Beginning

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “You, your sons and your family are in charge of the sacred tent. You will be responsible for sins connected with the tent. And you and your sons alone will be responsible for sins connected with the office of priest. ² Bring the Levites from your tribe to join you. They will help you when you and your sons serve at the tent of meeting. That is where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. ³ The Levites will work for you. They must do everything that needs to be done at the tent. But they must not go near anything that belongs to the sacred tent. And they must not go near the altar. If they do, they and you will die. ⁴ They will help you take care of the tent of meeting. They will join you in all the work at the tent. No one else can come near you there.

⁵ “You will be responsible for taking care of the sacred tent and the altar. Then I will not be angry with the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself have chosen the Levites. I have chosen them from among the Israelites. They are a gift to you. I have set them apart to do the work at the tent of meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons can serve as priests. Only you and your sons can work with everything at the altar and behind the curtain. I am letting you serve as priests. It is a gift from me. Anyone else who comes near the sacred tent must be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “I have put you in charge of the offerings brought to me. The Israelites will give me holy offerings. I will give all their offerings to you and your sons. They are the part that belongs to you. They are your share for all time to come. ⁹ You will have a part of the very holy offerings. It is the part not burned in the fire. That part belongs to you and your sons. You will have a part of all the gifts the people bring me as very holy offerings. It does not matter whether they are grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings. ¹⁰ Eat your part as something that is very holy. Every male will eat it. You must consider it holy.

¹¹ “Part of the gifts the Israelites bring as wave offerings will be set aside. That part will also belong to you. I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your share for all time to come. Everyone in your home who is ‘clean’ can eat it.

¹² “I will give you all the finest olive oil and grain the people give me. And I will give you all the finest fresh wine they give me. They give all those things as the first share of their harvest. ¹³ All the first shares of the harvest they bring me will belong to you. Everyone in your home who is ‘clean’ can eat it.

¹⁴ “Everything in Israel that is set apart to me belongs to you. ¹⁵ Offer to me every male born first to its mother. It belongs to you. That includes humans and animals alike. But you must buy back every oldest son. Suppose certain animals are ‘unclean.’ Then you must buy back every male born first to its mother. ¹⁶ When they are a month old, you must buy them back. You must pay the price to buy them back. The price is set at two ounces of silver. It must be weighed out according to the standard weights used in the sacred tent.

¹⁷ “But you must not buy back any male calf, sheep or goat born first. They are holy. Splash their blood against the altar. And burn their fat as a food offering. Its smell pleases me. ¹⁸ The meat will belong to you. It is just like the breast and the right thigh of the wave offering. Those parts belong to you. ¹⁹ Part of the holy offerings the Israelites bring to me will be set aside. No matter what it is, I will give it to you and your sons and daughters. It is your share for all time to come. It is a covenant of salt from me. The salt means that the covenant will last for all time to come for you and your children.”

²⁰ The Lord spoke to Aaron. He said, “You will not receive any part of the land I am giving to Israel. You will not have any share among them. I am your share. I am what you will receive among the Israelites.

²¹ “The Israelites will give me a tenth of everything they produce. And I will give it to the Levites. They serve at the tent of meeting. I will give them the tenth for the work they do there. ²² From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting. If they do, they will be punished for their sin. They will die. ²³ The Levites will do the work at the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sins connected with the tent. This is a law that will last for all time to come. The Levites will not receive any share among the Israelites. ²⁴ Instead, I will give the Levites the tenth as their share. It is the tenth that the Israelites bring me as an offering. That is why I said the Levites would not have any share of land among the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites. Say to them, ‘You will receive the tenth from the Israelites. I will give it to you as your share. When I do, you must give a tenth of that tenth as an offering to the Lord. ²⁷ Your offering will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress. ²⁸ In that way, you also will bring an offering to the Lord. You will bring it from the tenth you receive from the Israelites. You must give the Lord’s part to the priest Aaron. You must bring it from the tenth you receive. ²⁹ You must bring to the Lord a part of everything given to you. It must be the best and holiest part.’

³⁰ “Say to the Levites, ‘You must bring the best part. Then it will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress. ³¹ You and your families can eat the rest of it anywhere. It is your pay for your work at the tent of meeting. ³² Bring the best part of what you receive. Then you will not be guilty of holding anything back. You will not make the holy offerings of the Israelites “unclean.” You will not die.’ ”

The Special Water That Makes People “Clean”

19 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ² “Here is what the law I have commanded requires. Tell the Israelites to bring you a young red cow. It must not have any flaws at all. It must never have pulled a load. ³ Give it to Eleazar the priest. It must be taken outside the camp and killed in front of him. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger. He must sprinkle the blood toward the front of the tent of meeting. He must do it seven times. ⁵ While he watches, the young cow must be burned. Its hide, meat, blood and guts must be burned. ⁶ The priest must get some cedar wood, branches of a hyssop plant, and bright red wool. He must throw them on the young cow as it burns. ⁷ After that, the priest must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. Then he can come into the camp. But he will be ‘unclean’ until evening. ⁸ The man who burns the young cow must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening.

⁹ “A man who is ‘clean’ will gather up the ashes of the young cow. He must put them in a place that is ‘clean.’ The place must be outside the camp. The ashes must be kept by the community of Israel. They will be added to the special water. The water will be used to make people pure from their sin. ¹⁰ The man who gathers up the ashes of the young cow must wash his clothes. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening. This law is for the Israelites. It is also for the outsiders living among them. The law will last for all time to come.

¹¹ “Anyone who touches a dead person’s body will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹² They must make themselves pure and ‘clean’ with the special water. They must do it on the third day. They must also do it on the seventh day. Then they will be ‘clean.’ But suppose they do not make themselves pure and ‘clean’ on the third and seventh days. Then they will not be ‘clean.’ ¹³ Anyone who touches a dead person’s body and does not make themselves pure and ‘clean’ makes my holy tent ‘unclean.’ They must be separated from Israel. The special water has not been sprinkled on them. So they are ‘unclean.’ And they remain ‘unclean.’

¹⁴ “Here is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent. Anyone who enters the tent will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. Anyone in the tent will also be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹⁵ And anything in it that is open and has no lid will be ‘unclean.’

¹⁶ “Suppose someone is out in the country. And suppose they touch someone who has been killed by a sword. Or they touch someone who has died a natural death. Or they touch a human bone or a grave. Then anyone who touches any of those things will be ‘unclean’ for seven days.

¹⁷ “Here is what I want you to do for someone who is ‘unclean.’ Put some ashes from the burned young cow into a jar. Pour fresh water on the ashes. ¹⁸ Then a man who is ‘clean’ must dip branches of a hyssop plant in the water. He must sprinkle the tent with it. Everything that belongs to the tent must be sprinkled with it. The people in the tent must also be sprinkled. Anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave must be sprinkled. So must anyone who has touched someone who has been killed. And so must anyone who has touched someone who has died a natural death. ¹⁹ The man who is ‘clean’ must sprinkle those who are ‘unclean.’ That must be done on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day those who are ‘unclean’ must be made pure and ‘clean.’ Those being made ‘clean’ must wash their clothes. They must take a bath. Then that evening they will be ‘clean.’ ²⁰ But what if those who are ‘unclean’ do not make themselves pure and ‘clean?’ Then they must be separated from the community. They have made my holy tent ‘unclean.’ The special water has not been sprinkled on them. They are ‘unclean.’ ²¹ This law will apply to all those people for all time to come.

“The man who sprinkles the special water must also wash his clothes. Anyone who touches the water will be ‘unclean’ until evening. ²² Anything that an ‘unclean’ person touches becomes ‘unclean.’ And anyone who touches it becomes ‘unclean’ until evening.”

The Lord Gives Israel Water Out of the Rock

20 In the first month the whole community of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.

² The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. ³ They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord. ⁴ Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!”

⁶ Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the tent of meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Get your walking stick. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.”

⁹ So Moses took the walking stick from the tent. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the people together in front of the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen, you who refuse to obey! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm. He hit the rock twice with his walking stick. Water poured out. And the people and their livestock drank it.

¹² But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “You did not trust in me enough to honor me. You did not honor me as the holy God in front of the Israelites. So you will not bring this community into the land I am giving them.”

¹³ Those were the waters of Meribah. That’s where the Israelites argued with the Lord. And that’s where he was proven to be holy among them.

Edom Doesn’t Let Israel Pass Through Its Territory

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. The messengers said,

“The nation of Israel is your brother. They say, ‘You know about all the hard times we’ve had. ¹⁵ Long ago our people went down into Egypt. We lived there for many years. The Egyptians treated us and our people badly. ¹⁶ But we cried out to the Lord. He heard our cry. He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.

“ ‘Now here we are at the town of Kadesh. It’s on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We won’t go through any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the King’s Highway. We won’t turn to the right or the left. We’ll just go straight through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸ But the people of Edom answered,

“We won’t let you pass through here. If you try to, we’ll march out against you. We’ll attack you with our swords.”

¹⁹ The Israelites replied,

“We’ll go along the main road. We and our livestock won’t drink any of your water. If we do, we’ll pay for it. We only want to walk through your country. That’s all we ask.”

²⁰ Again the people of Edom answered,

“We won’t let you pass through here.”

Then the people of Edom marched out against them. They came with a large and powerful army. ²¹ Edom refused to let Israel go through their territory. So Israel turned away from them.

Aaron Dies

²² The whole community of Israel started out from Kadesh. They arrived at Mount Hor. ²³ It was near the border of Edom. There the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²⁴ “Aaron will join the members of his family who have already died. He will not enter the land I am giving to the Israelites. Both of you refused to obey my command. You did it at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ So get Aaron and his son Eleazar. Take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶ Take Aaron’s official robes off of him. Put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die on Mount Hor. He will join the members of his family who have already died.”

²⁷ Moses did just as the Lord had commanded. The three men went up Mount Hor while the whole community was watching. ²⁸ Moses took Aaron’s official robes off of him. He put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ The whole community found out that Aaron had died. So all the Israelites mourned for him for 30 days.