Numbers 4:21-7:89

New American Standard Bible

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²² “Take a ^[a]census of the sons of Gershon ^[b]also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; ²³ from ^(A)thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall ^[c]count them: all who can enter to perform service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. ²⁴ This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: ²⁵ they shall carry ^(B)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and ^(C)the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ²⁶ and ^(D)the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes and all the equipment for their service; and everything that is to be done ^[d]by them, ^[e]they shall perform. ²⁷ All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, that is, all their loads and all their work, shall be performed at the ^[f]command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. ²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be ^[g]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; ³⁰ from ^(E)thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, you shall count them, everyone who can enter the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. ³¹ Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, ³² and the pillars around the courtyard and their bases, their pegs, and their ropes, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign by names of the men the items ^[h]that each is to carry. ³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, ^[i]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴ So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁵ from ^(F)thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting. ³⁶ Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. ³⁷ These were the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the ^[j]commandment of the Lord ^[k]through Moses.

³⁸ And the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁹ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— ⁴⁰ their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. ⁴¹ These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the ^[l]commandment of the Lord.

⁴² And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, ⁴³ from ^(G)thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— ⁴⁴ their numbered men by their families were 3,200. ⁴⁵ These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the ^[m]commandment of the Lord ^[n]through Moses.

⁴⁶ All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ households, ⁴⁷ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting— ⁴⁸ their numbered men were ^(H)8,580. ⁴⁹ According to the ^[o]commandment of the Lord ^[p]through Moses, they ^(I)were counted, everyone by his serving or carrying; so these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

On Defilement

5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they ^(J)send away from the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone having a ^(K)discharge, and everyone who is ^(L)unclean because of contact with a dead person. ³ You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they do not defile their camp where I dwell ^(M)in their midst.” ⁴ And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as the Lord had spoken to Moses, that is what the sons of Israel did.

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘^(N)When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, ⁷ then ^[q]he shall ^(O)confess ^[r]his sin which ^[s]he has committed, and he ^(P)shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it a fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. ⁸ But if the person has no ^[t]redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. ^9 (Q)Also every ^[u]contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰ So every person’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever anyone gives to the priest, it ^(R)becomes his.’”

The Adultery Test

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife ^(S)goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man has ^(T)sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, ^14 [v]if ^[w]an attitude of ^(U)jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if ^[x]an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵ the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as ^[y]an offering for her a tenth of an ^[z]ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of reminder, ^(V)a reminder of wrongdoing.

¹⁶ ‘Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord, ¹⁷ and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware container; and ^[aa]he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. ¹⁸ The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let down the hair of the woman’s head, and place the grain offering of reminder ^[ab]in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹ And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not ^(W)gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority of your husband, be ^[ac]immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; ²⁰ if, however, you have ^(X)gone astray, though under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had sexual intercourse with you” ²¹ (then the priest shall have the woman ^(Y)swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “may the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’s making your thigh ^[ad]shriveled and your ^[ae]belly swollen; ²² and this water that brings a curse shall go into your ^[af]stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh ^[ag]shrivel.” And the woman ^(Z)shall say, “Amen, Amen.”

²³ ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall ^[ah]wash them off into the water of bitterness. ²⁴ Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her ^[ai]and cause bitterness. ²⁵ And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; ²⁶ and ^(AA)the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ When he has made her drink the water, then it will come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her ^[aj]and cause bitterness, and her belly will swell up and her thigh will ^[ak]shrivel, and the woman will become ^(AB)a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be ^[al]immune and conceive ^[am]children.

²⁹ ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, who is under the authority of her husband, ^(AC)goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when ^[an]an attitude of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all of this law to her. ³¹ The man, moreover, will be free of ^[ao]guilt, but that woman shall ^(AD)bear the consequences of her ^[ap]guilt.’”

Law of the Nazirites

6 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes ^[aq]a special vow, namely, the vow of ^(AE)a ^[ar]Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, ³ he shall ^(AF)abstain from wine and ^[as]strong drink; he shall ^[at]consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴ All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵ ‘All the days of his vow of consecration ^(AG)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

⁶ ‘^(AH)All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. ⁷ He ^(AI)shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is ^[au]on his head. ⁸ All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

⁹ ‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then ^(AJ)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; ^(AK)he shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰ Then on the eighth day he shall bring ^(AL)two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ And the priest shall offer ^(AM)one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him ^[av]regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, ¹² and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will ^[aw]not count, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³ ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite ^(AN)when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring ^[ax]his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one ^(AO)ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of ^(AP)unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with ^(AQ)their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ^18 (AR)The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ^19 (AS)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the ^[ay]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. ²⁰ Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as ^[az]a contribution; and ^(AT)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else ^[ba]he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

Aaron’s Benediction

²² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way ^(AU)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

²⁷ So they shall ^[bc](BB)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”

Offerings of the Leaders

7 Now on ^(BC)the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he ^(BD)anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. ² Then ^(BE)the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, ^(BF)made an offering (they were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ^[bd]supervisors over the ^[be]numbered men). ³ When they brought their offering before the Lord, six ^(BG)covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders and an ox for each one, then they presented them in front of the tabernacle. ⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵ “Accept these things from them, that they may be ^[bf]used in the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” ⁶ So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to ^(BH)their service, ⁸ and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to ^(BI)their service, ^[bg]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But he did not give any to the sons of Kohath, because theirs was ^(BJ)the service of the holy objects, which they carried on the shoulder.

¹⁰ And the leaders offered the dedication offering ^[bh]for the altar ^[bi]when ^(BK)it was anointed, so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. ¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “They shall present their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² Now the one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; ¹³ and his offering was one silver ^[bj](BL)dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels ^(BM)in ^[bk]sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ¹⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ¹⁵ one ^[bl]bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ^16 (BN)one male goat as a sin offering; ¹⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of ^(BO)Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering; ¹⁹ he presented as his offering one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²¹ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ²² one male goat as a sin offering; ²³ and for the sacrifice of ^(BP)peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day it was Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the sons of Zebulun; ²⁵ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ²⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²⁷ one bull, one ram, and one ^(BQ)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ²⁸ one male goat as a sin offering; ²⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day it was Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the sons of Reuben; ³¹ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³³ one bull, one ram, and one ^(BR)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ³⁴ one male goat as a sin offering; ³⁵ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day it was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the sons of Simeon; ³⁷ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ³⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³⁹ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁴⁰ one male goat as a sin offering; ⁴¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day it was ^(BS)Eliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the sons of Gad; ⁴³ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of ^(BT)fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁴⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ^45 (BU)one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁴⁶ one male goat as a sin offering; ⁴⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day it was ^(BV)Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the sons of Ephraim; ⁴⁹ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(BW)incense; ^51 (BX)one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁵² one male goat as a sin offering; ⁵³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day it was ^(BY)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh; ⁵⁵ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁵⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(BZ)incense; ⁵⁷ one bull, one ram, and one ^(CA)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁵⁸ one male goat as a sin offering; ⁵⁹ and for the ^(CB)sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day it was ^(CC)Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the sons of Benjamin; ⁶¹ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶² one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(CD)incense; ⁶³ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁶⁴ one male goat as a ^(CE)sin offering; ⁶⁵ and for the sacrifice of ^(CF)peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day it was ^(CG)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the sons of Dan; ⁶⁷ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary ^(CH)shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁶⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(CI)incense; ⁶⁹ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁰ one male goat as a sin offering; ⁷¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day it was ^(CJ)Pagiel the son of Ochran, leader of the sons of Asher; ⁷³ his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁷⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^(CK)incense; ⁷⁵ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one male goat as a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day it was ^(CL)Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the sons of Naphtali; ⁷⁹ his offering was also one ^(CM)silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁸⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁸¹ one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; ⁸² one male goat as a sin offering; ⁸³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was ^(CN)the dedication offering ^[bm]for the altar from the leaders of Israel ^[bn]when ^(CO)it was anointed: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans, ⁸⁵ each silver dish weighing 130 shekels and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the utensils totaled 2,400 in sanctuary shekels; ⁸⁶ the twelve gold pans full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece in sanctuary ^(CP)shekels, all the gold of the pans totaled 120 shekels. ⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering totaled twelve bulls, all the rams, twelve, the male lambs one year old with their grain offering, twelve, and the male goats as a sin offering, twelve; ⁸⁸ and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings totaled twenty-four bulls, all the rams, sixty, the male goats, sixty, and the male lambs one year old, sixty. ^(CQ)This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ Now when ^(CR)Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above ^(CS)the ^[bo]atoning cover that was on the ark of the testimony, from ^(CT)between the two ^[bp]cherubim; so He spoke to him.