Chronological
Chapter 8
The Menorah. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to Aaron and say: “When you set up the menorah-lamps,(A) have the seven lamps throw their light in front of the menorah.”[a] 3 Aaron did so, setting up the menorah-lamps to face the area in front of the menorah, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 4 This is the construction of the menorah: hammered gold,(B) from its base to its bowls[b] it was hammered; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the menorah.
Purification of the Levites. 5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.[c] 7 This is what you shall do to them to cleanse them. Sprinkle them with the water of purification, have them shave their whole bodies and wash their garments, and so cleanse themselves. 8 Then they shall take a bull from the herd, along with its grain offering of bran flour mixed with oil; and you shall take another bull from the herd for a purification offering. 9 Bringing the Levites before the tent of meeting, you shall assemble also the whole community of the Israelites. 10 When you have brought the Levites before the Lord, the Israelites shall lay their hands upon them. 11 Aaron shall then present the Levites before the Lord as an elevated offering from the Israelites, that they may perform the service of the Lord. 12 The Levites in turn shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offering one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Then you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you shall present them as an elevated offering to the Lord; 14 thus you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites shall belong to me.(C)
15 Only then shall the Levites enter upon their service in the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and presented them as an elevated offering. 16 For they, among the Israelites, are totally dedicated to me; I have taken them for myself in place of everyone that opens the womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites.(D) 17 Indeed, all the firstborn among the Israelites, human being and beast alike, belong to me; I consecrated them to myself on the day I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.(E) 18 But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn Israelites; 19 and from among the Israelites I have given to Aaron and his sons these Levites, who are to be dedicated,(F) to perform the service of the Israelites in the tent of meeting and to make atonement for them, so that no plague may strike among the Israelites should they come too near the sanctuary.
20 This, then, is what Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites did with respect to the Levites; the Israelites did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning them. 21 When the Levites had purified themselves[d] and washed their garments, Aaron presented them as an elevated offering before the Lord, and made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Only then did they enter upon their service in the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. Exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so it was done with regard to them.
Age Limits for Levitical Service. 23 The Lord said to Moses: 24 This is the rule for the Levites. Everyone twenty-five years old or more shall join the personnel in the service of the tent of meeting.(G) 25 But everyone fifty on up shall retire from the work force and serve no more. 26 They shall assist their fellow Levites in the tent of meeting in performing their duties, but they shall not do the work. This, then, is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.
Chapter 9
Second Passover. 1 The Lord said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year following their departure from the land of Egypt: 2 Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the prescribed time. 3 In the evening twilight of the fourteenth day of this month(H) you shall celebrate it at its prescribed time, in accord with all its statutes and regulations. 4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, 5 and they did celebrate the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month during the evening twilight in the wilderness of Sinai. Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
6 There were some, however, who were unclean because of a human corpse and so could not celebrate the Passover that day. These men came up to Moses and Aaron that same day 7 and they said to them, “Although we are unclean because of a human corpse, why should we be deprived of presenting the Lord’s offering at its prescribed time along with other Israelites?” 8 Moses answered them, “Wait so that I can learn what the Lord will command in your regard.”
9 The Lord then said to Moses: 10 Speak to the Israelites: “If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean because of a human corpse, or is absent on a journey, you may still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. 11 But you shall celebrate it in the second month,(I) on the fourteenth day of that month during the evening twilight, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, 12 and not leaving any of it over till morning, nor breaking any of its bones,(J) but observing all the statutes of the Passover. 13 However, anyone who is clean and not away on a journey, who yet fails to celebrate the Passover, shall be cut off from the people, for not presenting the Lord’s offering at the prescribed time. That person shall bear the consequences of this sin.
14 “If an alien[e] who lives among you would celebrate the Lord’s Passover, it shall be celebrated according to the statutes and regulations for the Passover. You shall have the same law for the resident alien as for the native of the land.”(K)
The Fiery Cloud. 15 On the day when the tabernacle was erected, the cloud[f] covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant; but from evening until morning it took on the appearance of fire over the tabernacle.(L) 16 It was always so: during the day the cloud covered the tabernacle and at night had the appearance of fire. 17 Whenever the cloud rose from the tent, the Israelites would break camp; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites would pitch camp.(M) 18 At the direction of the Lord the Israelites broke camp, and at the Lord’s direction they pitched camp.(N) As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.
19 Even when the cloud lingered many days over the tabernacle, the Israelites kept the charge of the Lord and would not move on. 20 Yet if it happened the cloud was over the tabernacle only for a few days, at the direction of the Lord they stayed in camp; and at the Lord’s direction they broke camp. 21 If it happened the cloud remained there only from evening until morning, when the cloud rose in the morning, they would break camp. Whether the cloud lifted during the day or the night they would then break camp. 22 Whether the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for two days or for a month or longer, the Israelites remained in camp and did not break camp; but when it lifted, they broke camp. 23 At the direction of the Lord they pitched camp, and at the Lord’s direction they broke camp; they kept the charge of the Lord, as the Lord directed them through Moses.
Chapter 10
The Silver Trumpets. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Make two trumpets of silver, making them of hammered silver, for you to use in summoning the community and in breaking camp. 3 When both are blown, the whole community shall gather round you at the entrance of the tent of meeting; 4 but when one of them is blown, only the tribal leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, shall gather round you. 5 When you sound the signal, those encamped on the east side shall break camp; 6 when you sound a second signal, those encamped on the south side shall break camp; when you sound a third signal, those encamped on the west side shall break camp; when you sound a fourth signal, those encamped on the north side shall break camp. Thus shall the signal be sounded for them to break camp. 7 But in calling forth an assembly you are to blow a blast, without sounding the signal.
8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; this is prescribed forever for you and your descendants. 9 (O)When in your own land you go to war against an enemy that is attacking you, you shall sound the alarm on the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before the Lord, your God, and be saved from your foes. 10 And when you rejoice[g] on your festivals, and your new-moon feasts, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your communion sacrifices,(P) so that this serves as a reminder of you before your God. I, the Lord, am your God.
II. Departure, Rebellion, and Wandering in the Wilderness for Forty Years
Departure from Sinai. 11 In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud rose from the tabernacle of the covenant, 12 and the Israelites moved on from the wilderness of Sinai by stages, until the cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.
13 The first time that they broke camp at the direction of the Lord through Moses, 14 (Q)the divisional camp of the Judahites, arranged in companies, was the first to set out. Over its whole company was Nahshon, son of Amminadab, 15 with Nethanel, son of Zuar, over the company of the tribe of Issacharites, 16 and Eliab, son of Helon, over the company of the tribe of Zebulunites. 17 Then, after the tabernacle was dismantled, the Gershonites and Merarites who carried the tabernacle set out. 18 The divisional camp of the Reubenites, arranged in companies, was the next to set out. Over its whole company was Elizur, son of Shedeur, 19 with Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai, over the company of the tribe of Simeonites, 20 and Eliasaph, son of Reuel, over the company of the tribe of Gadites. 21 The Kohathites, who carried the sacred objects, then set out. Before their arrival the tabernacle would be erected. 22 The divisional camp of the Ephraimites set out next, arranged in companies. Over its whole company was Elishama, son of Ammihud, 23 with Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur, over the company of the tribe of Manassites, 24 and Abidan, son of Gideoni, over the company of the tribe of Benjaminites. 25 Finally, as rear guard for all the camps, the divisional camp of the Danites set out, arranged in companies. Over its whole company was Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai, 26 with Pagiel, son of Ochran, over the company of the tribe of Asherites, 27 and Ahira, son of Enan, over the company of the tribe of Naphtalites. 28 This was the order of march for the Israelites, company by company, when they set out.
Hobab as Guide. 29 Moses said to Hobab,[h] son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place concerning which the Lord has said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will be generous toward you, for the Lord has promised prosperity to Israel.” 30 But he answered, “No, I will not come. I am going instead to the land of my birth.” 31 Moses said, “Please, do not leave us; you know where we can camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our guide. 32 If you come with us, we will share with you the prosperity the Lord will bestow on us.”
Into the Wilderness. 33 (R)From the mountain of the Lord[i] they made a journey of three days, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three-day journey to seek out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from camp.
35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,
“Arise, O Lord, may your enemies be scattered,
and may those who hate you flee before you.”
36 And when it came to rest, he would say,
“Bring back, O Lord, the myriads of Israel’s troops!”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.