Numbers 13-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Spies Sent into Canaan

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites; from each of their ancestral tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”^{(A) 3} So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them leading men among the Israelites. ⁴ These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;^{(B) 9} from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. ¹⁶ These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.^(C)

¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country,^{(D) 18} and 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 whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled or fortified, ²⁰ and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes.^(E)

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. ²² They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron, and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)^{(F) 23} And they came to the Wadi Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Wadi Eshcol^[a] because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

The Report of the Spies

²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. ²⁶ And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.^{(G) 27} And they reported to him and said, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.^{(H) 28} Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large, and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.^{(I) 29} The Amalekites live in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”^(J)

³⁰ But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”^{(K) 31} Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we.”^{(L) 32} So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great size.^{(M) 33} There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim), and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”^(N)

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. ² And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!^{(O) 3} Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites.^{(P) 6} And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land.^{(Q) 8} If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.^{(R) 9} Only, do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”^{(S) 10} But the whole congregation threatened to stone them.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.^{(T) 11} And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?^{(U) 12} I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”^(V)

Moses Intercedes for the People

¹³ But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for in your might you brought up this people from among them,^{(W) 14} and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.^{(X) 15} Now if you kill this people as one, then the nations who have heard about you will say, ¹⁶ ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^{(Y) 17} And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying,

¹⁹ “Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.”^(AA)

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “I do forgive, just as you have asked;^{(AB) 21} nevertheless, as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,^{(AC) 22} none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice ²³ shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.^{(AD) 25} Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”^[b](AE)

An Attempted Invasion Is Repulsed

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me.^{(AF) 28} Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘I will do to you the very things I heard you say:^{(AG) 29} your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness, and of all your number included in the census from twenty years old and up who have complained against me,^{(AH) 30} not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.^{(AI) 31} But your little ones, who you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised.^{(AJ) 32} But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.^{(AK) 33} And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.^{(AL) 34} According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’^{(AM) 35} I the Lord have spoken; surely I will do thus to all this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”^(AN)

³⁶ And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report about the land,^{(AO) 37} the men who brought an unfavorable report about the land died by a plague before the Lord. ³⁸ But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.^(AP)

³⁹ When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly.^{(AQ) 40} They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.”^{(AR) 41} But Moses said, “Why do you continue to transgress the command of the Lord? That will not succeed. ⁴² Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies.^{(AS) 43} For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” ⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses had not left the camp.^{(AT) 45} Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah.^(AU)

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,^{(AV) 3} and you make an offering by fire^[c] 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,^{(AW) 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.^{(AX) 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.^{(AY) 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,^{(AZ) 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,^{(BA) 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,^{(BB) 10} and you shall present as a drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire,^[d] 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,^[e] 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,^[f] 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.^{(BC) 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,^{(BD) 19} whenever you eat of the bread of the land you shall present a donation to the Lord.^{(BE) 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.^{(BF) 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^(BG)— 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^[g] 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.^{(BH) 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^[h] to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their error.^{(BI) 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.^{(BJ) 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.^{(BK) 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.^{(BL) 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.”^(BM)

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath

³² When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.^{(BN) 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.^{(BO) 35} Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.”^{(BP) 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.^{(BQ) 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.^{(BR) 40} So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God.^{(BS) 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.”

Revolt of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram

16 Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth son^[i] of Reuben, took^{(BT) 2} two hundred fifty Israelite men, leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men, and they confronted Moses.^{(BU) 3} They assembled against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”^{(BV) 4} When Moses heard it, he fell on his face.^{(BW) 5} Then he spoke to Korah and all his congregation, saying, “In the morning the Lord will make known who is his and who is holy and who will be allowed to approach him; the one whom he will choose he will allow to approach him.^{(BX) 6} Do this: take censers, Korah and all your^[j] congregation, ⁷ and tomorrow put fire in them, and lay incense on them before the Lord, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You Levites have gone too far!” ⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you Levites! ⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to allow you to approach him in order to perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the congregation and serve them?^{(BY) 10} He has allowed you to approach him, and all your brother Levites with you, yet you seek the priesthood as well! ¹¹ Therefore you and all your congregation have gathered together against the Lord. What is Aaron that you rail against him?”^(BZ)

¹² Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Is it too little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us?^{(CA) 14} It is clear you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come!”^(CB)

¹⁵ Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any one of them.”^{(CC) 16} And Moses said to Korah, “As for you and all your congregation, be present tomorrow before the Lord, you and they and Aaron,^{(CD) 17} and let each one of you take his censer and put incense on it and each one of you present his censer before the Lord, two hundred fifty censers, you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” ¹⁸ So each man took his censer, and they put fire in the censers and laid incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled the whole congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation.^(CE)

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment.”^{(CF) 22} They fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?”^(CG)

²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses: ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying: Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” ²⁵ So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Turn away from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away for all their sins.”^{(CH) 27} So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives, their children, and their little ones. ²⁸ And Moses said, “This is how you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; it has not been of my own accord:^{(CI) 29} If these people die a natural death or if a natural fate comes on them, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates something new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”^(CJ)

³¹ As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them was split apart.^{(CK) 32} The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households—everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods.^{(CL) 33} So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth will swallow us, too!” ³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men offering the incense.^(CM)

^36 [k]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to take the censers out of the blaze, then scatter the fire far and wide. ³⁸ For the censers of these sinners have become holy at the cost of their lives. Make them into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the Israelites.”^{(CN) 39} So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been presented by those who were burned, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar— ⁴⁰ a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, shall approach to offer incense before the Lord, so as not to become like Korah and his congregation, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.^(CO)

⁴¹ On the next day, however, the whole congregation of the Israelites rebelled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”^{(CP) 42} And when the congregation had assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the tent of meeting; the cloud had covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.^{(CQ) 43} Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.^{(CR) 46} Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire on it from the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun.”^{(CS) 47} So Aaron took it as Moses had ordered and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense and made atonement for the people.^{(CT) 48} He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.^{(CU) 49} Those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.^{(CV) 50} When the plague was stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

17 ^[l]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. ⁴ Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you.^{(CW) 5} And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you.”^{(CX) 6} Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs. ⁷ So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.^(CY)

⁸ When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites, and they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die.”^{(CZ) 11} Moses did so; just as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “We are perishing; we are lost; all of us are lost! ¹³ Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”^(DA)

Responsibility of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.^{(DB) 2} So bring with you also your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, in order that they may be joined to you and serve you while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent of the covenant.^{(DC) 3} They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, or else both they and you will die.^{(DD) 4} They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you.^{(DE) 5} You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites.^{(DF) 6} It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting.^{(DG) 7} But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift;^[m] any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.”^(DH)

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ The Lord spoke to Aaron, “I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due you in perpetuity.^{(DI) 9} This shall be yours from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs that they render to me as a most holy thing, whether grain offering, purification offering, or guilt offering, shall belong to you and your sons.^{(DJ) 10} As a most holy thing you shall eat it; every male may eat it; it shall be holy to you.^{(DK) 11} This also is yours: I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due, whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the elevation offerings of the Israelites; everyone who is clean in your house may eat them.^{(DL) 12} All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the choice produce that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.^{(DM) 13} The first fruits of all that is in their land that they bring to the Lord shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it.^{(DN) 14} Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.^{(DO) 15} The first issue of the womb of all creatures, human and animal, that is offered to the Lord shall be yours, but the firstborn of human beings you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.^{(DP) 16} Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs).^{(DQ) 17} But the firstborn of a cow or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall dash their blood on the altar and turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire^[n] for a pleasing odor to the Lord,^{(DR) 18} but their flesh shall be yours, just as the breast that is elevated and as the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹ All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well.”^{(DS) 20} Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites.^(DT)

²¹ “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting.^{(DU) 22} From now on the Israelites shall no longer approach the tent of meeting, or else they will incur guilt and die.^{(DV) 23} But the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their own offenses; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment,^{(DW) 24} because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the Lord. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no allotment among the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “You shall say to the Levites: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.^{(DX) 27} It shall be reckoned to you as your gift, the same as the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites, and from them you shall give the Lord’s offering to the priest Aaron.^{(DY) 29} Out of all the gifts to you, you shall set apart every offering due to the Lord; the best of all of them is the part to be consecrated. ³⁰ Say also to them: When you have set apart the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor and as produce of the winepress. ³¹ You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your payment for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² You shall incur no guilt by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the Israelites, on pain of death.”^(DZ)

Ceremony of the Red Heifer

19 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid.^{(EA) 3} You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.^{(EB) 4} The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.^{(EC) 5} Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its entrails,^[o] shall be burned. ⁶ The priest shall take cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson material and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning.^{(ED) 7} Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest shall remain unclean until evening.^{(EE) 8} The one who burns the heifer^[p] shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing. It is a purification offering.^{(EF) 10} The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

“This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them. ¹¹ Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean seven days.^{(EG) 12} They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day and so be clean, but if they do not purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day, they will not become clean.^{(EH) 13} All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves defile the tabernacle of the Lord; such persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since water for cleansing was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still on them.^(EI)

¹⁴ “This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵ And every open vessel with no cover fastened on it is unclean. ¹⁶ Whoever in the open field touches one who has been killed by a sword or who has died naturally,^[q] or a human bone, or a grave shall be unclean seven days.^{(EJ) 17} For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt purification offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel;^{(EK) 18} then a clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on whoever touched the bone, the slain, the corpse, or the grave. ¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean ones on the third day and on the seventh day, thus purifying them on the seventh day. Then they shall wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water, and at evening they shall be clean.^{(EL) 20} Any who are unclean but do not purify themselves, those persons shall be cut off from the assembly, for they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Since the water for cleansing has not been dashed on them, they are unclean.^(EM)

²¹ “It shall be a perpetual statute for them. The one who sprinkles the water for cleansing shall wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for cleansing shall be unclean until evening. ²² Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”^(EN)