Numbers 9
International Children’s Bible
The Passover
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. This was in the first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. 3 That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month. They should celebrate it at twilight. They must obey all the rules about it.”
4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover. 5 And so they did. It was in the Desert of Sinai at twilight. This was on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
6 But some of the people could not celebrate the Passover on that day. They were unclean because of a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day. 7 They said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body. But why should we be kept from offering gifts to the Lord at this appointed time? Why can’t we join the other Israelites?”
8 Moses said to them, “Wait. I will find out what the Lord says about you.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You or your descendants might become unclean because of a dead body. Or, you might be away on a trip during the Passover. Still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 But celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 12 Don’t leave any of it until the next morning. Don’t break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules. 13 Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip must eat the Passover. If he doesn’t, he must be separated from his people. He did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time. He must be punished for his sin.
14 “‘A foreigner among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover. But he must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for foreigners as you have for yourselves.’”
The Cloud Above the Tent
15 On the day the Holy Tent was set up, a cloud covered it. (The Holy Tent was also called the Tent of the Agreement.) From dusk until dawn the cloud above the Tent looked like fire. 16 The cloud stayed above the Tent. At night it looked like fire. 17 When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the Israelites moved. Wherever the cloud stopped, the Israelites camped. 18 So the Israelites moved at the Lord’s command. And they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in place. 19 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time. The Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord’s command the people camped. And at his command they moved. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from dusk until dawn. When the cloud lifted the next morning, the people moved. When the cloud lifted, day or night, the people moved. 22 The cloud might stay over the Tent for two days, a month or a year. As long as it stayed, the people would camp. But when the cloud lifted, they moved. 23 At the Lord’s command the people camped. And at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord’s order that he commanded through Moses.
Numbers 9
New King James Version
The Second Passover(A)
9 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Let the children of Israel keep (B)the Passover at its appointed (C)time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, [a]at twilight, you shall [b]keep it at its appointed time. According to all its [c]rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And (D)they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.
6 Now there were certain men who were (E)defiled by a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; (F)and they came before Moses and Aaron that day. 7 And those men said to him, “We became defiled by a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel?”
8 And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that (G)I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your [d]posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord’s Passover. 11 On (H)the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall (I)eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 (J)They shall leave none of it until morning, (K)nor break one of its bones. (L)According to all the [e]ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. 13 But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person (M)shall be cut off from among his people, because he (N)did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall (O)bear his sin.
14 ‘And if a stranger [f]dwells among you, and would keep the Lord’s Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; (P)you shall have one [g]ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.’ ”
The Cloud and the Fire(Q)
15 Now (R)on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud (S)covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; (T)from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud (U)was [h]taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. 18 At the [i]command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; (V)as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. 19 Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel (W)kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. 20 So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey. 21 So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. 22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel (X)would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. 23 At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they (Y)kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:3 Lit. between the evenings
- Numbers 9:3 observe
- Numbers 9:3 statutes
- Numbers 9:10 descendants
- Numbers 9:12 statutes
- Numbers 9:14 As a resident alien
- Numbers 9:14 statute
- Numbers 9:17 lifted up
- Numbers 9:18 Lit. mouth
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.