Census of a New Generation

26 ^[a]Then it happened after the plague that the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, ² “Take a census of all the [males in the] congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” ³ So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the people in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴ “A census of the people shall be taken from twenty years old and upward, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.”

Now the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were:

⁵ Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (Jacob), the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ⁶ of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ⁷ These are the families (clans) of the Reubenites; and those who were numbered of them were 43,730. ⁸ The son of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹ The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord, ¹⁰ and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, so that they became a [warning] sign. ¹¹ But Korah’s sons did not die [because they did not participate in the rebellion].

¹² The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ¹³ of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ¹⁴ These are the families (clans) of the Simeonites, 22,200.

¹⁵ The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ¹⁶ of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ¹⁷ of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ¹⁸ These are the families (clans) of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered, 40,500.

¹⁹ The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan [were judged by God and] died in the land of Canaan.^{(A) 20} The sons of Judah according to their families: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ²¹ The sons of Perez: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ²² These are the families (clans) of Judah according to those who were numbered, 76,500.

²³ The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; ²⁴ of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ²⁵ These are the families (clans) of Issachar according to those who were numbered, 64,300.

²⁶ The sons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ²⁷ These are the families (clans) of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered, 60,500.

²⁸ The sons of Joseph according to their families were Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹ The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ³⁰ These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ³¹ of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ³² of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ³³ Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters, and the names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴ These are the families (clans) of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

³⁵ These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ³⁶ And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ³⁷ These are the families (clans) of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered, 32,500. These are the descendants of Joseph according to their families (clans).

³⁸ The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ³⁹ of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ⁴⁰ The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ⁴¹ These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans); and those who were numbered, 45,600.

⁴² These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families. ⁴³ All the families (clans) of the Shuhamites according to those who were numbered, 64,400.

⁴⁴ Of the sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. ⁴⁵ Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ⁴⁶ And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷ These are the families (clans) of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered, 53,400.

⁴⁸ Of the sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ⁴⁹ of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. ⁵⁰ These are the families (clans) of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

⁵¹ This was the [total] number of the [male] Israelites, 601,730 [twenty years old and upward who were able to go to war].

⁵² And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³ “Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names. ⁵⁴ To the larger tribe you shall give the larger inheritance, and to the smaller tribe the smaller inheritance; each tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers. ⁵⁵ But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers (tribal ancestors). ⁵⁶ According to the [location selected by] lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller [groups].”

⁵⁷ These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸ These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram. ⁵⁹ The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. ⁶⁰ To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁶¹ But Nadab and Abihu died [in the presence of God] when they offered [in their ceremonial censers] strange [unholy, unacceptable, unauthorized] fire before the Lord.^{(B) 62} Those numbered of the Levites were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel, since no inheritance [of land] was given to them among the Israelites.

⁶³ These are those numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the second time] in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] at Jericho. ⁶⁴ But among these there was not a man [left] of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the first time] in the Wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the Lord had said of them, “They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

A Law of Inheritance

27 Then the [five] daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the ^[b]tribes of Manasseh [who was] the son of Joseph, approached [with a request]. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), saying, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but he died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons.^{(C) 4} Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession (land) among our father’s brothers.” ⁵ So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁷ “The request of the daughters of Zelophehad is justified. You shall certainly give them a possession as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer their father’s inheritance to them. ⁸ Further, you shall say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ If a man has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If a man has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it. It shall be a statute and ordinance to the Israelites, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’”

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain (Nebo) [in the] Abarim [range] and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel. ¹³ When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother was gathered; ¹⁴ because in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat me as holy [by following My instruction] before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)^(D)

Joshua to Succeed Moses

¹⁵ Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ “^[c]Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation ¹⁷ who will go out and come in before them, and will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be as sheep without a shepherd.” ¹⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole congregation, and give him a commission in their sight. ²⁰ You shall put some of your authority and honor on him, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will obey him. ²¹ He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment (decision) of the ^[d]Urim. At Joshua’s command the people shall go out and at his command they shall come in, he and all the congregation of Israel with him.” ²² Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, ²³ and Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Laws for Offerings

28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the Israelites and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present at its appointed time [during the year] My offering, My food for My offerings by fire as a sweet and soothing aroma to Me.’ ³ You shall say to the people, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall present to the Lord every day: two male lambs one year old without blemish as a continual burnt offering. ⁴ You shall offer one lamb in the morning and you shall offer the other lamb at twilight, ⁵ also a tenth of an ephah of finely-milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of pressed oil. ⁶ It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained on Mount Sinai as a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁷ Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a strong drink offering to the Lord. ⁸ The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

⁹ ‘Then on the Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without blemish, and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering. ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹¹ ‘Then at the beginning of [each of] your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ¹² and three-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for the one ram; ¹³ and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ¹⁴ Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵ And one male goat as a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.

¹⁶ ‘The Lord’s Passover shall be on the fourteenth day of the first month [of each year]. ¹⁷ There shall be a feast on the fifteenth day of this month; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. ¹⁸ On the first day there shall be a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work that day. ¹⁹ But you shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, without blemish. ²⁰ For their grain offering you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, and two-tenths for the ram; ²¹ you shall offer a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven male lambs; ²² and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. ²³ You shall present these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. ²⁴ In this way you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. ²⁵ On the seventh day you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work.

²⁶ ‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work. ²⁷ You shall present the burnt offering as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; ²⁸ and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ²⁹ a tenth for each of the seven male lambs, ³⁰ and one male goat to make atonement for you. ³¹ In addition to the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without blemish.

Four Thousand Fed

8 In those days, when there was again a large crowd [gathered before Him] and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and told them,^{(A) 2} “I feel compassion for the crowd; they have been with Me now for three days and have nothing [left] to eat. ³ If I send them away to their homes hungry, they will faint [from exhaustion] on the road; because some of them have come a long way.” ⁴ His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this isolated place to feed these people?” ⁵ He asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They said, “Seven.” ⁶ He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and [repeatedly] gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they served the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and when Jesus had blessed them [and given thanks], He ordered these [fish] to be set before them as well. ⁸ And the people ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. ⁹ About four thousand [men] were there [besides women and children]; and He sent them away. ¹⁰ Then immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of ^[a]Dalmanutha.

¹¹ The Pharisees came out and began to argue [contentiously and debate] with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him [because of their unbelief]. ¹² He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, ^[b]no sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side.

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Jesus repeatedly ordered them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the ^[c]leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” ¹⁶ They began discussing this with one another, saying, “It is because we have no bread [that He said this].” ¹⁷ Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?^{(B) 18} Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember,^{(C) 19} when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They answered, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And [when I broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they answered, “Seven.” ²¹ And He was saying to them, “Do you still not understand?”

²² Then they came to Bethsaida; and some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but [they look] like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again Jesus laid His hands on his eyes; and the man stared intently and [his sight] was [completely] restored, and he began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

²⁷ Then Jesus and His disciples went out to the villages of ^[d]Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”^{(D) 28} They answered Him, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied to Him, “You [in contrast to the others] are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).” ³⁰ Then Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

³¹ And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life].^{(E) 32} He was stating the matter plainly [not holding anything back]. Then Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him. ³³ But turning around [with His back to Peter] and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan; for your mind is not set on God’s will or His values and purposes, but on what pleases man.”

³⁴ Jesus called the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and ^[e]take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. ³⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].^{(F) 36} For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world [with all its pleasures], and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what will a man give in exchange for his soul and eternal life [in God’s kingdom]? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”