Old/New Testament

Aaron’s Walking Stick Buds

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the people of Israel. Get 12 walking sticks from them. Get 1 from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick. ³ On the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be 1 stick for the head of each tribe. ⁴ Put them in the Meeting Tent. Place them in front of the Ark of the Covenant, where I meet with you. ⁵ I will choose one man. His stick will begin to grow leaves. And I will stop the Israelites from always complaining against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the 12 leaders gave him a walking stick. And Aaron’s walking stick was among them. ⁷ Moses put them before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.

⁸ The next day Moses entered the Tent. He saw that Aaron’s stick had grown leaves. (It stood for the family of Levi.) It had even budded, blossomed and produced almonds. ⁹ So Moses brought out to the Israelites all the walking sticks from the Lord’s presence. They all looked, and each man took back his stick.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back. Put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant. It will be a sign to these people who are always turning against me. This will stop their complaining against me. Now they won’t die.” ¹¹ So Moses obeyed what the Lord commanded him.

¹² The people of Israel said to Moses, “We are going to die! We are lost. We are all lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?”

The Work of the Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are now responsible for any wrongs done against the Holy Place. You and your sons are responsible for any wrongs done against the priests. ² Bring with you your fellow Levites from your tribe. They will help you and your sons serve in the Tent of the Agreement. ³ They are under your control. They will do all the work that needs to be done in the Tent. But they must not go near the things in the Holy Place or near the altar. If they do, both you and they will die. ⁴ They will join you. They will take care of the Meeting Tent. They must do the work at the Tent. No one else may come near you.

⁵ “You must take care of the Holy Place and the altar. Then I won’t become angry with the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself chose your fellow Levites from among the Israelites. They are a gift given for you to the Lord. Their work is at the Meeting Tent. ⁷ But only you and your sons may serve as priests. Only you may serve at the altar or go behind the curtain. I am giving you this gift of serving as a priest. Anyone else who comes near the Holy Place will be put to death.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself make you responsible for the offerings given to me. All the holy offerings that the Israelites give to me, I give to you. They are for you and your sons as your share. They will be your continual portion. ⁹ Your share of the holy offerings is that part which is not burned. The people will bring me gifts as most holy offerings. These are grain or sin or penalty offerings. These will be set apart for you and your sons. ¹⁰ You must eat it in a most holy place. Any male may eat it. But you must respect it as holy.

¹¹ “I also give you the offerings the Israelites present to me. I give these to you and your sons and daughters. This is your share. Anyone in your family who is clean may eat it.

¹² “And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. This is what the Israelites give to me, the Lord. These are the first things they harvest. ¹³ They bring to the Lord all the first things they harvest. They will be yours. Anyone in your family who is clean may eat these things.

¹⁴ “Everything in Israel that is given to the Lord is yours. ¹⁵ The first one born to any family will be offered to the Lord. This is true for both men and animals. And that will be yours. But you must make a payment for every firstborn son and every firstborn animal that is unclean. ¹⁶ When they are one month old, you must make a payment for them. The cost will be two ounces of silver as set by the Holy Place measure.

¹⁷ “But you must not make a payment for the firstborn ox or sheep or goat. Those animals are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat. This is an offering made by fire. The smell is pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁸ But the meat will be yours. Also the breast that is presented and the right thigh will be yours. ¹⁹ Anything the Israelites present as holy gifts I, the Lord, give to you. It goes to you, your sons and daughters. It is your continual portion. This is a lasting promise before the Lord to you and your children forever.”

²⁰ The Lord also said to Aaron, “You will not inherit any of the land. And you will not own any land among the other people. I will be yours. Out of all the Israelites, only you will inherit me.

²¹ “The people of Israel will give a tenth of what they make. I give that tenth to the Levites. This is their payment for the work they do serving at the Meeting Tent. ²² But the other Israelites must never go near the Meeting Tent. If they do, they will die for their sin. ²³ Only the Levites should work in the Meeting Tent. They are responsible for any sins against it. This is a rule from now on. The Levites will not get any land among the other Israelites. ²⁴ But the Israelites will give a tenth of everything they make to me. And I will give that tenth to the Levites. That is why I said about the Levites: ‘They will not get any land among the Israelites.’”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites. Tell them: ‘You will receive a tenth of everything the Israelites make. I give that to you. But you must give a tenth of that back to the Lord. ²⁷ I will accept your offering just as much as I accept the offerings from others. They give new grain or new wine. ²⁸ In this way you will present an offering to the Lord as the other Israelites do. You will receive a tenth from the Israelites. Then you will give a tenth of that to Aaron the priest as the Lord’s share. ²⁹ Choose the best and holiest part from what you are given. This is the portion you must give to the Lord.’

³⁰ “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best it will be accepted as much as the grain and wine from the other people. ³¹ You and your families may eat all that is left anywhere. This is your pay for your work in the Meeting Tent. ³² And if you always give the best part to the Lord, you will never be guilty. If you do not sin against the holy offerings of the Israelites, you will not die.’”

The Offering for Cleansing

19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “These are the teachings that the Lord commanded. Tell the Israelites to get a young red cow. It must not have anything wrong with it. It must not have been worked. ³ Give the cow to Eleazar the priest. He will take it outside the camp and kill it. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest must put some of the blood on his finger. He must sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Meeting Tent. ⁵ Then the whole cow must be burned while he watches. The skin, the meat, the blood and the intestines must all be burned. ⁶ Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch and a red string. He must throw them onto the burning cow. ⁷ Then the priest must wash himself and his clothes with water. After that, he may come back into the camp. But he will be unclean until evening. ⁸ The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes in water. He will be unclean until evening.

⁹ “Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow. He will put them in a clean place outside the camp. The Israelites will use these ashes in a special ceremony to cleanse away sin. ¹⁰ The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes. He will be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule. It is for the Israelites and for the foreigners among them.

¹¹ “Whoever touches a dead body will be unclean for seven days. ¹² He must wash himself with this water. He must do this on the third day and on the seventh day. Then he will be clean. But if he does not wash himself on the third day and the seventh day, he cannot be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead body is unclean. If he stays unclean and goes to the Lord’s Holy Tent, it becomes unclean. So he must be separated from Israel. If the cleansing water is not sprinkled on him, he will stay unclean.

¹⁴ “This is the teaching about someone who dies in his tent. Anyone in the tent or who enters it will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ And every open jar or pot without a cover becomes unclean. ¹⁶ If anyone touches someone who was killed by a sword or who died a natural death, he is unclean. If he touches a human bone or a grave, he is unclean. He will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷ “So you must use the ashes from the burnt offering to make that person clean again. Pour fresh water over the ashes into a jar. ¹⁸ A clean person must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water. Then he must sprinkle it over the tent and its objects. And he must sprinkle the people who were there. He must sprinkle anyone who touched a bone or the body of someone who was killed. He must sprinkle anyone who touched a dead person or a grave. ¹⁹ Then someone who is clean must sprinkle this water on the unclean person. He must do this on the third day and on the seventh day. On the seventh day that person becomes clean. He must wash his clothes and take a bath. He will be clean that evening. ²⁰ If anyone who is unclean does not become clean, he must be separated from the community. He was not sprinkled with the cleansing water. He stays unclean. He could make the Holy Tent unclean. ²¹ This is a lasting rule. Whoever sprinkles the cleansing water must also wash his clothes. Anyone who touches the water will be unclean until evening. ²² Anyone the unclean person touches becomes unclean. And whoever touches him will be unclean until evening.”

More Than 5,000 People Fed

³⁰ The apostles that Jesus had sent out to preach returned. They gathered around him and told him about all the things they had done and taught. ³¹ Crowds of people were coming and going. Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come with me. We will go to a quiet place to be alone. There we will get some rest.”

³² So they went in a boat alone to a place where there were no people. ³³ But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So people from all the towns ran to the place where Jesus was going. They got there before Jesus arrived. ³⁴ When he landed, he saw a great crowd waiting. Jesus felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.

³⁵ It was now late in the day. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat.”

³⁷ But Jesus answered, “You give them food to eat.”

They said to him, “We can’t buy enough bread to feed all these people! We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”

³⁸ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.”

When they found out, they came to him and said, “We have five loaves and two fish.”

³⁹ Then Jesus said to the followers, “Tell all the people to sit in groups on the green grass.” ⁴⁰ So all the people sat in groups. They sat in groups of 50 or groups of 100. ⁴¹ Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for the bread. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² All the people ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ The followers filled 12 baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were not eaten. ⁴⁴ There were about 5,000 men there who ate.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Then Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go to Bethsaida on the other side of the lake. Jesus said that he would come later. He stayed there to tell the people they could go home. ⁴⁶ After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.

⁴⁷ That night, the boat was in the middle of the lake. Jesus was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ He saw the followers working hard to row the boat because the wind was blowing against them. At some time between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water. He continued walking until he was almost past the boat. ⁴⁹ But when his followers saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out. ⁵⁰ They all saw him and were terrified. But Jesus spoke to them and said, “Have courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them. And the wind became calm. The followers were greatly amazed. ⁵² They had seen Jesus make more bread from the five loaves. But they did not understand what it meant. Their minds were closed.

⁵³ When they had crossed the lake, they came to shore at Gennesaret. They tied the boat there. ⁵⁴ When they got out of the boat, the people saw Jesus and immediately recognized him. ⁵⁵ They ran to tell others everywhere in that area that Jesus was there. They brought sick people on mats to every place Jesus went. ⁵⁶ Jesus went into towns and cities and farms around that area. And everywhere he went, the people brought the sick to the marketplaces. They begged him to let them just touch the edge of his coat. And all who touched him were healed.