Numbers 15
The Voice
15 The Eternal One spoke to Moses about sacrifices.
Eternal One: 2 Give the Israelites these instructions: “When you enter the land I determined would be yours, where you’ll settle and make your homes, 3-4 and when you burn a food offering, burnt offering, or sacrifice of meat from the herd or flock to make a pleasing aroma for Me; you should always accompany it with a grain offering—about two quarts of really good flour mixed with about one quart of oil. Do this whether your offering is a sworn vow or something you’re freely offering during the appointed festival. 5 Oh, and give a drink offering of some wine: about one quart for each lamb whenever you make a sacrifice or offering. 6 For bigger animals like a ram offer about four quarts of flour and about one and one-quarter quarts of oil, 7 and make about one and one-quarter quarts for the drink offering of wine. All of this will be a soothing aroma to Me. 8 For a bull (whether burnt or simply as a sacrifice to satisfy a promise or as an offering of well-being), 9 about six quarts of flour mixed with about two quarts of oil, 10 and make the drink offering two quarts of wine. Offer it by fire to make a soothing smell to Me. 11 This is how you should offer oxen or rams, male lambs, or young goats. 12 The specified accompaniments are for a single animal, so increase it based on the number of offerings you make. 13-14 Every Israelite should follow these instructions for an offering by fire to make a soothing smell for Me. Others who happen to be living among you temporarily or permanently should offer sacrifices in the same way. 15-16 There should be no difference throughout the community in this matter—Israelite or not—forever. You and the foreigner dwelling with you are the same, as I see it, so you all should follow the same rules and regulations.”
17 (to Moses) 18 Tell the Israelites this as well: “After you’ve entered the land that I’m taking you to, 19 whenever you enjoy the land’s bread, give a contribution to Me by raising up your offering to Me. 20-21 Just as you set aside a little grain on the threshing floor, so you and your descendants should set aside a little cake loaf from the first batch, as an offering to Me.
22 “If, somehow, someone overlooked or otherwise accidentally failed to do what I spelled out through Moses for the congregation 23 (all those commandments from the first day I gave them to you and throughout coming generations), 24-26 and it only came to the attention of the community after the fact, then the whole congregation should offer a bull together. Offer all of it by fire so that it smells good to Me along with the requisite grain and drink offerings, and sacrifice a male goat since it was a sin of sorts. In the process, the priest will cover all the Israelites, and they’ll be forgiven, for it was an unintentional offense. So, if they do all the right things to rectify the situation, then everyone (and not just native Israelites but even all the other people who happen to be living with them at the time) will be forgiven.
A constant theme as God instructs His people is to remember or to have a memorial: the family of Abraham builds monuments of stacked stones almost everywhere they go, and these people will do the same as they enter the land. Each child is given a name with clear meaning about either the character of the child or about the faithfulness of God. Each town is given a name that recalls something of significance, maybe the founder or a great war. Likewise, the foods they eat in their feasts have meaning or help them recall a shared memory. The offerings of the Israelites and the later sacraments of the church all serve as memorials or remembrances.
Here God instructs the people to alter their garments as a reminder of His commands and their own responsibilities to obey. Since the punishment for unbelief or disobedience is severe, God in His grace builds reminders into everyday life so the people do not have to struggle to remember these critical rules or truths.
27 “If an individual sins by accident (and the congregation catches it in time), he should offer a female yearling goat as the sin offering. 28 Thereby the priest shall cover that individual who sins accidentally in front of Me. Now that the mistake is covered, that person shall be forgiven. 29 This is the way it should be for Israelites and outsiders alike—for anyone who accidentally errs. 30-31 If it’s not an accident—the guilty person simply didn’t care about abiding by the instructions I gave to the Israelites through Moses and knowingly disregarded them—that’s different. Such a person, whether an Israelite or a stranger, has essentially rejected God. The community will ostracize him, and he’ll have to bear the burden of his guilt.”
32 One time, when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, it was discovered that somebody had broken the Sabbath rest commandment by gathering firewood. 33 The people who saw the man brought him to Moses and Aaron and the gathered congregation. 34 They weren’t sure what to do with him because nothing had been declared yet, so they kept him confined. 35 The Eternal One told Moses the man should be killed, that the whole congregation should take him outside the camp and stone him to death. 36 So they did just as the Eternal told them to do and executed him.
37 Once again the Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 38 Tell the Israelites to make fringes on each corner of their clothes and include a blue thread in each fringe. They should do this forever, 39 as it will bring to mind all My commandments and remind them not to wander off to do whatever their eyes see or hearts desire, and pursue them without restraint. 40 Instead, they will remember and do all of My commandments and be holy to your God.
41 I, the Eternal One, am your True God, the One who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Eternal One, your True God.
Numbers 15
Good News Translation
Laws about Sacrifice
15 The Lord gave Moses 2 the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them. 3 A bull, a ram, a sheep, or a goat may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering or as an offering at your regular religious festivals; the odor of these food offerings is pleasing to the Lord. 4-5 Whoever presents a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering to the Lord is to bring with each animal 2 pounds of flour mixed with 2 pints of olive oil as a grain offering, together with 2 pints of wine. 6 When a ram is offered, 4 pounds of flour mixed with 3 pints of olive oil are to be presented as a grain offering, 7 together with 3 pints of wine. The odor of these sacrifices is pleasing to the Lord. 8 When a bull is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a fellowship offering, 9 a grain offering of 6 pounds of flour mixed with 4 pints of olive oil is to be presented, 10 together with 4 pints of wine. The odor of this sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord.
11 That is what shall be offered with each bull, ram, sheep, or goat. 12 When more than one animal is offered, the accompanying offering is to be increased proportionately. 13 All native Israelites are to do this when they present a food offering, an odor pleasing to the Lord. 14 And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations. 15 For all time to come, the same[a] rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight; 16 (A)the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.
17 The Lord gave Moses 18 the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them. 19 When any food produced there is eaten, some of it is to be set aside as a special contribution to the Lord. 20 When you bake bread, the first loaf of the first bread made from the new grain is to be presented as a special contribution to the Lord. This is to be presented in the same way as the special contribution you make from the grain you thresh. 21 For all time to come, this special gift is to be given to the Lord from the bread you bake.
22 But suppose someone unintentionally fails to keep some of these regulations which the Lord has given Moses. 23 And suppose that in the future the community fails to do everything that the Lord commanded through Moses. 24 If the mistake was made because of the ignorance of the community, they are to offer a bull as a burnt offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, with the proper grain offering and wine offering. In addition, they are to offer a male goat as a sin offering. 25 The priest shall perform the ritual of purification for the community, and they will be forgiven, because the mistake was unintentional and they brought their sin offering as a food offering to the Lord. 26 The whole community of Israel and the foreigners living among them will be forgiven, because everyone was involved in the mistake.
27 (B)If any of you sin unintentionally, you are to offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 At the altar the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to purify you from your sin, and you will be forgiven. 29 The same regulation applies to all who unintentionally commit a sin, whether they are native Israelites or resident foreigners.
30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.
The Man Who Broke the Sabbath
32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp.” 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.
Rules about Tassels
37 The Lord commanded Moses 38 (C)to say to the people of Israel: “Make tassels on the corners of your garments and put a blue cord on each tassel. You are to do this for all time to come. 39 The tassels will serve as reminders, and each time you see them you will remember all my commands and obey them; then you will not turn away from me and follow your own wishes and desires. 40 The tassels will remind you to keep all my commands, and you will belong completely to me. 41 I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 15:15 Some ancient translations the same; Hebrew the congregation the same.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
