Numbers 9:15-25:8

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

The Cloud and the Fire

¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant;^[a] and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. ¹⁶ It was always so: the cloud covered it by day^[b] and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. ¹⁸ At the command of the Lord the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the Lord, and would not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud would remain for a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they would set out. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out. ²³ At the command of the Lord they would camp, and at the command of the Lord they would set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Make two silver trumpets; you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp. ³ When both are blown, the whole congregation shall assemble before you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁴ But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall assemble before you. ⁵ When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side shall set out; ⁶ when you blow a second alarm, the camps on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. ⁷ But when the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; this shall be a perpetual institution for you throughout your generations. ⁹ When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the Lord your God and be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also on your days of rejoicing, at your appointed festivals, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and over your sacrifices of well-being; they shall serve as a reminder on your behalf before the Lord your God: I am the Lord your God.

Departure from Sinai

¹¹ In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the covenant.^{[c] 12} Then the Israelites set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. ¹³ They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses. ¹⁴ The standard of the camp of Judah set out first, company by company, and over the whole company was Nahshon son of Amminadab. ¹⁵ Over the company of the tribe of Issachar was Nethanel son of Zuar; ¹⁶ and over the company of the tribe of Zebulun was Eliab son of Helon.

¹⁷ Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites, who carried the tabernacle, set out. ¹⁸ Next the standard of the camp of Reuben set out, company by company; and over the whole company was Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹⁹ Over the company of the tribe of Simeon was Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, ²⁰ and over the company of the tribe of Gad was Eliasaph son of Deuel.

²¹ Then the Kohathites, who carried the holy things, set out; and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. ²² Next the standard of the Ephraimite camp set out, company by company, and over the whole company was Elishama son of Ammihud. ²³ Over the company of the tribe of Manasseh was Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, ²⁴ and over the company of the tribe of Benjamin was Abidan son of Gideoni.

²⁵ Then the standard of the camp of Dan, acting as the rearguard of all the camps, set out, company by company, and over the whole company was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ Over the company of the tribe of Asher was Pagiel son of Ochran, ²⁷ and over the company of the tribe of Naphtali was Ahira son of Enan. ²⁸ This was the order of march of the Israelites, company by company, when they set out.

²⁹ Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, “I will give it to you”; come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has promised good to Israel.’ ³⁰ But he said to him, ‘I will not go, but I will go back to my own land and to my kindred.’ ³¹ He said, ‘Do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. ³² Moreover, if you go with us, whatever good the Lord does for us, the same we will do for you.’

³³ So they set out from the mount of the Lord on three days’ journey with the ark of the covenant of the Lord going before them for three days’ journey, to seek out a resting-place for them, ³⁴ the cloud of the Lord being over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,

³⁶ And whenever it came to rest, he would say,

Complaining in the Desert

11 Now when the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire of the Lord burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. ² But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated. ³ So that place was called Taberah,^[e] because the fire of the Lord burned against them.

⁴ The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’

⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its colour was like the colour of gum resin. ⁸ The people went around and gathered it, ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, then boiled it in pots and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna would fall with it.

¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. ¹¹ So Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favour in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors”? ¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, “Give us meat to eat!” ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favour in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.’

The Seventy Elders

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself. ¹⁸ And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “If only we had meat to eat! Surely it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’ ²¹ But Moses said, ‘The people I am with number six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, “I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month”! ²² Are there enough flocks and herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch for them?’ ²³ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s power limited?^[f] Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.’

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

²⁶ Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ ²⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men,^[g] said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ ²⁹ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ ³⁰ And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

The Quails

³¹ Then a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quails from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground. ³² So the people worked all that day and night and all the next day, gathering the quails; the least anyone gathered was ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³ But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,^[h] because there they buried the people who had the craving. ³⁵ From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth.

Aaron and Miriam Jealous of Moses

12 While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); ² and they said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it. ³ Now the man Moses was very humble,^[i] more so than anyone else on the face of the earth. ⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ So the three of them came out. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. ⁶ And he said, ‘Hear my words:

Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’ ⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

¹⁰ When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous,^[j] as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam and saw that she was leprous. ¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, ‘Oh, my lord, do not punish us^[k] for a sin that we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Do not let her be like one stillborn, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.’ ¹³ And Moses cried to the Lord, ‘O God, please heal her.’ ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘If her father had but spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.’ ¹⁵ So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. ¹⁶ After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Spies Sent into Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites; from each of their ancestral tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.’ ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them leading men among the Israelites. ⁴ These were 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 Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), 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 were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.

¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, ‘Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country, ¹⁸ and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, ¹⁹ and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled or fortified, ²⁰ and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land.’ Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. ²² They went up into the Negeb, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ And they came to the Wadi Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Wadi Eshcol,^[l] because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

The Report of the Spies

²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. ²⁶ And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ And they told him, ‘We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea, and along the Jordan.’

³⁰ But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’ ³¹ Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we are.’ ³² So they brought to the Israelites an unfavourable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. ² And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ ⁴ So they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.’

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. ⁶ And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, ‘The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.’ ¹⁰ But the whole congregation threatened to stone them.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹² I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.’

Moses Intercedes for the People

¹³ But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for in your might you brought up this people from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people; for you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill this people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will say, ¹⁶ “It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.” ¹⁷ And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying,

¹⁹ Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.’

²⁰ Then the Lord said, ‘I do forgive, just as you have asked; ²¹ nevertheless—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— ²² none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, ²³ shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. ²⁵ Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’^[m]

An Attempted Invasion is Repulsed

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: ²⁷ How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live’, says the Lord, ‘I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹ your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and of all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and upwards, who have complained against me, ³⁰ not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ But your little ones, who you said would become booty, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have despised. ³² But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴ According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ ³⁵ I the Lord have spoken; surely I will do thus to all this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.

³⁶ And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report about the land— ³⁷ the men who brought an unfavourable report about the land died by a plague before the Lord. ³⁸ But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.

³⁹ When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ‘Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.’ ⁴¹ But Moses said, ‘Why do you continue to transgress the command of the Lord? That will not succeed. ⁴² Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.’ ⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, had not left the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah.

Various Offerings

15 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, ³ and you make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock—whether a burnt-offering or a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow or as a freewill-offering or at your appointed festivals—to make a pleasing odour for the Lord, ⁴ then whoever presents such an offering to the Lord shall present also a grain-offering, one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil. ⁵ Moreover, you shall offer one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink-offering with the burnt-offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb. ⁶ For a ram, you shall offer a grain-offering, two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; ⁷ and as a drink-offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine, a pleasing odour to the Lord. ⁸ When you offer a bull as a burnt-offering or a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow or as an offering of well-being to the Lord, ⁹ then you shall present with the bull a grain-offering, three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with half a hin of oil, ¹⁰ and you shall present as a drink-offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire, a pleasing odour to the Lord.

¹¹ Thus it shall be done for each ox or ram, or for each of the male lambs or the kids. ¹² According to the number that you offer, so you shall do with each and every one. ¹³ Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, a pleasing odour to the Lord. ¹⁴ An alien who lives with you, or who takes up permanent residence among you, and wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odour to the Lord, shall do as you do. ¹⁵ As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. ¹⁶ You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁸ Speak to the Israelites and say to them: After you come into the land to which I am bringing you, ¹⁹ whenever you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a donation to the Lord. ²⁰ From your first batch of dough you shall present a loaf as a donation; you shall present it just as you present a donation from the threshing-floor. ²¹ Throughout your generations you shall give to the Lord a donation from the first of your batch of dough.

²² But if you unintentionally fail to observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses— ²³ everything that the Lord has commanded you by Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and thereafter, throughout your generations— ²⁴ then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, the whole congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt-offering, a pleasing odour to the Lord, together with its grain-offering and its drink-offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin-offering. ²⁵ The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the Israelites, and they shall be forgiven; it was unintentional, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin-offering before the Lord, for their error. ²⁶ All the congregation of the Israelites shall be forgiven, as well as the aliens residing among them, because the whole people was involved in the error.

²⁷ An individual who sins unintentionally shall present a female goat a year old for a sin-offering. ²⁸ And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the one who commits an error, when it is unintentional, to make atonement for the person, who then shall be forgiven. ²⁹ For both the native among the Israelites and the alien residing among them—you shall have the same law for anyone who acts in error. ³⁰ But whoever acts high-handedly, whether a native or an alien, affronts the Lord, and shall be cut off from among the people. ³¹ Because of having despised the word of the Lord and broken his commandment, such a person shall be utterly cut off and bear the guilt.

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath

³² When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation. ³⁴ They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.’ ³⁶ The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Fringes on Garments

³⁷ The Lord said to Moses: ³⁸ Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. ³⁹ You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. ⁴⁰ So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Revolt of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram

16 Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—took ² two hundred and fifty Israelite men, leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men,^[n] and they confronted Moses. ³ They assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’ ⁴ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his company, ‘In the morning the Lord will make known who is his, and who is holy, and who will be allowed to approach him; the one whom he will choose he will allow to approach him. ⁶ Do this: take censers, Korah and all your^[o] company, ⁷ and tomorrow put fire in them, and lay incense on them before the Lord; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You Levites have gone too far!’ ⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, ‘Hear now, you Levites! ⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to allow you to approach him in order to perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation and serve them? ¹⁰ He has allowed you to approach him, and all your brother Levites with you; yet you seek the priesthood as well! ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against the Lord. What is Aaron that you rail against him?’

¹² Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab; but they said, ‘We will not come! ¹³ Is it too little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us? ¹⁴ It is clear you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come!’

¹⁵ Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, ‘Pay no attention to their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any one of them.’ ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, ‘As for you and all your company, be present tomorrow before the Lord, you and they and Aaron; ¹⁷ and let each one of you take his censer, and put incense on it, and each one of you present his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.’ ¹⁸ So each man took his censer, and they put fire in the censers and laid incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled the whole congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: ²¹ Separate yourselves from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment. ²² They fell on their faces, and said, ‘O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?’

²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁴ Say to the congregation: Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. ²⁵ So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He said to the congregation, ‘Turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away for all their sins.’ ²⁷ So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents, together with their wives, their children, and their little ones. ²⁸ And Moses said, ‘This is how you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; it has not been of my own accord: ²⁹ If these people die a natural death, or if a natural fate comes on them, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.’

³¹ As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them was split apart. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households—everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. ³³ So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they said, ‘The earth will swallow us too!’ ³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.

^36 [p] Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ³⁷ Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to take the censers out of the blaze; then scatter the fire far and wide. ³⁸ For the censers of these sinners have become holy at the cost of their lives. Make them into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the Israelites. ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been presented by those who were burned; and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar— ⁴⁰ a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, shall approach to offer incense before the Lord, so as not to become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

⁴¹ On the next day, however, the whole congregation of the Israelites rebelled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, ‘You have killed the people of the Lord.’ ⁴² And when the congregation had assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned towards the tent of meeting; the cloud had covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ ‘Get away from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment.’ And they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take your censer, put fire on it from the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun.’ ⁴⁷ So Aaron took it as Moses had ordered, and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped. ⁴⁹ Those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. ⁵⁰ When the plague was stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

17 ^[q] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. ⁴ Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant,^[r] where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you. ⁶ Moses spoke to the Israelites; and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs. ⁷ So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.^[s]

⁸ When Moses went into the tent of the covenant^[t] on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant,^[u] to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die.’ ¹¹ Moses did so; just as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹² The Israelites said to Moses, ‘We are perishing; we are lost, all of us are lost! ¹³ Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?’

Responsibility of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron: You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offences connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offences connected with the priesthood. ² So bring with you also your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, in order that they may be joined to you, and serve you while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent of the covenant.^{[v] 3} They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, otherwise both they and you will die. ⁴ They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you. ⁵ You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites. ⁶ It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift;^[w] any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ The Lord spoke to Aaron: I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due to you in perpetuity. ⁹ This shall be yours from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs that they render to me as a most holy thing, whether grain-offering, sin-offering, or guilt-offering, shall belong to you and your sons. ¹⁰ As a most holy thing you shall eat it; every male may eat it; it shall be holy to you. ¹¹ This also is yours: I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due, whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the elevation-offerings of the Israelites; everyone who is clean in your house may eat them. ¹² All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the choice produce that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. ¹³ The first fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it. ¹⁴ Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵ The first issue of the womb of all creatures, human and animal, which is offered to the Lord, shall be yours; but the firstborn of human beings you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs). ¹⁷ But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall dash their blood on the altar, and shall turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire for a pleasing odour to the Lord; ¹⁸ but their flesh shall be yours, just as the breast that is elevated and as the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹ All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well. ²⁰ Then the Lord said to Aaron: You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites.

²¹ To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting. ²² From now on the Israelites shall no longer approach the tent of meeting, or else they will incur guilt and die. ²³ But the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their own offences; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment, ²⁴ because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the Lord. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no allotment among the Israelites.

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁶ You shall speak to the Levites, saying: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ It shall be reckoned to you as your gift, the same as the grain of the threshing-floor and the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸ Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and from them you shall give the Lord’s offering to the priest Aaron. ²⁹ Out of all the gifts to you, you shall set apart every offering due to the Lord; the best of all of them is the part to be consecrated. ³⁰ Say also to them: When you have set apart the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing-floor, and as produce of the wine press. ³¹ You may eat it in any place, you and your households; for it is your payment for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² You shall incur no guilt by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the Israelites, on pain of death.

Ceremony of the Red Heifer

19 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ² This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid. ³ You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. ⁶ The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson material, and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning. ⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp; but the priest shall remain unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burns the heifer^[x] shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing. It is a purification-offering. ¹⁰ The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them. ¹¹ Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean for seven days. ¹² They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if they do not purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day, they will not become clean. ¹³ All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile the tabernacle of the Lord; such persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since water for cleansing was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still on them.

¹⁴ This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ And every open vessel with no cover fastened on it is unclean. ¹⁶ Whoever in the open field touches one who has been killed by a sword, or who has died naturally,^[y] or a human bone, or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷ For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt purification-offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel; ¹⁸ then a clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on whoever touched the bone, the slain, the corpse, or the grave. ¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean ones on the third day and on the seventh day, thus purifying them on the seventh day. Then they shall wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water, and at evening they shall be clean. ²⁰ Any who are unclean but do not purify themselves, those persons shall be cut off from the assembly, for they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Since the water for cleansing has not been dashed on them, they are unclean.

²¹ It shall be a perpetual statute for them. The one who sprinkles the water for cleansing shall wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for cleansing shall be unclean until evening. ²² Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.

The Waters of Meribah

20 The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there.

² Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ The people quarrelled with Moses and said, ‘Would that we had died when our kindred died before the Lord! ⁴ Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? ⁵ Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.’ ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁸ Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.

⁹ So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he had commanded him. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ‘Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?’ ¹¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.’ ¹³ These are the waters of Meribah,^[z] where the people of Israel quarrelled with the Lord, and by which he showed his holiness.

Passage through Edom Refused

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, ‘Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us: ¹⁵ how our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt for a long time; and the Egyptians oppressed us and our ancestors; ¹⁶ and when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from any well; we will go along the King’s Highway, not turning aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’

¹⁸ But Edom said to him, ‘You shall not pass through, or we will come out with the sword against you.’ ¹⁹ The Israelites said to him, ‘We will stay on the highway; and if we drink of your water, we and our livestock, then we will pay for it. It is only a small matter; just let us pass through on foot.’ ²⁰ But he said, ‘You shall not pass through.’ And Edom came out against them with a large force, heavily armed. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through their territory; so Israel turned away from them.

The Death of Aaron

²² They set out from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, ²⁴ ‘Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up Mount Hor; ²⁶ strip Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar. But Aaron shall be gathered to his people,^[aa] and shall die there.’ ²⁷ Moses did as the Lord had commanded; they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation. ²⁸ Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron for thirty days.

The Bronze Serpent

21 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² Then Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If you will indeed give this people into our hands, then we will utterly destroy their towns.’ ³ The Lord listened to the voice of Israel, and handed over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their towns; so the place was called Hormah.^[ab]

⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea,^[ac] to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. ⁵ The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ ⁶ Then the Lord sent poisonous^[ad] serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous^[ae] serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ ⁹ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The Journey to Moab

¹⁰ The Israelites set out, and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ They set out from Oboth, and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering Moab towards the sunrise. ¹² From there they set out, and camped in the Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they set out, and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in^[af] the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Wherefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

¹⁶ From there they continued to Beer;^[ah] that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather the people together, and I will give them water.’ ¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

From the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that overlooks the waste-land.^[ai]

King Sihon Defeated

²¹ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, ²² ‘Let me pass through your land; we will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of any well; we will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.’ ²³ But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel to the wilderness; he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Israel put him to the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites; for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong. ²⁵ Israel took all these towns, and Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and captured all his land as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ Therefore the ballad-singers say,

³¹ Thus Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. ³² Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they captured its villages, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

King Og Defeated

³³ Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan; and King Og of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of him; for I have given him into your hand, with all his people, and all his land. You shall do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’ ³⁵ So they killed him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Summons Balaam to Curse Israel

22 The Israelites set out, and camped in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. ² Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were so numerous; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. ⁴ And Moab said to the elders of Midian, ‘This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.’ Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates, in the land of Amaw,^[am] to summon him, saying, ‘A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me. ⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomsoever you bless is blessed, and whomsoever you curse is cursed.’

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak’s message. ⁸ He said to them, ‘Stay here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, just as the Lord speaks to me’; so the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ God came to Balaam and said, ‘Who are these men with you?’ ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, ‘King Balak son of Zippor of Moab has sent me this message: ¹¹ “A people has come out of Egypt and has spread over the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.”’ ¹² God said to Balaam, ‘You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.’ ¹³ So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the officials of Balak, ‘Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.’ ¹⁴ So the officials of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, ‘Balaam refuses to come with us.’

¹⁵ Once again Balak sent officials, more numerous and more distinguished than these. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, ‘Thus says Balak son of Zippor: “Do not let anything hinder you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will surely do you great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.”’ ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, ‘Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more. ¹⁹ You remain here, as the others did, so that I may learn what more the Lord may say to me.’ ²⁰ That night God came to Balaam and said to him, ‘If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you to do.’ ²¹ So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.

Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel

²² God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back on to the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck it again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’ ²⁹ Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!’ ³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you in this way?’ And he said, ‘No.’

³¹ Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face. ³² The angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse^[an] before me. ³³ The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely I would by now have killed you and let it live.’ ³⁴ Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ‘I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.’ ³⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men; but speak only what I tell you to speak.’ So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, ‘Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honour you?’ ³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, ‘I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.’ ³⁹ Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.

Balaam’s First Oracle

⁴¹ On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal; and from there he could see part of the people of Israel.^[ao] 23 ¹ Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ ² Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your burnt-offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.’ And he went to a bare height.

⁴ Then God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, ‘I have arranged the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.’ ⁵ The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, ‘Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.’ ⁶ So he returned to Balak,^[ap] who was standing beside his burnt-offerings with all the officials of Moab. ⁷ Then Balaam^[aq] uttered his oracle, saying:

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.’ ¹² He answered, ‘Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?’

Balaam’s Second Oracle

¹³ So Balak said to him, ‘Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.’ ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand here beside your burnt-offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.’ ¹⁶ The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, ‘Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.’ ¹⁷ When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt-offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, ‘What has the Lord said?’ ¹⁸ Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.’ ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, ‘Did I not tell you, “Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do”?’

²⁷ So Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.’ ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the waste-land.^{[as] 29} Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ ³⁰ So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam’s Third Oracle

24 Now Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face towards the wilderness. ² Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, ³ and he uttered his oracle, saying:

¹⁰ Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, ‘I summoned you to curse my enemies, but instead you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Now be off with you! Go home! I said, “I will reward you richly”, but the Lord has denied you any reward.’ ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, ‘Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³ “If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I will say”? ¹⁴ So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come.’

Balaam’s Fourth Oracle

¹⁵ So he uttered his oracle, saying:

²⁰ Then he looked on Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying:

²¹ Then he looked on the Kenite, and uttered his oracle, saying:

²³ Again he uttered his oracle, saying:

²⁵ Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

Worship of Baal of Peor

25 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. ² These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ Thus Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel. ⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people, and impale them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.’ ⁵ And Moses said to the judges of Israel, ‘Each of you shall kill any of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.’

⁶ Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, ⁸ he went after the Israelite man into the tent, and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. So the plague was stopped among the people of Israel.