Numbers 9:15-23

International Children’s Bible

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.