Numbers 9:1-14

The Voice

9 On the first new moon of the second year after the people had left Egypt, there in the Sinai Wilderness, the Eternal One spoke to Moses again.

Eternal One: ²The Israelites should observe Passover at the time it’s supposed to happen: ³offering the sacrifice at evening twilight on the 14th day of this month, exactly according to the regulations we’ve already discussed.^[a]

^4-5So Moses told the Israelites that they should go ahead with the Passover, offering the sacrifice at its designated evening twilight on the 14th day of this month—in the wild desert of Sinai. They did exactly as the Eternal told Moses they should. ⁶Complicating things, however, was the fact that some men had needed to handle a dead body and so were impure and couldn’t offer the sacrifice right then. They came to Aaron and Moses right away.

Men: ⁷Why should we be disallowed from offering the Eternal’s sacrifice along with the rest of the Israelites at the appropriate time, just because the disposing of a dead body made us ritually impure?

Moses: ⁸Just hold on a little while. Let me find out what the Eternal has to say about it.

The Lord provides a backup plan for those who can’t celebrate Passover properly, but it isn’t to replace normal practices.

⁹The Eternal One told Moses,

Eternal One: ¹⁰Tell the Israelites, if any one of you or your descendants becomes ritually impure due to the necessity of handling a dead body, he can nevertheless still celebrate My Passover a month after everyone else does. Likewise, those who are on the road, a long way from My tent, can celebrate Passover to the Eternal then too. ¹¹It should be observed at evening twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month, eating the lamb they sacrificed with unleavened bread and bitter greens. ¹²Make certain that not one of its bones is broken^[b] and the entire animal is consumed by morning, in keeping with standard procedure for this Passover festival. ¹³Everyone who is present and ritually pure must observe this foundational moment. If a person fails to observe the Passover, it is a serious offense. Such a person will be ostracized from the community, guilty of not offering to the Eternal at the right time. ¹⁴If a visiting foreigner would like to observe the Eternal’s Passover with you, he is welcome. Just make certain that he does so completely, exactly as you Israelites are supposed to do. Everyone must observe it the same way, whether foreigner or native to the land.