Old/New Testament
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe,[b] one from every tribal leader,[c] twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff. 3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.[d] 4 You must place them[e] in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant[f] where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader,[g] according to their tribes[h]—twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.[i]
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony—and[j] the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds![k] 9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them,[l] and each man took his staff.
The Memorial
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end[m] before me, that they will not die.”[n] 11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him—this is what he did.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die![o] We perish, we all perish! 13 (17:28)[p] Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”[q]
Responsibilities of the Priests
18 [r] The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe[s] with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary,[t] and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join[u] with you and minister to you while[v] you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They must join[w] with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person[x] may approach you. 5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be[y] no more wrath on the Israelites. 6 I myself have chosen[z] your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties[aa] of the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service, but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”
The Portion of the Priests
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion[ab] and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved[ac] from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.
11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
12 “All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.[ad] 13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
14 “Everything devoted[ae] in Israel will be yours. 15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem,[af] and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem. 16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). 17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash[ag] their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours. 19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt[ah] forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”
Duties of the Levites
20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property[ai] among them—I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 21 See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service that they perform—the service of the tent of meeting. 22 No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin[aj] and die. 23 But the Levites must perform the service[ak] of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity.[al] It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites[am] have no inheritance.[an] 24 But I have given[ao] to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered[ap] to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”
Instructions for the Levites
25 The Lord spoke to Moses: 26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up[aq] from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe. 27 And your raised offering will be credited[ar] to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine[as] from the winepress. 28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. 29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due[at] the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’[au]
30 “Therefore you will say to them,[av] ‘When you offer up[aw] the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress. 31 And you may[ax] eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”[ay]
The Red Heifer Ritual
19 [az] The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct[ba] the Israelites to bring[bb] you a red[bc] heifer[bd] without blemish, which has no defect[be] and has never carried a yoke. 3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him.[bf] 4 Eleazar the priest is to take[bg] some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times[bh] in the direction of the front of the tent of meeting. 5 Then the heifer must be burned[bi] in his sight—its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned.[bj] 6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop,[bk] and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning.[bl] 7 Then the priest must wash[bm] his clothes and bathe himself[bn] in water, and afterward he may come[bo] into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 8 The one who burns it[bp] must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept[bq] for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification[br]—it is a purification for sin.[bs] 10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.
Purification from Uncleanness
11 “‘Whoever touches[bt] the corpse[bu] of any person[bv] will be ceremonially unclean[bw] seven days. 12 He must purify himself[bx] with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean. 13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel,[by] because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies[bz] in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. 15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. 16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields,[ca] or the body of someone who died of natural causes,[cb] or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.[cc]
17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take[cd] some of the ashes of the heifer[ce] burnt for purification from sin and pour[cf] fresh running[cg] water over them in a vessel. 18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one who was killed, or one who died, or a grave. 19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him,[ch] and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening. 20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.
21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles[ci] the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening.[cj] 22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
30 Then[a] the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat[b] to some remote place. 33 But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot[c] from all the towns[d] and arrived there ahead of them.[e] 34 As Jesus[f] came ashore[g] he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So[h] he taught them many things.
35 When it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place[i] and it is already very late. 36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them,[j] “You[k] give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for 200 silver coins[l] and give it to them to eat?” 38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” 39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He[m] gave them to his[n] disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up the broken pieces and fish that were left over, twelve baskets full. 44 Now[o] there were 5,000 men[p] who ate the bread.[q]
Walking on Water
45 Immediately Jesus[r] made his disciples get into the boat[s] and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dispersed the crowd. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went to the mountain to pray. 47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land. 48 He[t] saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. As the night was ending,[u] he came to them walking on the sea,[v] for[w] he wanted to pass by them.[x] 49 When they saw him walking on the water[y] they thought he was a ghost. They[z] cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them:[aa] “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 Then he went up with them into the boat, and the wind ceased. They were completely astonished, 52 because they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Healing the Sick
53 After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret[ab] and anchored there. 54 As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus.[ac] 55 They ran through that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever he was rumored to be.[ad] 56 And wherever he would go—into villages, towns, or countryside—they would place the sick in the marketplaces,[ae] and would ask him if[af] they could just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
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