Numbers 8-15

Tree of Life Version

Parashat Beha’alotecha

Dedication of the Levites

8 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you erect the lamps, the seven lamps are to illuminate the area in front of the menorah.” ³ Aaron did so. He erected the lamps facing forward so they illuminated the area in front of the menorah, just as Adonai had commanded Moses. ⁴ Now this is how the menorah was made: hammered gold from its base to its blossoms. Just as was the pattern that Adonai had shown to Moses, so he made the menorah.

⁵ Again Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among Bnei-Yisrael and ceremonially cleanse them. ⁷ This is what you must do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle the purifying water on them,^[a] then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, thus purifying themselves.

⁸ “Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for a sin offering. ⁹ Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and gather the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael. ¹⁰ Bring the Levites before Adonai, Bnei-Yisrael will lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹ and Aaron will present the Levites before Adonai as a wave offering from Bnei-Yisrael. Then they may go about the work of the service of Adonai.

¹² “The Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Adonai to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ Have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to Adonai. ¹⁴ In this way you are to set apart the Levites from Bnei-Yisrael to be Mine. ¹⁵ After you have purified them and presented them as a wave offering, the Levites will come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁶ For they are the ones from among Bnei-Yisrael given to Me in place of all the first from the wombs of Bnei-Yisrael. I have taken them for Myself.

¹⁷ “For every firstborn among Bnei-Yisrael is Mine, whether human or animal. On the day I struck down the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. ^{[b] 18} So I am taking the Levites in place of the firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael, ¹⁹ and I am giving the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among Bnei-Yisrael, to do the work on behalf of Bnei-Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for them—so that there would be no plague among them for coming too close to the Sanctuary.”

²⁰ So Moses, Aaron and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael did so with the Levites. All that Adonai had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so Bnei-Yisrael did to them. ²¹ The Levites also purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Adonai, and, he made atonement for them to purify them. ²² After that, the Levites came to do their tasks before Aaron and his sons in the Tent of Meeting, just as Adonai had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.

²³ Adonai again spoke to Moses saying, ²⁴ “This is for the Levites. Men 25 years old and upward are to present themselves for service to work in the Tent of Meeting. ²⁵ But at the age of 50 he is to retire from his service and work no longer. ²⁶ He may assist his brothers in the Tent of Meeting to do their duties, but he himself will no longer do the work. Thus, you are to assign to the Levites their responsibilities.”

Second Month Passover

9 Adonai spoke to Moses in the Sinai wilderness in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt saying, ² “Bnei-Yisrael is to observe Passover at its appointed time. ³ You are to celebrate it at its appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, with all its rules and regulations.”

⁴ So Moses told Bnei-Yisrael to observe Passover. ⁵ They celebrated Passover at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month in the Sinai wilderness. In accordance with all that Adonai commanded Moses, so Bnei-Yisrael did.^[c]

⁶ However, there were some men who could not celebrate Passover because of being defiled by a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron on that same day, ⁷ and these men said to him, “We have become unclean because of a dead man’s body. Why should we be kept from presenting the offering of Adonai at the appointed time with the rest of Bnei-Yisrael?” ⁸ Moses answered them, “Wait, and I will inquire what Adonai commands concerning you.”

⁹ Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁰ “Say to Bnei-Yisrael saying: If any man, whether you or your descendants, becomes unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a long journey, he may yet observe Adonai’s Passover. ¹¹ They are to celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. With matzot and bitter herbs they are to eat it. ¹² They are not to leave any of it until morning, or break any bones. When they celebrate Passover they are to observe all its regulations.

¹³ “But the person who is clean and not away on a journey, yet neglects to celebrate Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people because that person did not present Adonai’s offering at the appointed time. That man will bear his sin.

¹⁴ “If an outsider living among you would celebrate Passover to Adonai according to the requirement, so he should do. There will be for you the same regulation for the outsider and the native of the land.’”

The Cloud as the Guide

¹⁵ On the day the Tabernacle was erected, the cloud covered the Tabernacle. By evening until morning, the cloud above the Tent of Testimony had an appearance like fire. ¹⁶ It was that way continually. The cloud covered it, and by night it appeared like fire. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted up from above the Tent, then Bnei-Yisrael would set out, and at the place where the cloud settled, there Bnei-Yisrael would encamp. ¹⁸ At the mouth of Adonai, Bnei-Yisrael would set out, and at the mouth of Adonai they would encamp. All the days that the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, they would remain in camp.

¹⁹ When the cloud would remain over the Tabernacle many days, Bnei-Yisrael would obey the command of Adonai and not set out. ²⁰ At times the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle only a few days. At Adonai’s word they would encamp, and at Adonai’s word they would set out.

²¹ At times the cloud remained only from evening until morning. When the cloud would lift, they would set out. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether for two days or a month or a year, while the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, Bnei-Yisrael remained camped and would not set out. But when it would lift, they would set out. ²³ At Adonai’s word they would encamp, and at the mouth of Adonai they set out. They obeyed Adonai’s order by Moses’s hand.

Silver Trumpets for Assembly

10 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver for yourself. They are for summoning the community and having the camps set out. ³ Whenever both are sounded, the whole community is to gather toward you at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴ But if only one is sounded, the princes—the heads of the tribes of Israel—are to gather toward you. ⁵ When you sound the trumpet the first time, the camp of those camped on the east is to set out. ⁶ When you sound the trumpet blast the second time, the camp of those camped on the south is to set out. Short blasts will be the signal for their moving out. ⁷ To gather the whole national community, you are to sound the sustained blasts, but not the short blasts. ⁸ The sons of Aaron will blow the trumpets. This is to be an eternal ordinance for you as well as for your generations to come.

⁹ Whenever you go to war in your own land against the enemy who is hostile to you, you are to sound short blasts of alarm. Then you will be remembered before Adonai your God and be delivered from your enemies.

¹⁰ Also at your days of rejoicing, feasts and new moons, you are to blow on the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They will then be a reminder for you before Adonai your God. I am Adonai your God!”

Journey From Sinai

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted up from above the Tabernacle of the Testimony. ¹² Then Bnei-Yisrael set out on their travels in the Sinai wilderness. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran. ¹³ So they set out the first time by the mouth of Adonai by Moses’s hand.

¹⁴ The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah set out first by their divisions. Over them was Nahshon son of Amminadab. ¹⁵ Over the division of the tribe of the sons of Issachar was Nethanel son of Zuar. ¹⁶ Over the division of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun was Eliab son of Helon.

¹⁷ Then the Tabernacle was disassembled, and the sons of Gershon and Merari, who were carrying it, set out. ¹⁸ The standard of the camp of Reuben then set out, by their divisions. Over his division was Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, was over the division of the tribe of the sons of Simeon. ²⁰ Over the division of the tribe of the sons of Gad was Eliasaph son of Deuel.

²¹ Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy items. The Tabernacle was to be erected before their arrival.

²² The standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim set out next, by their divisions. Over his division was Elishama son of Ammihud. ²³ Over the division of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. ²⁴ Over the division of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin was Abidan son of Gideoni.

²⁵ The standard of the camp of the tribe of the sons of Dan, being the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their divisions. Over his division was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran, was over the division of the tribe of the sons of Asher. ²⁷ Ahira son of Enan, was over the division of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali.

²⁸ This is the order by which Bnei-Yisrael, by their divisions, set out.

²⁹ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place about which Adonai said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will do good to you, because Adonai has spoken goodness to Israel.”

³⁰ But he said to him, “I will not go, because I would rather go to my own country and to my own people.”

³¹ But he said, “Do not leave us now, because you know where we should camp in the wilderness. You can be like eyes to us. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good Adonai gives to us.”

³³ So they advanced from the mountain of Adonai, a trip of three days, the Ark of the covenant of Adonai going ahead of them for those three days to seek out a resting place for them. ³⁴ The cloud of Adonai was over them by day when they advanced from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the Ark would set out, Moses would say:

³⁶ Then whenever it came to rest, he would say:

70 Elders to Share the Burden

11 The people were murmuring in the ears of Adonai about hardship, and when Adonai heard, His anger burned. The fire of Adonai blazed among them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp. ² The people cried out to Moses, so Moses prayed to Adonai and the fire died out. ³ The name of that place was thus called Taberah because fire from Adonai had burned among them.

⁴ The grumblers among them began to have cravings, so Bnei-Yisrael began to wail repeatedly, saying, “If we could just eat some meat! ⁵ We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt, for free—the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic! ⁶ But now we have no appetite. We never see anything but this manna.”

⁷ Now the manna was similar to coriander seed and had an appearance like gum resin. ⁸ The people went about, gathered it up, and ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. It had a taste like something made with olive oil. ⁹ When the dew descended on the camp at night, the manna descended with it.

¹⁰ Moses heard the people wailing by their families, each man at the door to his tent. Adonai’s anger became very hot, and Moses was troubled.

¹¹ So Moses asked Adonai, “Why have You brought trouble on Your servant? Haven’t I found favor in Your eyes—that You laid the burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people, or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom just as the nurse carries an infant’—to the land You promised to their fathers? ¹³ Where can I get meat for all these people? For they wail to me saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all these people by myself! The load is too heavy for me! ¹⁵ If this is how You are treating me, kill me now! If I have found favor in Your eyes, kill me please—don’t let me see my own misery!”

¹⁶ Adonai said to Moses, “Bring me 70 of the elders of Israel whom you know to be elders of the people and their leaders. Take them to the Tent of Meeting, so they may stand with you there. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there, and, I will take some of the Ruach that is on you and will place it on them. They will carry with you the burden of the people, so you will not be carrying it alone.”^[d]

¹⁸ “Now to the people say: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because you will eat meat, for you wailed in Adonai’s ears saying, ‘If only we could eat meat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ Now Adonai will give you meat and you will eat! ¹⁹ You will eat—not for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but for an entire month—until it is coming out of your nostrils and it becomes loathsome to you! For you rejected Adonai who is among you, and you wailed to His face saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?”

²¹ Moses then said, “600,000 foot soldiers—the people I am in the middle of—yet You say, ‘I am going to give them meat to eat for an entire month?’ ²² If flocks and herds were slaughtered, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught, would they have enough?”

²³ Adonai said to Moses, “Is Adonai’s arm too short? Now you will see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

Seventy Elders Prophesying

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people Adonai’s words. He gathered 70 of the elders of the people and had them stand around the Tent. ²⁵ Adonai descended in the cloud and spoke with him. He took some of the Ruach that was on him and placed it on each of the 70 elders. It so happened that when the Ruach first rested on them, they prophesied—but never again.

²⁶ Two men, however, had remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad and the name of the other was Medad. The Ruach rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the Tent. So they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses since his youth, cried out and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous on my behalf? If only Adonai would make all the people prophets! If only Adonai would put the Spirit on all of them!”

³⁰ Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Quails From the Sea

³¹ Now a wind went out from Adonai and drove quails from the sea. He brought them into the camp to about a day’s journey in any direction, about two cubits above the ground all around the camp. ³² The people went out all that night and all the following day and collected quail. No one gathered less than ten omers. They spread them out all around the camp.

³³ Yet while the meat was between their teeth, before it was swallowed, Adonai’s anger burned against the people. So Adonai struck the people with a severe plague. ³⁴ For that reason the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah^[e], because they buried the people who were craving.

³⁵ From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth and stayed in Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses

12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of the Cushite woman he married, because he had married a Cushite woman. ² They asked, “Has Adonai spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us?”

Adonai heard it.

³ Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.

⁴ Immediately, Adonai said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “The three of you, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three came out. ⁵ Adonai descended in a column of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and called to Aaron and Miriam. The two of them stepped forward.

⁶ “Hear now My words!” He said. “When there is a prophet of Adonai, I reveal Myself in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. ⁷ Not so with My servant Moses. In all My house, he is faithful. ^{[f] 8} I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles. He even looks at the form of Adonai! Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

⁹ Adonai’s anger burned against them, and He left them. ¹⁰ When the cloud lifted up from above the Tent, behold, Miriam had tza’arat, like snow! As Aaron turned toward her, behold, she had tza’arat! ¹¹ He said to Moses, “Please, my lord, don’t hold against us the sin we have committed so foolishly! ¹² Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, who comes from his mother’s womb with his flesh half-eaten away!”

¹³ So Moses cried to Adonai saying, “O God, heal her now!”

¹⁴ Adonai said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be in shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days. After that she may be brought back.”

¹⁵ So Miriam was restricted to outside the camp for seven days. The people did not move on until Miriam was brought back. ¹⁶ Afterward, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Parashat Shlach

Twelve Scouts and the Bad Report

13 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Send some men on your behalf to investigate the land of Canaan, which I am giving to Bnei-Yisrael. Each man you are to send will be a prince of the tribe of his fathers, a man from each tribe.”

³ So according to the word of Adonai, Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran. All the men were princes of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁴ These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur. ⁵ From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori. ⁶ From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. ⁷ From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph. ⁸ From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun. ⁹ From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu. ¹⁰ From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi. ¹¹ From the tribe of Manasseh, part of the tribe of Joseph, Gaddi son of Susi. ¹² From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli. ¹³ From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael. ¹⁴ From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi. ¹⁵ From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to investigate the land. (Now he gave Hoshea son of Nun, the name Joshua.) ¹⁷ As he sent them to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there through the Negev, then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and the people living there, whether they might be strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ In what kind of land are they living? Is it good or bad? Also, what about the cities in which they are living? Are they unwalled or do they have fortifications? ²⁰ How is the soil—fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob the entrance of Hamath. ²² They continued on up through the Negev and came to Hebron. There lived Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of Anak. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ When they reached as far as the Valley of Eshcol, they cut a single branch with a cluster of grapes. It was carried on a pole between two of them. They also cut some pomegranates and some figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster cut by Bnei-Yisrael. ²⁵ They returned from investigating the land after 40 days.

²⁶ They traveled and returned to Moses, Aaron and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They gave their report to them and the entire assembly. They showed the land’s fruit. ²⁷ They gave their account to him and said, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey—this is some of its fruit. ²⁸ Except, the people living in the land are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw the sons of Anak there! ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of the Negev, the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are living in the mountains, and the Canaanites are living near the sea and along the bank of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should definitely go up and capture the land, for we can certainly do it!”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack these people, because they are stronger than we.” ³² They spread among Bnei-Yisrael a bad report about the land they had explored, saying, “The land through which we passed to explore devours its residents. All the people we saw there are men of great size! ³³ We also saw there the Nephilim. (The sons of Anak are from the Nephilim.) We seemed like grasshoppers in our eyes as well as theirs!”

Grumblers Will Not Enter the Land

14 All through that night, the entire community raised up their voices. The people wept. ² All Bnei-Yisrael grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the whole community said, “If only we had died in Egypt! If only we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is Adonai bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be like plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

⁴ They said to each other, “Let’s choose a leader and let’s go back to Egypt!”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire assembly of the community of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes. ⁷ They said to the whole assembly of Bnei-Yisrael, “The land through which we passed is an exceptionally good land! ⁸ If Adonai is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land and will give it to us—a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁹ Only don’t rebel against Adonai, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They will be food for us. The protection over them is gone. Adonai is with us! Do not fear them.”

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about violently stoning them.

Then the glory of Adonai appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all Bnei-Yisrael. ¹¹ Adonai said to Moses, “How long will these people treat Me contemptibly? How long will they neglect to trust in Me—in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them with the plague. I will destroy them. But you I will make into a nation greater and stronger than they!”

¹³ Moses said to Adonai, “The Egyptians will hear about it, because You brought up this people by Your power from among them. ¹⁴ They will tell the residents of this land about it. Already they have heard that You, Adonai, are in the midst of this people, that You, Adonai, have been seen eye to eye, that Your cloud remains over them, and that in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night You go before them. ¹⁵ If you kill these people all at once, the nations who have heard this report about You will say, ¹⁶ ‘Because Adonai was unable to bring this people to the land He had promised them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

¹⁷ “So please, let Adonai show His strength, just as You have spoken saying, ¹⁸ ‘Adonai is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Still, He does not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations.’ ¹⁹ Forgive now the guiltiness of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have pardoned this people from Egypt until now!”

²⁰ Adonai answered, “I have forgiven them just as you have spoken. ²¹ But as certainly as I live and as certainly as the glory of Adonai fills the entire earth, ²² none of the people who saw My glory and My miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet tested Me these ten times and did not obey My Voice— ²³ not one of them will see the land I promised to their forefathers. None of those who treated Me with contempt will see it! ²⁴ However, My servant Caleb, because a different spirit is with him and he is wholeheartedly behind Me, I will bring him into the land where he went—his offspring will inherit it. ²⁵ Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are inhabiting the valley, turn back tomorrow and set out by the wilderness route toward the Sea of Reeds.”

²⁶ Adonai then said to Moses and Aaron saying, ²⁷ “How long will this wicked community be grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of Bnei-Yisrael grumbling against Me. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘As surely as I live,’ says Adonai, ‘I will do to you just as I heard you say in My ears. ²⁹ In this very wilderness your bodies will drop—every one of you 20 years of age and older who was numbered in the census and grumbled against Me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land about which I lifted My hand to make home for you—except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

³¹ “As for your children—whom you said would be like plunder—I will bring them in and they will experience the land that you spurned. ³² But your bodies will drop in this wilderness. ³³ Your children will be herdsmen in the wilderness for 40 years. They will suffer because of your unfaithfulness until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. ³⁴ For 40 years, corresponding to the number of the 40 days you explored the land—one year for each day—you will suffer for your iniquities and know My hostility. ³⁵ I, Adonai, have spoken and certainly will I do this to all this wicked community banding together against Me. In this wilderness they will meet their end and there they will die!”

³⁶ Then the men whom Moses had sent to explore the land, who had returned and caused the whole community to grumble against him by spreading a bad report about the land, ³⁷ these men, spreading the bad report about the land, died of the plague in Adonai’s presence. ³⁸ Of those men who had gone to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

³⁹ When Moses related these things to all of Bnei-Yisrael, the people mourned bitterly. ⁴⁰ They rose the next morning and went up to the high mountains, saying, “Look! Let’s go up to the place which Adonai promised. For we have sinned.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the mouth of Adonai? That will never succeed. ⁴² You should not go up, because Adonai will not be among you and you will be defeated before your enemies! ⁴³ For the Amalekites and Canaanites are there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. Adonai will not be with you, because you turned away from following Adonai.”

⁴⁴ But presumptuously they went up to the high mountain country, though neither the Ark of Adonai’s covenant nor Moses moved from within the camp. ⁴⁵ The Amalekites and Canaanites living in the mountain country came down, attacked them, and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Fragrant Aromas to Adonai

15 Again Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you where you will make your homes, ³ and you are presenting a fire offering to Adonai—a burnt offering or a sacrifice to mark fulfilling a vow, a freewill offering, or during moadim^[g]—to present a pleasing aroma to Adonai, from the herd or from the flock, ⁴ the one bringing the offering is to present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil.

⁵ “Now with each lamb for the burnt offering or sacrifice, you are to prepare a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. ⁶ With a ram, you are to prepare two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil, ⁷ and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. You are to offer it as a pleasing aroma to Adonai.

⁸ “Whenever you are to prepare a young bull for a burnt offering, a special vow offering, or a fellowship offering to Adonai, ⁹ bring with the young bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil. ¹⁰ You are to also offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine as a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to Adonai. ¹¹ This is to be done for each bull or ram, for each young goat or lamb. ¹² Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.

¹³ “Everyone native-born is to do these things like so when bringing a fire offering as a pleasant aroma to Adonai. ¹⁴ Whenever an outsider resides with you, or whoever is among you for your generations to come, and he is to present a fire offering as a fragrant aroma to Adonai, as you do, he must do exactly the same as you are doing.

¹⁵ “The community will have the same rule for you as well as for the resident outsider. It will be a lasting statute throughout your generations. As for you, so for the outsider will it be before Adonai. ¹⁶ The same Torah and the same regulations will apply to both you and the outsider residing among you.”

¹⁷ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael. Say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you, ¹⁹ and you eat some of the food of the land, you are to offer a portion to Adonai. ²⁰ You are to offer a cake from the first of your ground-up meal as an offering from your threshing floor—so you are to lift it up. ²¹ Throughout your generations to come, you are to give this offering from the first of your ground-up meal.

Unintentional Versus Defiant Sin

²² “If you unintentionally fail, not keeping any of these mitzvot that Adonai related to Moses ²³ —that is, anything that Adonai commanded you through Moses’s hand, from the day Adonai commanded and onward throughout your generations— ²⁴ and it is done unintentionally out of sight of the community, then the entire community is to offer one young bull from the herd for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to Adonai, along with its appropriate grain offering and drink offering, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ So the kohen will make atonement for the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael, and they will be forgiven, for it was unintentional and they brought a fire offering and their sin offering to Adonai for their error. ²⁶ So the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael along with the outsider residing among them will be forgiven, for all the people were involved in unintentional wrongdoing.

²⁷ “If but one person should sin unintentionally, he is to bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. ²⁸ The kohen is to make atonement before Adonai for that person who erred by sinning without intent, and he is to be forgiven when atonement has been made for him. ²⁹ Whether a native-born of Bnei-Yisrael or an outsider living among them, one Torah applies to you for the one sinning unintentionally.

³⁰ “But the person who sins defiantly, whether native or outsider, reviles Adonai and that person is to be cut off from his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the word of Adonai and has broken His commandment, that person will certainly be cut off—his guilt will remain on him.”

³² While Bnei-Yisrael were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Shabbat.

³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron and the entire assembly. ³⁴ They kept him under arrest, not being clear what was to be done to him.

³⁵ Adonai said to Moses, “The man has to die. The whole assembly is to stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So the whole assembly took him outside the camp. They stoned him with stones. He died just as Adonai commanded Moses.

Tzitzit for Holiness

³⁷ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ³⁸ “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael. Say to them that they are to make for themselves tzitzit on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they are to put a blue cord on each tzitzit. ^{[h] 39} It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of Adonai and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves. ⁴⁰ This way you will remember and obey all My mitzvot and you will be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am Adonai your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Adonai your God.”