Numbers 15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 15
Secondary Offerings. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 [a]Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you for your settlements, 3 if you make to the Lord an oblation from the herd or from the flock—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a voluntary offering, or for one of your festivals—to produce a pleasing aroma for the Lord, 4 the one presenting the offering shall also present to the Lord a grain offering, a tenth of a measure[b] of bran flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil, 5 as well as wine for a libation, a fourth of a hin. You will do this with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6 Alternatively for a ram you shall make a grain offering of two tenths of a measure of bran flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil, 7 and for a libation, a third of a hin of wine, thereby presenting a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 8 If you make an offering from the herd—either a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a communion offering to the Lord, 9 with it a grain offering of three tenths of a measure of bran flour mixed with half a hin of oil will be presented; 10 and you will present for a libation, half a hin of wine—a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. 11 The same is to be done for each ox, ram, lamb or goat. 12 Whatever the number you offer, do the same for each of them.
13 All the native-born shall make these offerings in this way, whenever they present a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. 14 Likewise, in any future generation, any alien residing with you or anyone else in your midst, who presents an oblation of pleasing aroma to the Lord, must do as you do. 15 There is but one statute for you and for the resident alien, a perpetual statute throughout your generations. You and the resident alien will be alike before the Lord; 16 you and the alien residing with you will have the same rule and the same application of it.
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land into which I am bringing you 19 and eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer the Lord a contribution. 20 A round loaf from your first batch of dough[c] you shall offer as a contribution. Just like a contribution from the threshing floor you shall offer it.(A) 21 Throughout your generations you shall give a contribution to the Lord from your first batch of dough.
Purification Offerings.[d] 22 If through inadvertence you fail to do any of these commandments which the Lord has given to Moses—(B) 23 anything the Lord commanded you through Moses from the time the Lord first gave the command down through your generations— 24 if it was done inadvertently without the community’s knowledge, the whole community shall sacrifice one bull from the herd as a burnt offering of pleasing aroma to the Lord, along with its prescribed grain offering and libation, as well as one he-goat as a purification offering. 25 (C)Then the priest shall make atonement for the whole Israelite community; and they will be forgiven, since it was inadvertence, and for their inadvertence they have brought their offering: an oblation to the Lord as well as their purification offering before the Lord. 26 Not only the whole Israelite community but also the aliens residing among you shall be forgiven, since the inadvertent fault affects all the people.
27 If it is an individual who sins inadvertently,(D) this person shall bring a yearling she-goat as a purification offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred, since the sin was inadvertent, making atonement for the person to secure forgiveness. 29 You shall have but one rule for the person who sins inadvertently, whether a native-born Israelite or an alien residing among you.
30 But anyone who acts defiantly,(E) whether a native or an alien, reviles the Lord, and shall be cut off from among the people. 31 (F)For having despised the word of the Lord and broken his commandment, he must be cut off entirely and bear the punishment.
The Sabbath-breaker. 32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was discovered gathering wood on the sabbath day. 33 Those who caught him at it brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community. 34 But they put him in custody, for there was no clear decision[e] as to what should be done with him.(G) 35 Then the Lord said to Moses: This man shall be put to death; let the whole community stone him outside the camp. 36 So the whole community led him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Tassels on the Cloak. 37 The Lord said to Moses: 38 Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels[f] for the corners of their garments, fastening a violet cord to each corner.(H) 39 When you use these tassels, the sight of the cord will remind you of all the commandments of the Lord and you will do them, without prostituting yourself going after the desires of your hearts and your eyes. 40 Thus you will remember to do all my commandments and you will be holy to your God. 41 I, the Lord, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Lord your God.(I)
Footnotes
- 15:2–16 These laws on sacrifice are complementary to those of Lv 1–3. Since the food of the Israelites consisted not only of meat but also of bread, oil and wine, they offered flour, wine and oil in sacrifice to the Lord besides the animal oblations.
- 15:4 Measure: the word, supplied from the context, does not appear in the Hebrew (as also in vv. 6, 9; 28:9, 12, 20, 28; 29:3, 9, 14). Probably the ephah (which is named in 5:15; 28:5) is intended. Hin: see note on Ez 45:24.
- 15:20 Dough: the meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain; some render, “baking utensils.” This word is used elsewhere only in Ez 44:30 and Neh 10:33; a related Hebrew word is used in Lv 2:14.
- 15:22–31 See note on Lv 4:2. Although Lv 4–5 and Nm 15:22–31 both concern inadvertent sins, the emphasis here, as opposed to Lv 4–5, is on the failure of the community to perform “positive commands” rather than on doing what is prohibited.
- 15:34 No clear decision: either it was not clear that gathering wood constituted “work” and as such a willful violation of the sabbath and a capital offense; or they did not yet know how the death penalty was to be inflicted.
- 15:38 Tassels: at the time of Jesus these tassels were worn by all pious Jews, including Jesus (Mt 9:20–21; Mk 6:56); some Pharisees wore very large ones in a display of their zeal for the law (Mt 23:5).
Numbers 15
Easy-to-Read Version
Rules About Sacrifices
15 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am giving you a land to be your home. When you enter that land, 3 you must give special gifts to the Lord. Their smell will please the Lord. You will use your cattle, sheep, and goats for burnt offerings, sacrifices, special promises, special gifts, fellowship offerings, or at your special festivals.
4 “At the time someone brings their offering, they must also give a grain offering to the Lord. The grain offering will be 8 cups[a] of fine flour mixed with 1 quart[b] of olive oil. 5 Each time you offer a lamb as a burnt offering or sacrifice, you must also prepare a quart of wine as a drink offering.
6 “If you are giving a ram, you must also prepare a grain offering. This grain offering should be 16 cups[c] of fine flour mixed with 1 1/4 quarts[d] of olive oil. 7 And you must prepare 1 1/4 quarts of wine as a drink offering. Its smell will please the Lord.
8 “You might prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, a sacrifice, a fellowship offering, or to keep a special promise to the Lord. 9 At that time you must also bring a grain offering with the bull. That grain offering should be 24 cups[e] of fine flour mixed with 2 quarts[f] of olive oil. 10 Also bring 2 quarts of wine as a drink offering as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. 11 Each bull or ram, or lamb or young goat that you give must be prepared in this way. 12 Do this for every one of these animals that you give.
13 “This is the way every citizen of Israel must give gifts to please the Lord. 14 Foreigners will live among you. If they give gifts to please the Lord, they must offer them the same way you do. 15 The same rules will be for everyone—the Israelites and the foreigners living among you. This law will continue forever. You and the people living among you will be the same before the Lord. 16 This means that you must follow the same laws and the same rules. These laws and rules are for you Israelites and for the other people who are living among you.”
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Tell the Israelites this: I am taking you to another land. 19 When you eat the food that grows in that land, you must give part of that food as an offering to the Lord. 20 You will gather grain and grind it into flour to make dough for bread. You must give the first bread from that flour as a gift to the Lord. It will be like the grain offering that comes from the threshing floor. 21 You and all your descendants must give part of the first dough you make from that flour as a gift to the Lord.
22 “As you try to obey all the commands that the Lord gave Moses, you might fail and make a mistake. 23 The Lord gave you those commands through Moses, and they have been in effect from the day they were given throughout the generations until today. 24 If you made this mistake where everyone could see it, the whole community must offer a young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. You must also offer the grain offering and the drink offering with the bull. And you must also give a male goat as a sin offering.
25 “So the priest will make the whole community of Israel pure, and they will be forgiven for the mistake they made. Since they made the mistake, they must bring a gift and a sin offering to the Lord. 26 Then the whole community of Israel and any foreigners among them will be forgiven for the mistake.
27 “But if only one person makes a mistake and sins, that person must bring a female goat that is one year old. That goat will be the sin offering. 28 The priest will make purification before the Lord for the one who sinned, and that person will be forgiven. 29 This law is for everyone who makes a mistake and sins. The same law is for the people born in the family of Israel and for the foreigners living among you.
30 “If someone sins and knows they are doing wrong, they are rebelling against the Lord. They must be separated from their people. The same law applies to citizens of Israel and to foreigners living among you. 31 They thought the Lord’s word was not important, so they broke his commands. That is why they must be separated from their people—they must bear the responsibility for their guilt.”
A Man Works on the Day of Rest
32 While the Israelites were in the desert, some of them saw a man gathering firewood on the Sabbath day. 33 The people who saw him gathering the wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel. 34 They guarded the man carefully because they did not know how they should punish him.
35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. All the people must throw stones at him outside the camp.” 36 So the people took him outside the camp and killed him with stones. They did this just as the Lord commanded Moses.
A Way to Remember God’s Commands
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them this: Tie several pieces of thread together and tie them in the corner of your clothes. Put a piece of blue thread in each one of these tassels. You must wear these things now and forever. 39 You will be able to look at these tassels and remember all the commands that the Lord has given you. Then you will obey the commands. You will not do wrong by forgetting about the commands and doing the things that your own bodies and eyes want. 40 You will remember to obey all my commands. Then you will be God’s special people. 41 I am the Lord your God. I am the one who brought you out of Egypt. I did this to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 15:4 8 cups Literally, “1/10 of an ephah” (2.2 l).
- Numbers 15:4 1 quart Literally, “1/4 hin” (.8 l).
- Numbers 15:6 16 cups Literally, “2/10 of an ephah” (4.4 l).
- Numbers 15:6 1 1/4 quarts Literally, “1/3 hin” (1 l).
- Numbers 15:9 24 cups Literally, “3/10 of an ephah” (6.6 l).
- Numbers 15:9 2 quarts Literally, “1/2 hin” (1.6 l).
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