God. The same laws and regulations apply to both you and the foreigner who lives with you.”
17-21 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter the land into which I’m bringing you, and you eat the food of that country, set some aside as an offering for God. From the first batch of bread dough make a round loaf for an offering—an offering from the threshing floor. Down through the future generations make this offering to God from each first batch of dough.
* * *
22-26 “But if you should get off the beaten track and not keep the commands which God spoke to Moses, any of the things that God commanded you under the authority of Moses from the time that God first commanded you right up to this present time, and if it happened more or less by mistake, with the congregation unaware of it, then the whole congregation is to sacrifice one young bull as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, a pleasing fragrance to God, accompanied by its Grain-Offering and Drink-Offering as stipulated in the rules, and a he-goat as an Absolution-Offering. The priest is to atone for the entire community of the People of Israel and they will stand forgiven. The sin was not deliberate, and they offered to God the Fire-Gift and Absolution-Offering for their inadvertence. The whole community of Israel including the foreigners living there will be absolved, because everyone was involved in the error.
27-28 “But if it’s just one person who sins by mistake, not realizing what he’s doing, he is to bring a yearling she-goat as an Absolution-Offering. The priest then is to atone for the person who accidentally sinned, to make atonement before God so that it won’t be held against him.
29 “The same standard holds for everyone who sins by mistake; the native-born Israelites and the foreigners go by the same rules.
30-31 “But the person, native or foreigner, who sins defiantly, deliberately blaspheming God, must be cut off from his people: He has despised God’s word, he has violated God’s command; that person must be kicked out of the community, ostracized, left alone in his wrongdoing.”
* * *
32-35 Once, during those wilderness years of the People of Israel, a man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. The ones who caught him hauled him before Moses and Aaron and the entire congregation. They put him in custody until it became clear what to do with him. Then God spoke to Moses: “Give the man the death penalty. Yes, kill him, the whole community hurling stones at him outside the camp.”
36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and threw stones at him, an execution commanded by God and given through Moses.
* * *
37-41 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them that from now on they are to make tassels on the corners of their garments and to mark each corner tassel with a blue thread. When you look at these tassels you’ll remember and keep all the commandments of God, and not get distracted by everything you feel or see that seduces you into infidelities. The tassels will signal remembrance and observance of all my commandments, to live a holy life to God. I am your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt to be your personal God. Yes, I am God, your God.”
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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