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
Numbers 9
International Standard Version
The Passover at Sinai(A)
9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai during the first month of the second year that they had left Egypt, 2 “The Israelis are to observe the Passover at its appointed time 3 on the fourteenth day of this month. You are to observe it at this appointed time between the evenings. You are to observe it according to all its decrees and laws.”
4 So Moses instructed the Israelis to observe the Passover. 5 They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelis did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Special Passover Rules
6 But there were men who couldn’t observe the Passover that day because they had come in contact with a corpse. That very day, they approached Moses and Aaron 7 and asked, “Why can’t we bring an offering to the Lord at the appointed time among the Israelis, even though we are unclean because we came in contact with a corpse?”
8 “Wait while I hear what the Lord has to say about you,” Moses replied.
9 Then the Lord told Moses, 10 “Instruct[a] the Israelis that when any of you or your descendants becomes unclean due to contact with a corpse, or if he is on a long journey, he nevertheless is to observe the Lord’s Passover. 11 On the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight, they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They are not to leave any of it to remain until morning nor are they to break any of its bones. They are to observe it according to all the statutes of the Passover. 13 Now as to the person[b] who is clean and isn’t traveling, but fails to observe the Passover, that person[c] is to be eliminated from his people, because he didn’t bring an offering to the Lord at its appointed time. That person is to bear his sin. 14 If a resident alien lives with you and wants to observe the Lord’s Passover, let him observe it according to the statutes and laws of the Passover. You are to maintain the same statute[d] for the resident alien as you do for the native of the land.”
The Fire Cloud over the Tent
15 On the same morning[e] that the tent was set up, a cloud covered the tent, that is, the Tent of Testimony, and in the evening fire appeared over the tent until morning. 16 It was so continuously—there was a cloud covering by day, and a fire cloud appeared at night. 17 Whenever the cloud above the tent ascended, the Israelis would travel and encamp in the place where the cloud settled. 18 According to whatever the Lord said,[f] the Israelis would travel. According to whatever the Lord said, they would camp as long as the cloud remained over the Tent of Meeting.
19 When the cloud over the tent remained for a longer time, the Israelis did what the Lord had instructed and didn’t travel. 20 There were times when the cloud remained over the tent for a number of days. They camped in accordance with the Lord’s instructions and they traveled in accordance with the Lord’s instructions. 21 There were times when the cloud remained from evening until morning, but when the cloud ascended in the morning, they would journey. Whether by day or by night, they would travel whenever the cloud ascended. 22 Whether for two days, a month, or for longer periods, whenever the cloud would remain above the tent, the Israelis would remain in camp, not traveling. But whenever it ascended, then they would travel. 23 According to what the Lord said, they would remain in camp, and according to what the Lord said, they would travel. They kept the commands that the Lord had given through Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 9:10 Or speak
- Numbers 9:13 Lit. man
- Numbers 9:13 Or soul
- Numbers 9:14 Lit. one decree shall be for you
- Numbers 9:15 Lit. day
- Numbers 9:18 Lit. to the mouth of the Lord
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
