Numbers 9
New International Reader's Version
Israel Celebrates the Passover Feast
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. It was the first month of the second year after the people came out of Egypt. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast. Have them do it at the appointed time. 3 Celebrate it when the sun goes down on the 14th day of this month. Obey all its rules and laws.”
4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast. 5 They did it in the Desert of Sinai. They celebrated it when the sun went down on the 14th day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 But some of them couldn’t celebrate the Passover Feast on that day. That’s because they weren’t “clean.” They had gone near a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day. 7 They said to Moses, “We went near a dead body. So we aren’t ‘clean.’ But why should we be kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at the appointed time? Why shouldn’t we bring it along with the other Israelites?”
8 Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord wants you to do.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Suppose any of you or your children are “unclean” because they have gone near a dead body. Or suppose they are away on a journey. They must still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 They must celebrate it on the 14th day of the second month. They must do so when the sun goes down. They must eat the lamb together with bread made without yeast. They must eat it with bitter plants. 12 They must not leave any of it until morning. They must not break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover Feast, they must follow all the rules. 13 But suppose someone is “clean” and not on a journey. And they fail to celebrate the Passover Feast. Then they must be separated from the community of Israel. They did not bring the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. They will be punished for their sin.
14 “ ‘What if there is an outsider living among you? And what if they want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover? Then they must obey its rules and laws. You must have the same laws for outsiders as you do for the Israelites.’ ”
The Cloud Covers the Holy Tent
15 The holy tent was set up. It was the tent where the tablets of the covenant law were kept. On the day it was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening until morning the cloud above the tent looked like fire. 16 That’s what continued to happen. The cloud covered the tent. At night the cloud looked like fire. 17 When the cloud lifted from its place above the tent, the Israelites started out. Where the cloud settled, the Israelites camped. 18 When the Lord gave the command, the Israelites started out. And when he gave the command, they camped. As long as the cloud stayed above the holy tent, they remained in camp. 19 Sometimes the cloud remained above the tent for a long time. Then the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order. They didn’t start out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was above the tent for only a few days. When the Lord would give the command, they would camp. And when he would give the command, they would start out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening until morning. When it lifted in the morning, they started out. It didn’t matter whether it was day or night. When the cloud lifted, the people started out. 22 It didn’t matter whether the cloud stayed above the holy tent for two days or a month or a year. The Israelites would remain in camp. They wouldn’t start out. But when the cloud lifted, they would start out. 23 When the Lord gave the command, they camped. And when he gave the command, they started out. They obeyed the Lord’s order. They obeyed him, just as he had commanded them through Moses.
Numbers 9
King James Version
9 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
4 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.
9 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord.
11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
18 At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.
20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.
21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
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