Bible in 90 Days
15 And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the Tent of Meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.
16 For they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites; instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites for Myself.
17 For all the firstborn of the Israelites are Mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt [not of Israel], I consecrated them and set them apart for Myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites.
19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites to do the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement for them, that there may be no plague among the Israelites if they should come near the sanctuary.
20 So Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the Israelites did thus to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning [them], so did the Israelites to them.
21 The Levites cleansed and purified themselves and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting with the attendance of Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them.
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the work of the service of the Tent of Meeting,
25 And at the age of fifty years, they shall retire from the warfare of the service and serve no more,
26 But shall help their brethren in the Tent of Meeting [attend to protecting the sacred things from being profaned], but shall do no regular or heavy service. Thus shall you direct the Levites in regard to their duties.
9 The Lord said 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,
2 Let the Israelites keep the Passover at its appointed time.
3 On the fourteenth day of this month in the evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and ordinances you shall keep it.
4 So Moses told the Israelites they should keep the Passover.
5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month in the evening in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
6 And there were certain men who were defiled by touching the dead body of a man, so they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.
7 Those men said to [Moses], We are defiled by touching the dead body. Why are we prevented from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?
8 And Moses said to them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.
9 And the Lord said to Moses,
10 Say to the Israelites, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of touching a dead body or is far off on a journey, still he shall keep the Passover to the Lord.
11 On the fourteenth day of the second month in the evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave none of it until the morning nor break any bone of it; according to all the statutes for the Passover they shall keep it.(A)
13 But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet does not keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear [the penalty of] his sin.
14 And if a stranger sojourns among you and will keep the Passover to the Lord, according to [its] statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute both for the temporary resident and for him who was born in the land.
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God’s presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the Tent of the Testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of [a pillar of] fire until the morning.(B)
16 So it was constantly; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, after that the Israelites journeyed; and in the place where the cloud rested, there the Israelites encamped.
18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites journeyed, and at [His] command they encamped. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle they remained encamped.
19 Even when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, the Israelites kept the Lord’s charge and did not set out.
20 And sometimes the cloud was only a few days upon the tabernacle, but according to the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at His command they journeyed.
21 And sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, but when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed; whether it was taken up by day or by night, they journeyed.
22 Whether it was two days or a month or a longer time that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, dwelling on it, the Israelites remained encamped; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at [His] command they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord through Moses.
10 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Make two trumpets of silver; of hammered or turned work you shall make them, that you may use them to call the congregation and for breaking camp.
3 When they both are blown, all the congregation shall assemble before you at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
4 And if one blast on a single trumpet is blown, then the princes or leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
5 When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out.
6 When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side shall set out. An alarm shall be blown whenever they are to set out on their journeys.
7 When the congregation is to be assembled, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but not the blast of an alarm.
8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and the trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
9 When you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then blow an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.
10 Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your set feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your peace offerings; thus they may be a remembrance before your God. I am the Lord your God.
11 On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] was taken up from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,
12 And the Israelites took their journey by stages out of the Wilderness of Sinai, and the [guiding] cloud rested in the Wilderness of Paran.
13 When the journey was to begin, at the command of the Lord through Moses,
14 In the first place went the standard of the camp of the sons of Judah by their companies; and over their host was Nahshon son of Amminadab.
15 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Issachar was Nethanel son of Zuar.
16 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun was Eliab son of Helon.
17 When the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and Merari, bearing [it] on their shoulders, set out.
18 The standard of the camp of Reuben set forward by their companies; and over Reuben’s host was Elizur son of Shedeur.
19 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Simeon was Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
20 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Gad was Eliasaph son of Deuel.
21 Then the Kohathites set forward, bearing the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived.
22 And the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim set forward according to their companies; and over Ephraim’s host was Elishama son of Ammihud.
23 Over the host of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
24 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin was Abidan son of Gideoni.
25 Then the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set forward according to their companies; and over Dan’s host was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
26 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Asher was Pagiel son of Ochran.
27 And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali was Ahira son of Enan.
28 This was the Israelites’ order of march by their hosts when they set out.
29 And Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, We are journeying to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us, and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.
30 And Hobab said to him, I will not go; I will depart to my own land and to my family.
31 And Moses said, [a]Do not leave us, I pray you; for you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.
32 And if you will go with us, it shall be that whatever good the Lord does to us, the same we will do to you.
33 They departed from the mountain of the Lord [Mount Sinai] three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting-place for them.
34 The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they went forward from the camp.
35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, Lord; let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You.(C)
36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands in Israel.
11 And the people grumbled and deplored their hardships, which was evil in the ears of the Lord, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.
2 The people cried to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire subsided.
3 He called the name of the place Taberah [burning], because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 And the mixed multitude among them [the rabble who followed Israel from Egypt] began to lust greatly [for familiar and dainty food], and the Israelites wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat?
5 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt and without cost, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
6 But now our soul (our strength) is dried up; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna.
7 The manna was like coriander seed and its appearance was like that of bdellium [perhaps a precious stone].
8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and in the eyes of Moses it was evil.
11 And Moses said to the Lord, Why have You dealt ill with Your servants? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You lay the burden of all this people on me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them forth, that You should say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which You swore to their fathers [to give them]?
13 Where should I get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, Give us meat, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.
15 And if this is the way You deal with me, kill me, I pray You, at once, and be granting me a favor and let me not see my wretchedness [in the failure of all my efforts].
16 And the Lord said to Moses, Gather for Me [b]seventy men of the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them stand there with you.
17 And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon you and will put It upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not have to bear it yourself alone.
18 And say to the people, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19 You shall not eat one day, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty days,
20 But a whole month—until [you are satiated and vomit it up violently and] it comes out at your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the Lord Who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why did we come out of Egypt?(D)
21 But Moses said, The people among whom I am are 600,000 footmen [besides all the women and children], and You have said, I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!
22 Shall flocks and herds be killed to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be collected to satisfy them?
23 The Lord said to Moses, Has the Lord’s hand (His ability and power) become short (thwarted and inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word shall come to pass for you or not.(E)
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and set them round about the Tent.
25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him and put It upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [sounding forth the praises of God and declaring His will]. Then they did so no more.(F)
26 But there remained two men in the camp named Eldad and Medad. The Spirit rested upon them, and they were of those who were selected and listed, yet they did not go out to the Tent [as told to do], but they prophesied in the camp.
27 And a young man ran to Moses and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying [sounding forth the praises of God and declaring His will] in the camp.
28 Joshua son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, My lord Moses, forbid them!
29 But Moses said to him, Are you [c]envious or jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!(G)
30 And Moses went back into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits above the ground.
32 And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day and caught and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves round about the camp [to cure them by drying].
33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote them with a very great plague.
34 That place was called Kibroth-hattaavah [the graves of sensuous desire], because there they buried the people who lusted, whose physical appetite caused them to sin.(H)
35 The Israelites journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth, where they remained.
12 Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses [their brother] because of his [d]Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth.
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting. And the three of them came out.
5 The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the Tent door and called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.
6 And He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream.
7 But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house.(I)
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed.
10 And when the cloud departed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous!
11 And Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, I plead with you, lay not the sin upon us in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, already half decomposed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech You!
14 And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and after that let her be brought in again.
15 So Miriam was shut up without the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought in again.
16 Afterward [they] removed from Hazeroth and encamped in the Wilderness of Paran.
13 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader or head among them.
3 So Moses by the command of the Lord sent scouts from the Wilderness of Paran, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites.
4 These were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] son of Nun;
9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi;
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore and scout out the land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua.
17 Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country,
18 And see what the land is and whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many,
19 And whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds,
20 And what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. And be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and scouted through the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.
22 And then went up into the South (the Negeb) and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai [probably three tribes of] the sons of Anak were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two [of them]; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.
24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut down there.
25 And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.
26 They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land’s fruit.
27 They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.
28 But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are [e]fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage].
29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River].
30 Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.
31 But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are.
32 So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
14 And all the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and [they] wept that night.
2 All the Israelites grumbled and deplored their situation, accusing Moses and Aaron, to whom the whole congregation said, Would that we had died in Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be a prey. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?(J)
4 And they said one to another, Let us choose a captain and return to Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of Israelites.
6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the scouts who had searched the land, rent their clothes,
7 And they said to all the company of Israelites, The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.
10 But all the congregation said to stone [Joshua and Caleb] with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting before all the Israelites.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke (spurn, despise) Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me [trusting in, relying on, clinging to Me], for all the signs which I have performed among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and will make of you [Moses] a nation greater and mightier than they.
13 But Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for You brought up this people in Your might from among them.
14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, and that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if You kill all this people as one man, then the nations that have heard Your fame will say,
16 Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to give to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I pray You, let the power of my Lord be great, as You have promised, saying,
18 The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation.(K)
19 Pardon, I pray You, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness, just as You have forgiven [them] from Egypt until now.
20 And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word.
21 But truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,(L)
22 Because all those men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested and proved Me these ten times and have not heeded My voice,
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; nor shall any who provoked (spurned, despised) Me see it.(M)
24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
25 Now because the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.
26 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27 How long will this evil congregation murmur against Me? I have heard the complaints the Israelites murmur against Me.
28 Tell them, As I live, says the Lord, what you have said in My hearing I will do to you:
29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness—of all who were numbered of you, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me,(N)
30 Surely none shall come into the land in which I swore to make you dwell, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 But your little ones whom you said would be a prey, them will I bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised and rejected.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your whoredoms (your infidelity to your espoused God), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], even forty days, for each day a year shall you bear and suffer for your iniquities, even for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement].
35 I the Lord have spoken; surely this will I do to all this evil congregation who is gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, plagues], and here they shall die.(O)
36 And the men whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble and complain against him by bringing back a slanderous report of the land,
37 Even those men who brought the evil report of the land died by a plague before the Lord.(P)
38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to search the land, lived still.
39 Moses told [the Lord’s] words to all the Israelites, and [they] mourned greatly.
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and we intend to go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.
41 But Moses said, Why now do you transgress the command of the Lord [to turn back by way of the Red Sea], since it will not succeed?
42 Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that you be not struck down before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from following after the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country and smote the Israelites and beat them back, even as far as Hormah.
15 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Say to the Israelites, When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,
3 And will make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant and soothing fragrance to the Lord,
4 Then shall he who brings his offering to the Lord bring a cereal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil.
5 And a fourth of a hin of wine for the drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
6 Or for a ram you shall prepare for a cereal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.
7 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, for a sweet and pleasing odor to the Lord.
8 And when you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the Lord,
9 Then shall one offer with the bull a cereal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil.
10 And you shall bring for the drink offering half a hin of wine for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant and soothing fragrance to the Lord.
11 Thus shall it be done for each bull or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs or of the kids.
12 According to the number that you shall prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number.
13 All who are native-born shall do these things in this way in bringing an offering made by fire of a sweet and pleasant odor to the Lord.
14 And if a stranger sojourns with you or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasing and soothing fragrance to the Lord, as you do, so shall he do.
15 There shall be one [and the same] statute [both] for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a temporary resident with you, a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
16 One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.
17 And the Lord said to Moses,
18 Say to the Israelites, When you come into the land to which I am bringing you,
19 Then, when you eat of the food of the land, you shall set apart a portion for a gift to the Lord [called a heave or taken-out offering].
20 You shall set apart a cake made of the first of your coarse meal as a gift [to the Lord]; as an offering set apart from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it out or heave it.
21 Of the first of your coarse meal you shall give to the Lord a portion for a gift throughout your generations [your heave or lifted-out offering].
22 When you have erred and have not observed all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses,
23 Even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations,
24 Then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly or in error without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant and soothing fragrance to the Lord, with its cereal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the Israelites, and they shall be forgiven, for it was an error and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their error.
26 And all the congregation of the Israelites shall be forgiven and the stranger who lives temporarily among them, because all the people were involved in the error.
27 And if any person sins unknowingly or unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unknowingly or unintentionally, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
29 You shall have one law for him who sins unknowingly or unintentionally, whether he is native born among the Israelites or a stranger who is sojourning among them.
30 But the person who does anything [wrong] willfully and openly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one reproaches, reviles, and blasphemes the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [that the atonement made for them may not include him].
31 Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.
34 They put him in custody, because it was not certain or clear what should be done to him.
35 And the Lord said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.
37 And the Lord said to Moses,
38 Speak to the Israelites and bid them make fringes or tassels on the corners in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and put upon the fringe of the borders or upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.
39 And it shall be to you a fringe or tassel that you may look upon and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, that you may not spy out and follow after [the desires of] your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to follow and play the harlot [spiritually, if not physically],
40 That you may remember and do all My commandments and be holy to your God.
41 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.
16 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men,
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the Israelites, 250 princes or leaders of the congregation called to the assembly, men well known and of distinction.
3 And they gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, [Enough of you!] You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you lift yourselves up above the assembly of the Lord?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.
5 And he said to Korah and all his company, In the morning the Lord will show who are His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him; him whom He has chosen will He cause to come near to Him.(Q)
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company,
7 And put fire in them and put incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi:
9 Does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them,
10 And that He has brought you near to Him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also?
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and they said, We will not come up.
13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?
14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you bore out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!
15 And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, Do not respect their offering! I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.
16 And Moses said to Korah, You and all your company be before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron.
17 And let every man take his censer and put incense upon it and bring before the Lord every man his censer, 250 censers; you also and Aaron, each his censer.
18 So they took every man his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon it, and they stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron before the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and will You be angry with all the congregation?
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 Say to the congregation, Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he said to the congregation, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.
27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
28 And Moses said, By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I do not act of my own accord:
29 If these men die the common death of all men or if [only] what happens to everyone happens to them, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord causes a new thing [to happen], and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol (the place of the dead), then you shall understand that these men have provoked (spurned, despised) the Lord!
31 As soon as he stopped speaking, the ground under the offenders split apart
32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households and [Korah and] all [his] men and all their possessions.(R)
33 They and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol (the place of the dead); and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34 And all Israel who were round about them fled at their cry, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35 And fire came forth from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered the incense.
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
37 Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning and scatter the fire at a distance. For the censers are hallowed—
38 The censers of these men who have sinned against themselves and at the cost of their own lives. Let the censers be made into hammered plates for a covering of the altar [of burnt offering], for they were used in offering before the Lord and therefore they are sacred. They shall be a sign [of warning] to the Israelites.
39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers with which the Levites who were burned had offered incense, and they were hammered into broad sheets for a covering of the [brazen] altar [of burnt offering],
40 To be a memorial [a warning forever] to the Israelites, so that no outsider, that is, no one not of the descendants of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, lest he become as Korah and as his company, as the Lord said to Eleazar through Moses.
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord.
42 When the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron, they looked at the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and they saw the Lord’s glory.
43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.
44 And the Lord said to Moses,
45 Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire in it from off the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun!
47 So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was stayed.
17 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Speak to the Israelites and get from them rods or staves, one for each father’s house, from all their leaders according to their father’s houses, twelve rods. Write every man’s name on his rod.
3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his great-grandfather]. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house.
4 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you.
5 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.
6 And Moses spoke to the Israelites, and every one of their leaders gave him a rod or staff, one for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7 And Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.
8 And the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and brought forth buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.
9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 And the Lord told Moses, Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebels; and you shall make an end of their murmurings against Me, lest they die.
11 And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, Behold, we perish, we are undone, all undone!
13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near the tabernacle of the Lord, dies or shall die! Are we all to perish?
18 And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear and remove the iniquity of the sanctuary [that is, the guilt for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]. And you and your sons with you shall bear and remove the iniquity of your priesthood [your own unintentional offenses].
2 And your brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your [fore]father, bring with you, that they may be joined to you and minister to you; but only you and your sons with you shall come before the Tent of the Testimony [into the Holy Place where only priests may go and into the Most Holy Place which only the high priest dares enter].
3 And the Levites shall attend you [as servants] and attend to all the duties of the Tent; only they shall not come near the sacred vessels of the sanctuary or to the brazen altar, that they and also you [Aaron] die not.
4 And they shall be joined to you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting—all the [menial] service of the Tent—and no stranger [no layman, anyone who is not a Levite] shall come near you [Aaron and your sons].
5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and attend to the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense], that there be no wrath any more upon the Israelites [as in the incident of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram].(S)
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the Israelites; to you they are a gift, given to the Lord, to do the [menial] service of the Tent of Meeting.
7 Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything of the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense] and [of the Holy of Holies] within the veil, and you shall serve. I give you your priesthood as a service of gift. And the stranger [anyone other than Moses or your sons, Aaron] who comes near shall be put to death.(T)
8 And the Lord said to Aaron, And I, behold, I have given you the charge of My heave offerings [whatever is taken out and kept of the offerings made to Me], all the dedicated and consecrated things of the Israelites; to you have I given them [as your portion] and to your sons as a continual allowance forever by reason of your anointing as priests.(U)
9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of the people, every cereal offering and sin offering and trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you [Aaron] and for your sons.
10 As the most holy thing and in a sacred place shall you eat of it; every male [of your house] shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.(V)
11 And this also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you as a continual allowance forever; everyone in your house who is [ceremonially] clean may eat of it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the [fresh] wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, to you have I given them.
13 Whatever is first ripe in the land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is [ceremonially] clean in your house may eat of it.
14 Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been vowed to the Lord] shall be yours.
15 Everything that first opens the womb in all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be yours. Nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts you shall redeem.
16 And those that are to be redeemed of them, from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimate [of their age], for the fixed price of five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 But the firstling of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem. They [as the firstborn of clean beasts belong to God and] are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet and soothing odor to the Lord.
18 And the flesh of them shall be yours, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are yours.
19 All the heave offerings [the lifted-out and kept portions] of the holy things which the Israelites give to the Lord I give to you and to your sons and your daughters with you, as a continual debt forever. It is a covenant of salt [that cannot be dissolved or violated] forever before the Lord for you [Aaron] and for your posterity with you.
20 And the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], neither shall you have any part among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
21 And, behold, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance in return for their service which they serve, the [menial] service of the Tent of Meeting.
22 Henceforth the Israelites shall not come near the Tent of Meeting [the covered sanctuary, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies], lest they incur guilt and die.
23 But the Levites shall do the [menial] service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear and remove the iniquity of the people [that is, be answerable for the legal pollutions of the holy things and offer the necessary atonements for unintentional offenses in these matters]. It shall be a statute forever in all your generations, that among the Israelites the Levites have no inheritance [of land].
24 But the tithes of the Israelites, which they present as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit; therefore I have said to them, Among the Israelites they shall have no inheritance. [They have homes and cities and pasturage to use but not to possess as their personal inheritance.]
25 And the Lord said to Moses,
26 Moreover, you shall say to the Levites, When you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, even a tenth of the tithe [paid by the people].
27 And what you lift out and keep [your heave offering] shall be credited to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor or as the fully ripe produce of the vine.
28 Likewise you shall also present an offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and therefore you shall give this heave offering [lifted out and kept] for the Lord to Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every offering due to the Lord, of all the best of it, even the hallowed part lifted out and held back out of it [for the Levites].
30 Therefore you shall say to them, When you have lifted out and held back the best from it [and presented it to the Lord by giving it to yourselves, the Levites], then it shall be counted to [you] the Levites just as if it were the increase of the threshing floor or of the winepress.
31 And you may eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your service in the Tent of Meeting.
32 And you shall be guilty of no sin by reason of it when you have lifted out and held back the best of it; neither shall you have polluted the holy things of the Israelites, neither shall you die [because of it].
19 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2 This is the ritual of the law which the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, upon which a yoke has never come.
3 And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside the camp, and she shall be slaughtered before him.
4 Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger and sprinkle it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.
5 The heifer shall be burned in his sight, her skin, flesh, blood, and dung.
6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet [stuff] and cast them into the midst of the burning heifer.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; afterward he shall come into the camp, but he shall be unclean until evening.
8 He who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.
9 And a man who is clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for impurity; it is a sin offering.
10 And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be to the Israelites and to the stranger who sojourns among them a perpetual statute.
11 He who touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean for seven days.
12 He shall purify himself with the water for impurity [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13 Whoever touches the corpse of any who has died and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still upon him.
14 This is the law when a man dies in a tent: all who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean for seven days.
15 And every open vessel, which has no covering fastened upon it, is unclean.
16 And whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a dead man, or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.
17 And for the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and the running water shall be put with it in a vessel.
18 And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons who were there, and upon him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the naturally dead, or the grave.
19 And the clean person shall sprinkle [the water for purification] upon the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day the unclean man shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.
20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water for purification has not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
21 And it shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity [upon another] shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.
20 And the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month. And the people dwelt in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.
2 Now there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled together against Moses and Aaron.
3 And the people contended with Moses, and said, Would that we had died when our brethren died [in the plague] before the Lord!(W)
4 And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, we and our livestock?
5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates. And there is no water to drink.
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7 And the Lord said to Moses,
8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.
9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock [f]twice. And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in (rely on, cling to) Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you therefore [g]shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.(X)
13 These are the waters of Meribah [strife], where the Israelites contended with the Lord and He showed Himself holy among them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying, Thus says your kinsman Israel: You know all the adversity and birth pangs that have come upon us [as a nation]:
15 How our fathers went down to Egypt; we dwelt there a long time, and the Egyptians dealt evilly with us and our fathers.
16 But when we cried to the Lord, He heard us and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt. Now behold, we are in Kadesh, a city on your country’s edge.
17 Let us pass, I pray you, through your country. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink of the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed your borders.
18 But Edom said to him, You shall not go through, lest I come out against you with the sword.
19 And the Israelites said to him, We will go by the highway, and if I and my livestock drink of your water, I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.
20 But Edom said, You shall not go through. And Edom came out against Israel with many people and a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, [h]so Israel turned away from him.
22 They journeyed from Kadesh, and the Israelites, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
23 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,
24 Aaron shall be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land which I have given to the Israelites, because you both rebelled against My instructions at the waters of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor.
26 Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his [priestly] garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the mountain top; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept and mourned for him thirty days, all the house of Israel.
21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the South (the Negeb), heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.
2 And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
3 And the Lord hearkened to Israel and gave over the Canaanites. And they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and the name of the place was called Hormah [a banned or devoted thing].
4 And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the people became impatient (depressed, much discouraged), because [of the trials] of the way.
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and we loathe this light (contemptible, unsubstantial) manna.
6 Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.
7 And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation