Numbers 19-21

New International Reader's Version

The Special Water That Makes People “Clean”

19 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ² “Here is what the law I have commanded requires. Tell the Israelites to bring you a young red cow. It must not have any flaws at all. It must never have pulled a load. ³ Give it to Eleazar the priest. It must be taken outside the camp and killed in front of him. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger. He must sprinkle the blood toward the front of the tent of meeting. He must do it seven times. ⁵ While he watches, the young cow must be burned. Its hide, meat, blood and guts must be burned. ⁶ The priest must get some cedar wood, branches of a hyssop plant, and bright red wool. He must throw them on the young cow as it burns. ⁷ After that, the priest must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. Then he can come into the camp. But he will be ‘unclean’ until evening. ⁸ The man who burns the young cow must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening.

⁹ “A man who is ‘clean’ will gather up the ashes of the young cow. He must put them in a place that is ‘clean.’ The place must be outside the camp. The ashes must be kept by the community of Israel. They will be added to the special water. The water will be used to make people pure from their sin. ¹⁰ The man who gathers up the ashes of the young cow must wash his clothes. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening. This law is for the Israelites. It is also for the outsiders living among them. The law will last for all time to come.

¹¹ “Anyone who touches a dead person’s body will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹² They must make themselves pure and ‘clean’ with the special water. They must do it on the third day. They must also do it on the seventh day. Then they will be ‘clean.’ But suppose they do not make themselves pure and ‘clean’ on the third and seventh days. Then they will not be ‘clean.’ ¹³ Anyone who touches a dead person’s body and does not make themselves pure and ‘clean’ makes my holy tent ‘unclean.’ They must be separated from Israel. The special water has not been sprinkled on them. So they are ‘unclean.’ And they remain ‘unclean.’

¹⁴ “Here is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent. Anyone who enters the tent will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. Anyone in the tent will also be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹⁵ And anything in it that is open and has no lid will be ‘unclean.’

¹⁶ “Suppose someone is out in the country. And suppose they touch someone who has been killed by a sword. Or they touch someone who has died a natural death. Or they touch a human bone or a grave. Then anyone who touches any of those things will be ‘unclean’ for seven days.

¹⁷ “Here is what I want you to do for someone who is ‘unclean.’ Put some ashes from the burned young cow into a jar. Pour fresh water on the ashes. ¹⁸ Then a man who is ‘clean’ must dip branches of a hyssop plant in the water. He must sprinkle the tent with it. Everything that belongs to the tent must be sprinkled with it. The people in the tent must also be sprinkled. Anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave must be sprinkled. So must anyone who has touched someone who has been killed. And so must anyone who has touched someone who has died a natural death. ¹⁹ The man who is ‘clean’ must sprinkle those who are ‘unclean.’ That must be done on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day those who are ‘unclean’ must be made pure and ‘clean.’ Those being made ‘clean’ must wash their clothes. They must take a bath. Then that evening they will be ‘clean.’ ²⁰ But what if those who are ‘unclean’ do not make themselves pure and ‘clean?’ Then they must be separated from the community. They have made my holy tent ‘unclean.’ The special water has not been sprinkled on them. They are ‘unclean.’ ²¹ This law will apply to all those people for all time to come.

“The man who sprinkles the special water must also wash his clothes. Anyone who touches the water will be ‘unclean’ until evening. ²² Anything that an ‘unclean’ person touches becomes ‘unclean.’ And anyone who touches it becomes ‘unclean’ until evening.”

The Lord Gives Israel Water Out of the Rock

20 In the first month the whole community of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.

² The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. ³ They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord. ⁴ Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!”

⁶ Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the tent of meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Get your walking stick. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.”

⁹ So Moses took the walking stick from the tent. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the people together in front of the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen, you who refuse to obey! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm. He hit the rock twice with his walking stick. Water poured out. And the people and their livestock drank it.

¹² But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “You did not trust in me enough to honor me. You did not honor me as the holy God in front of the Israelites. So you will not bring this community into the land I am giving them.”

¹³ Those were the waters of Meribah. That’s where the Israelites argued with the Lord. And that’s where he was proven to be holy among them.

Edom Doesn’t Let Israel Pass Through Its Territory

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. The messengers said,

“The nation of Israel is your brother. They say, ‘You know about all the hard times we’ve had. ¹⁵ Long ago our people went down into Egypt. We lived there for many years. The Egyptians treated us and our people badly. ¹⁶ But we cried out to the Lord. He heard our cry. He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.

“ ‘Now here we are at the town of Kadesh. It’s on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We won’t go through any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the King’s Highway. We won’t turn to the right or the left. We’ll just go straight through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸ But the people of Edom answered,

“We won’t let you pass through here. If you try to, we’ll march out against you. We’ll attack you with our swords.”

¹⁹ The Israelites replied,

“We’ll go along the main road. We and our livestock won’t drink any of your water. If we do, we’ll pay for it. We only want to walk through your country. That’s all we ask.”

²⁰ Again the people of Edom answered,

“We won’t let you pass through here.”

Then the people of Edom marched out against them. They came with a large and powerful army. ²¹ Edom refused to let Israel go through their territory. So Israel turned away from them.

Aaron Dies

²² The whole community of Israel started out from Kadesh. They arrived at Mount Hor. ²³ It was near the border of Edom. There the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²⁴ “Aaron will join the members of his family who have already died. He will not enter the land I am giving to the Israelites. Both of you refused to obey my command. You did it at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ So get Aaron and his son Eleazar. Take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶ Take Aaron’s official robes off of him. Put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die on Mount Hor. He will join the members of his family who have already died.”

²⁷ Moses did just as the Lord had commanded. The three men went up Mount Hor while the whole community was watching. ²⁸ Moses took Aaron’s official robes off of him. He put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ The whole community found out that Aaron had died. So all the Israelites mourned for him for 30 days.

Israel Destroys Arad

21 The Canaanite king of the city of Arad lived in the Negev Desert. He heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites. He captured some of them. ² Then Israel made a promise to the Lord. They said, “Hand these people over to us. If you do, we will set their cities apart to you in a special way to be destroyed.” ³ The Lord gave Israel what they asked for. He handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed them and their towns. So that place was named Hormah.

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

⁴ The Israelites traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea. They wanted to go around Edom. But they grew tired on the way. ⁵ So they spoke against God and against Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Do you want us to die here in the desert? We don’t have any bread! We don’t have any water! And we hate this awful food!”

⁶ Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the Israelites. The snakes bit them. Many of the people died. ⁷ The others came to Moses. They said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake. Put it up on a pole. Then anyone who is bitten can look at it and remain alive.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake. He put it up on a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake remained alive.

The People Continue On to Moab

¹⁰ The Israelites moved on. They camped at Oboth. ¹¹ Then they started out from Oboth. They camped in Iye Abarim. It’s in the desert on the eastern border of Moab. ¹² From there they moved on. They camped in the Zered Valley. ¹³ They started out from there and camped by the Arnon River. It’s in the desert that spreads out into the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the border of Moab. It’s between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Here is what the Book of the Wars of the Lord says about it.

¹⁶ From there the Israelites continued on to Beer. That was the well where the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Gather the people together. I will give them water to drink.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang a song. They said,

Then the Israelites went from the desert to Mattanah. ¹⁹ They went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. They went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. ²⁰ And they went from Bamoth to a valley in Moab. It’s the valley where the highest slopes of Pisgah look out over a dry and empty land.

Israel Wins the Battle Over Sihon and Og

²¹ The Israelites sent messengers to speak to Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. The messengers said to him,

²² “Let us pass through your country. We won’t go off the road into any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the King’s Highway. We’ll just go straight through your territory.”

²³ But Sihon wouldn’t let Israel pass through his territory. He gathered his whole army together. Then he marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought against Israel. ²⁴ But Israel put him to death with their swords. They took over his land. They took everything from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. But they didn’t take over any of the land of the Ammonites. That’s because the Ammonites had built strong forts along their border. ²⁵ The Israelites captured all the cities of the Amorites. Then they settled down in them. They captured the city of Heshbon. They also captured all the settlements around it. ²⁶ Sihon, the king of the Amorites, ruled in Heshbon. He had fought against an earlier king of Moab. Sihon had taken from him all his land all the way to the Arnon River.

²⁷ That’s why the poets say,

³¹ So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³² Moses sent spies to the city of Jazer. The Israelites captured the settlements around it. They drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³ Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan. Og was the king of Bashan. He and his whole army marched out. They went to fight against Israel at Edrei.

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of Og. I have handed him over to you. I have given you his whole army. I have also given you his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon.”

³⁵ So the Israelites struck down Og and his sons. And they wiped out his whole army. They didn’t leave anyone alive. They took over his land for themselves.