Numbers 15
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Laws about Offerings
15 The Lord instructed Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you to settle in, 3 and you make a fire offering to the Lord from the herd or flock—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow,(A) or as a freewill offering, or at your appointed festivals—to produce a pleasing aroma for the Lord, 4 the one presenting his offering to the Lord must also present a grain offering of two quarts[a] of fine flour mixed with a quart[b] of oil. 5 Prepare a quart[c] of wine as a drink offering with the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb.
6 “If you prepare a grain offering with a ram, it must be four quarts[d] of fine flour mixed with a third of a gallon[e] of oil. 7 Also present a third of a gallon[f] of wine for a drink offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
8 “If you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or as a fellowship offering to the Lord, 9 a grain offering of six quarts[g] of fine flour mixed with two quarts[h] of oil must be presented with the bull. 10 Also present two quarts[i] of wine as a drink offering. It is a fire offering of pleasing aroma to the Lord. 11 This is to be done for each ox, ram, lamb, or goat. 12 This is how you must prepare each of them, no matter how many.
13 “Every Israelite is to prepare these things in this way when he presents a fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 14 When a foreigner resides with you or someone else is among you and wants to prepare a fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he is to do exactly as you do throughout your generations. 15 The assembly is to have the same statute for[j] both you and the foreign resident as a permanent statute throughout your generations. You and the foreigner will be alike before the Lord. 16 The same law and the same ordinance will apply to both you and the foreigner who resides with you.”(B)
17 The Lord instructed Moses: 18 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land where I am bringing you, 19 you are to offer a contribution to the Lord when you eat from the food of the land. 20 You are to offer a loaf from your first batch of dough(C) as a contribution; offer it just like a contribution from the threshing floor.(D) 21 Throughout your generations, you are to give the Lord a contribution from the first batch of your dough.
22 “When you sin unintentionally and do not obey all these commands that the Lord spoke to Moses(E)— 23 all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day the Lord issued the commands and onward throughout your generations— 24 and if it was done unintentionally without the community’s awareness, the entire community is to prepare one young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25 The priest must then make atonement for the entire Israelite community so that they may be forgiven, for the sin was unintentional. They are to bring their offering, one made by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their unintentional sin. 26 The entire Israelite community and the foreigner who resides among them will be forgiven, since it happened to all the people unintentionally.
27 “If one person sins unintentionally,(F) he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 The priest must then make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the person who acts in error sinning unintentionally, and when he makes atonement for him, he will be forgiven. 29 You are to have the same law for the person who acts in error, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner who lives among you.
30 “But the person who acts defiantly,[k] whether native or foreign resident, blasphemes the Lord.(G) That person is to be cut off from his people. 31 He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken His command; his guilt remains on him.”
Sabbath Violation
32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.(H) 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the entire community. 34 They placed him in custody because it had not been decided what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord told Moses, “The man is to be put to death. The entire community is to stone him outside the camp.” 36 So the entire community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Tassels for Remembrance
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels(I) for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. 39 These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. 40 This way you will remember and obey all My commands and be holy to your God. 41 I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”(J)
Footnotes
- Numbers 15:4 Lit a tenth (of an ephah)
- Numbers 15:4 Lit a fourth hin
- Numbers 15:5 Lit a fourth hin
- Numbers 15:6 Lit two-tenths (of an ephah)
- Numbers 15:6 Lit a third hin
- Numbers 15:7 Lit a third hin
- Numbers 15:9 Lit three-tenths (of an ephah)
- Numbers 15:9 Lit a half hin
- Numbers 15:10 Lit a half hin
- Numbers 15:15 Sam, LXX read 14 . . . the Lord, the assembly must do exactly as you do. 15 The same statute will apply to . . .
- Numbers 15:30 Lit with a high hand
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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