Numbers — Legacy Standard Bible

The Census of Israel’s Warriors

1Then ¹Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on ^athe first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²“^aTake a ¹census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head ³from ^atwenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall ¹number them by their armies. ⁴“With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, ^aeach one head of his father’s household. ⁵“These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: ^aof Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

⁶of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷of Judah, ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹²of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴of Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^aDeuel; ¹⁵of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

¹⁶“These are they who were ^acalled upon by the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the ^bheads of ¹divisions of Israel.”

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, ¹⁸and they assembled all the congregation together on the ^afirst of the second month. Then they registered by ^bgenealogy in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹just as ^aYahweh had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰^aNow the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²¹their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²²^aOf the sons of Simeon, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, ^bwhoever was able to go out to war, ²³their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴^aOf the sons of Gad, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁵their numbered men of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶^aOf the sons of Judah, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁷their numbered men of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸^aOf the sons of Issachar, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁹their numbered men of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰^aOf the sons of Zebulun, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³¹their numbered men of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³²^aOf the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³³their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴^aOf the sons of Manasseh, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁵their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶^aOf the sons of Benjamin, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁷their numbered men of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸^aOf the sons of Dan, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁹their numbered men of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰^aOf the sons of Asher, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ⁴¹their numbered men of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴²^aOf the sons of Naphtali, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ⁴³their numbered men of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. ⁴⁵So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, ⁴⁶even all the numbered men were ^a603,550.

Levites Not Numbered in the Census

⁴⁷^aThe Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. ⁴⁸Yahweh had spoken to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi ^ayou shall not number, nor shall you take their ¹census among the sons of Israel. ⁵⁰“But you shall ^aappoint the Levites over the ¹tabernacle of the testimony and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall attend to it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹“^aSo when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But ^bthe ¹layman who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵²“^aAnd the sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own standard, according to their armies. ⁵³“^aBut the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony so that there will be ^bno wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. ^cSo the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all which Yahweh had commanded Moses, so they did.

Israel Camped by Their Standards

2Now Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“^aThe sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the ¹banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting ²at a distance. ³“Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Judah: ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴and his army, even their ¹numbered men, 74,600. ⁵“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and the leader of the sons of Issachar: ^aNethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶and his army, even his numbered men, 54,400. ⁷“Then the tribe of Zebulun, and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: ^aEliab the son of Helon, ⁸and his army, even his numbered men, 57,400. ⁹“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. ^aThey shall set out first.

¹⁰“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Reuben: ^aElizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹and his army, even his numbered men, 46,500. ¹²“And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the sons of Simeon: ^aShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³and his army, even their numbered men, 59,300. ¹⁴“Then the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the sons of Gad: ^aEliasaph the son of ¹Deuel, ¹⁵and his army, even their numbered men, 45,650. ¹⁶“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And ^athey shall set out second.

¹⁷“^aThen the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their standards.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of ^aEphraim by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: ^bElishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹and his army, even their numbered men, 40,500. ²⁰“Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: ^aGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹and his army, even their numbered men, 32,200. ²²“Then the tribe of ^aBenjamin, and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: ^bAbidan the son of Gideoni, ²³and his army, even their numbered men, 35,400. ²⁴“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And ^athey shall set out third.

²⁵“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Dan: ^aAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶and his army, even their numbered men, 62,700. ²⁷“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the sons of Asher: ^aPagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸and his army, even their numbered men, 41,500. ²⁹“Then the tribe of ^aNaphtali, and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: ^bAhira the son of Enan, ³⁰and his army, even their numbered men, 53,400. ³¹“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. ^aThey shall set out last by their standards.”

³²These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, ^a603,550. ³³^aThe Levites, however, were not numbered among the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁴Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, every one by his family according to his father’s household.

Priests and Levites

3^aNow these are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when Yahweh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ²^aThese then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the ^aanointed priests, whom he ¹ordained to minister as priests. ⁴^aBut Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they offered strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests ¹in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“^aBring the tribe of Levi near and have them stand before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷“And they shall keep his responsibility and the responsibility for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to perform the ^aservice of the tabernacle. ⁸“They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the responsibility of the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the ¹tabernacle. ⁹“You shall thus ^agive the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. ¹⁰“So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that ^athey may keep their priesthood, but ^bthe ¹outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Now, behold, I ^ahave taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every ^bfirstborn, the first offspring of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. ¹³“For ^aall the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am Yahweh.”

¹⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses ^ain the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵“¹^,^aNumber the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall ²number.” ¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the ¹word of Yahweh, just as he had been commanded. ¹⁷^aThese then are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

¹⁸And these are the names of the ^asons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei; ¹⁹and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel; ²⁰and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

²¹Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. ²²Their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, even their numbered men were 7,500. ²³The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward, ²⁴and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Responsibilities of the Priests

²⁵Now ^athe responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and ^bthe tent, its covering, and ^cthe screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, ²⁶and ^athe hangings of the court, and ^bthe screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service ¹concerning them.

²⁷Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites and the family of the Izharites and the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸In the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary. ²⁹The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the southward side of the tabernacle, ³⁰and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families was ¹Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹Now ^atheir responsibility involved ^bthe ark, ^cthe table, ^dthe lampstand, ^ethe altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service ¹concerning them; ³²and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the chief of the leaders of Levi and had the oversight of those who keep the responsibility of the sanctuary.

³³Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. ³⁴And their numbered men, in the numbering of every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200. ³⁵And the leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to ^acamp on the northward side of the tabernacle. ³⁶Now the appointed responsibility of the sons of Merari involved the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its bases, all its equipment, and the service concerning them, ³⁷and the pillars around the court with their bases and their pegs and their cords.

³⁸Now those who were to ^acamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, keeping the responsibility of the sanctuary for the responsibility of the sons of Israel; but ^bthe ¹outsider coming near was to be put to death. ³⁹All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the ¹command of Yahweh by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were ^a22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aNumber every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and ¹make a list of their names. ⁴¹“And you ^ashall take the Levites for Me, I am Yahweh, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.” ⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded him; ⁴³and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward, for their numbered men were ^a22,273.

⁴⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“^aTake the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶“^aFor the redemption price of the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites, ⁴⁷you shall take ^afive ¹shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in ^bterms of the shekel of the sanctuary (^cthe shekel is twenty ²gerahs), ⁴⁸and give the money, the redemption price of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons.” ⁴⁹So Moses took the money of the redemption price from those who were in excess, beyond those redeemed by the Levites; ⁵⁰from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1,365. ⁵¹Then Moses gave the money of the redemption price to Aaron and to his sons, at the ¹command of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Duties of the Kohathites

4Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“Take ¹a census of the ²descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, ³from ^athirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the duty of doing the work in the tent of meeting. ⁴“This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

⁵“And when the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down ^athe veil of the screen and cover the ^bark of the testimony with it; ⁶and they shall put a ^acovering of porpoise skin on it and shall spread over it a cloth of pure ¹blue and shall insert its poles. ⁷“Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of ¹blue and put on it the dishes and the pans and the offering bowls and the jars for the drink offering, and ^athe continual bread shall be on it. ⁸“And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material and cover the same with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its poles. ⁹“Then they shall take a ¹blue cloth and cover the ^alampstand for the light, ^balong with its lamps and its tongs, and its ²trays and all its oil vessels, by which they minister in connection to it; ¹⁰and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin and shall put it on the carrying bars. ¹¹“And over the golden altar they shall spread a ¹blue cloth and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin and shall insert its poles; ¹²and they shall take all the utensils of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a ¹blue cloth and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin and put them on the carrying bars. ¹³“Then they shall take away the ¹ashes from the ^aaltar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴“They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they minister in connection with it: the firepans, the flesh hooks and shovels and the bowls, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of porpoise skin over it and insert its poles. ¹⁵“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects ^aand die. These are the ¹things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶“And the assignment of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is ^athe oil for the light and the ^bfragrant incense and ^cthe continual grain offering and ^dthe anointing oil—the assignment of all the ¹tabernacle and of all that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

¹⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸“Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites. ¹⁹“But do this to them that they may live and ^anot die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and set each of them to his service and to his load; ²⁰but ^athey shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

²¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²²“Take ¹a census of the sons of Gershon ²also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; ²³from ^athirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall ¹number them; all who enter to perform the duty of performing the service in the tent of meeting. ²⁴“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: ²⁵they shall carry ^athe curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and ^bthe covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, ²⁶and ^athe hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, ¹they shall perform. ²⁷“All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their service, shall be performed at the ¹command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a responsibility all their loads. ²⁸“This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their responsibilities shall be ¹under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

²⁹“As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers’ households; ³⁰from ^athirty years and upward even to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the duty of performing the service of the tent of meeting. ³¹“Now this is the responsibility of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its bases, ³²and the pillars around the court and their bases and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items of the responsibility of ¹his load. ³³“This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, ¹under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁵from ^athirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting. ³⁶Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. ³⁷These are the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ¹commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

³⁸The numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, ³⁹from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁰their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. ⁴¹These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ¹commandment of Yahweh.

⁴²The numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, ⁴³from ^athirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the duty of service in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴their numbered men by their families were 3,200. ⁴⁵These are the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the ¹commandment of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ households, ⁴⁷from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to perform the work of service and the service of carrying in the tent of meeting, ⁴⁸their numbered men were ^a8,580. ⁴⁹According to the ¹word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses, they ^awere numbered, everyone by his serving or carrying; thus these were his numbered men, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Unclean Sent Outside the Camp

5Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel that they ^asend away from the camp every leper and everyone having a ^bdischarge and everyone who is ¹^,^cunclean because of a dead person. ³“You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell ^ain their midst.” ⁴And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did.

Restitution for Sins

⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘^aWhen a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, and that person is guilty, ⁷then ¹he shall ^aconfess ²his sins which ³he has committed, and he ^bshall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it and give it to him whom he has ⁴wronged. ⁸‘But if the man has no kinsman redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to Yahweh for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. ⁹‘^aAlso every ¹contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰‘So every man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it ^abecomes his.’”

The Statutes of Jealousy

¹¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife ^agoes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³and a man lies ^asexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is ¹undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act, ¹⁴¹if a spirit of ^ajealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as ¹an offering for her one-tenth of an ²ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, ^aa reminder of iniquity.

¹⁶‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh, ¹⁷and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸‘The priest shall then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance ¹in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses. ¹⁹‘Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not ^agone astray into ¹defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses; ²⁰if you, however, have ^agone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you” ²¹(then the priest shall have the woman ^aswear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell; ²²and this water that brings curses shall go into your ¹stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And the woman ^ashall say, “Amen. Amen.”

²³‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall ¹wash them off into the water of bitterness. ²⁴‘Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness. ²⁵‘And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar; ²⁶and ^athe priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷‘So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become ^aa curse among her people. ²⁸‘But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed.

²⁹‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, ^agoes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. ³¹‘Moreover, the man will be free from ¹guilt, but that woman shall ^abear her ²guilt.’”

The Nazirite Vow

6Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a ¹special vow, the vow of ^aa ²Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, ³he shall ^aabstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴‘All the days of his ¹Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite ^ano razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

⁶‘^aAll the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. ⁷‘He ^ashall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. ⁸‘All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.

⁹‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then ^ahe shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; ^bhe shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰‘Then on the eighth day he shall bring ^atwo turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹¹‘And the priest shall offer ^aone for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him ¹concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, ¹²and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his ¹Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.

¹³‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite ^awhen the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring ¹the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴‘And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one ^aewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, ¹⁵and a basket of ^aunleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with ^btheir grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶‘Then the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷‘He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸‘^aThe Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ¹⁹‘^aAnd the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the ¹hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. ²⁰‘Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by ¹raising up; and ^aafterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

²¹“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else ¹he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”

Yahweh Blesses the Sons of Israel

²²Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus ^ayou shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

²⁴Yahweh ^abless you, and ^bkeep you;²⁵Yahweh ^amake His face shine on you,And ^bbe gracious to you;²⁶Yahweh ^alift up His ¹face on you,And ^bgive you peace.’

²⁷“So they shall ¹^,^ainvoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

Offerings of the Leaders

7Now it happened on ^athe day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, that he ^banointed it and set it apart as holy with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and set them apart as holy. ²Then ^athe leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, ^bbrought an offering near (they were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who ¹were over the ²numbered men). ³And they brought their offering before Yahweh, six ^acovered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders and an ox for each one, and they brought them near before the tabernacle. ⁴Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵“Accept these things from them, that they may be ¹used in the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” ⁶So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to ^atheir service, ⁸and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to ^atheir service, under the ¹direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹But he did not give any to the sons of Kohath because theirs was ^athe service of the holy objects, which they carried on the shoulder.

¹⁰And the leaders brought near the dedication offering ¹for the altar ²when ^ait was anointed, so the leaders brought their offering near before the altar. ¹¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Let them bring their offering near, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

¹²Now the one who brought his offering near on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; ¹³and his offering was one silver ¹^,^adish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, ^baccording to the ²shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ¹⁴one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ¹⁵one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ¹⁶^aone male goat for a sin offering; ¹⁷and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, brought an offering near; ¹⁹he brought near as his offering one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁰one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ²¹one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ²²one male goat for a sin offering; ²³and for the sacrifice of ^apeace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day it was Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the sons of Zebulun; ²⁵his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ²⁶one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ²⁷one bull from the herd, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ²⁸one male goat for a sin offering; ²⁹and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day it was Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the sons of Reuben; ³¹his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³²one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ³³one bull from the herd, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ³⁴one male goat for a sin offering; ³⁵and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day it was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the sons of Simeon; ³⁷his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ³⁸one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ³⁹one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁰one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴¹and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴²On the sixth day it was ^aEliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the sons of Gad; ⁴³his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of ^afine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁴⁴one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ⁴⁵^aone bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁶one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴⁷and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸On the seventh day it was ^aElishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the sons of Ephraim; ⁴⁹his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁵⁰one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁵¹^aone bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵²one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵³and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day it was ^aGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh; ⁵⁵his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁵⁶one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁵⁷one bull from the herd, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵⁸one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵⁹and for the ^asacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰On the ninth day it was ^aAbidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the sons of Benjamin; ⁶¹his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁶²one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁶³one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁶⁴one male goat for a ^asin offering; ⁶⁵and for the sacrifice of ^apeace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶On the tenth day it was ^aAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the sons of Dan; ⁶⁷his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the ^ashekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁶⁸one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁶⁹one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁰one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷¹and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷²On the eleventh day it was ^aPagiel the son of Ochran, leader of the sons of Asher; ⁷³his offering was one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁷⁴one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁷⁵one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁶one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷⁷and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

⁷⁸On the twelfth day it was ^aAhira the son of Enan, leader of the sons of Naphtali; ⁷⁹his offering was one ^asilver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver bowl of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁸⁰one gold pan of 10 shekels, full of incense; ⁸¹one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁸²one male goat for a sin offering; ⁸³and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴This was ^athe dedication offering ¹for the altar from the leaders of Israel ²when ^bit was anointed: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold pans, ⁸⁵each silver dish weighing 130 shekels and each bowl 70; all the silver of the utensils was 2,400 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁸⁶the twelve gold pans, full of incense, weighing 10 shekels apiece, according to the ^ashekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the pans 120 shekels; ⁸⁷all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bulls, all the rams twelve, the male lambs one year old with their grain offering twelve, and the male goats for a sin offering twelve; ⁸⁸and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings 24 bulls, all the rams 60, the male goats 60, the male lambs one year old 60. ^aThis was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹Now when ^aMoses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above ^bthe ¹mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from ^cbetween the two cherubim, so He spoke to him.

The Seven Lamps

8Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you ¹mount the lamps, the seven lamps will ^agive light in the front of the lampstand.’” ³Aaron therefore did so; he ¹mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁴^aNow this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; ^baccording to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing of the Levites

⁵Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and ^acleanse them. ⁷“Thus you shall do to them, for their ¹cleansing: sprinkle ²purifying ^awater on them, and let them ³^,^buse a razor over their whole ⁴body and ^cwash their clothes, and they will be clean. ⁸“Then let them take a bull from the herd with ^aits grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull from the herd you shall take for a sin offering. ⁹“So ^ayou shall bring the Levites near before the tent of meeting. ^bYou shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰and bring the Levites near before Yahweh; and the sons of Israel ^ashall lay their hands on the Levites. ¹¹“Aaron then shall ¹present the Levites before Yahweh as a ^awave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may be qualified to perform the service of Yahweh. ¹²“Now ^athe Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³“And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to Yahweh.

¹⁴“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and ^athe Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵“Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and ^apresent them as a wave offering; ¹⁶for they are ^awholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself ^binstead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷“For ^aevery firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸“But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. ¹⁹“^aAnd I have given the Levites as ¹a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no ^bplague among the sons of Israel by ²their coming near to the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. ²¹^aThe Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Yahweh. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement of the Levites

²³Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“This is what applies to the Levites: from ^atwenty-five years old and upward ¹they shall enter to perform their duty in the service of the tent of meeting. ²⁵“But at the age of fifty years they shall ¹retire from their duty in the service and not serve anymore. ²⁶“They may, however, minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting ^ain order to keep up their responsibility, but they themselves shall perform no service. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their responsibilities.”

The Passover

9Thus Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in ^athe first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²“Now, let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at ^aits appointed time. ³“On the fourteenth day of this month, ¹at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its judgments.” ⁴So Moses ¹told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover. ⁵^aAnd they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; ^baccording to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. ⁶But there were some men who were ^aunclean because of a ¹dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; so ^bthey came near before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷And those men said to him, “We are unclean because of a ¹dead person. But why are we restrained from bringing near the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” ⁸Moses therefore said to them, “¹^,^aWait, and I will listen to what Yahweh will command concerning you.”

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead ¹person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to Yahweh. ¹¹‘In the second month on the ^afourteenth day at twilight, they shall observe it; they ^bshall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹²‘They ^ashall leave none of it until morning ^bnor break a bone of it; according to all the statute of the Passover they shall celebrate it. ¹³‘^aBut the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet ¹neglects to celebrate the Passover, that ²person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not bring near the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time. That man ^bwill bear his sin. ¹⁴‘^aIf a sojourner sojourns among you and ¹celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its judgment, so he shall do; you shall have ^bone statute, both for the sojourner and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle

¹⁵Now on ^athe day that the tabernacle was erected ^bthe cloud covered the tabernacle, the ^ctent of the testimony, and ^din the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. ¹⁶So it was continuously; ^athe cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷^aNow whenever the cloud would go up from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. ¹⁸At the ¹command of Yahweh the sons of Israel would set out, and at the ²command of Yahweh they would camp; ^aas long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. ¹⁹Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ¹the sons of Israel would keep the charge of Yahweh and not set out. ²⁰If ¹sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, ^aaccording to the ²command of Yahweh they remained camped. Then according to the ³command of Yahweh they set out. ²¹If ¹sometimes the cloud ²remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²²Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, dwelling above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but ^awhen it was lifted, they did set out. ²³^aAt the ¹command of Yahweh they camped, and at the ²command of Yahweh they set out; they kept the charge of Yahweh, according to the ³command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10Yahweh spoke further to Moses, saying, ²“Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for ^asummoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. ³“^aSo both will be blown, and all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁴“Yet if only one is blown, then the ^aleaders, the heads of the ¹divisions of Israel, shall assemble before you. ⁵“But when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched ^aon the east side shall set out. ⁶“Then you will blow an alarm the second time, and the camps that are pitched on ^athe south side shall set out; an alarm is to be blown for them to set out. ⁷“When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without ^asounding an alarm. ⁸“^aThe priestly sons of Aaron, moreover, shall blow the trumpets; and ¹this shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹“Now when you go to war in your land against the adversary who ^aattacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be ^bremembered before Yahweh your God and be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰“Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed ¹feasts, and on the first days of your months, ^ayou shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a remembrance of you before your God. I am Yahweh your God.”

Israel Sets Out from Sinai

¹¹Now it happened in ^athe second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, that the cloud was lifted from over the ¹tabernacle of the testimony; ¹²and the sons of Israel set out on ^atheir journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the ^bwilderness of Paran. ¹³^aSo they moved out for the first time according to the ¹command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. ¹⁴And the standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, ^aset out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army, ¹⁵and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar; ¹⁶and Eliab the son of Helon over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

¹⁷^aThen the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out. ¹⁸Next ^athe standard of the camp of Reuben, according to their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army, ¹⁹and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon, ²⁰and Eliasaph the son of Deuel over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

²¹^aThen the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and ^bthe tabernacle was set up before their arrival. ²²^aNext the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, according to their armies, set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army, ²³and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh; ²⁴and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵^aThen the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the ^brear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army, ²⁶and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher; ²⁷and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali. ²⁸¹This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.

²⁹Then Moses said to ^aHobab the son of ^bReuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which Yahweh said, ‘^cI will give it to you’; ^dcome with us and we will do you good, for Yahweh ^ehas ¹promised good concerning Israel.” ³⁰But he said to him, “^aI will not come, but rather will go to my own land and kin.” ³¹Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you ^awill be as eyes for us. ³²“So it will be, if you go with us, that ¹^,^awhatever good Yahweh ²does for us, ^bwe will ³do for you.”

³³^aThus they set out from the mount of Yahweh three days’ journey, with ^bthe ark of the covenant of Yahweh journeying in front of them for the ¹three days, to spy out ^ca resting place for them. ³⁴^aNow the cloud of Yahweh was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Then it happened when the ark set out that Moses said, “^aRise up, O Yahweh!And let Your enemies be scattered,And let those ^bwho hate You flee ¹before You.”

³⁶And when it came to rest, he said, “^aReturn, O Yahweh,To the myriad ^bthousands of Israel.”

The People Complain

11Now the people became like ^athose who complain of calamity ^bin the ears of Yahweh. And Yahweh heard it and His anger was kindled, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ²^aThe people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire ¹died out. ³So the name of that place was called ¹^,^aTaberah because the fire of Yahweh burned among them.

⁴And the ^arabble who were among them ¹had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “^bWho will give us ²meat to eat? ⁵“^aWe remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, ⁶but now ^aour ¹appetite is dried up. There is nothing at all ²to look at except this manna.”

⁷^aNow the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of ^bbdellium. ⁸The people would go about and gather it and grind it ¹between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of ²cakes baked with oil. ⁹^aAnd when the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall ¹with it.

Moses Complains

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of Yahweh was kindled greatly, and it was evil in the sight of Moses. ¹¹^aSo Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have You ¹allowed this evil toward Your slave? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? ¹²“Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who gave birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a ¹^,^anurse carries a nursing baby, to the land which ^bYou swore to their fathers’? ¹³“Where am I to get meat to give to ^aall this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ ¹⁴“^aI alone am not able to carry all this people because it is too heavy for me. ¹⁵“^aSo if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”

The Spirit Rests upon the Elders

¹⁶Yahweh therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me ^aseventy men from the elders of Israel, ^bwhom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and take them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ¹⁷“^aThen I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of ^bthe Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone. ¹⁸“And say to the people, ‘^aSet yourselves apart as holy for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^bin the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For it was good for us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ²⁰¹but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because ^ayou have rejected Yahweh who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever go out from Egypt?”’” ²¹But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ ²²“Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” ²³And Yahweh said to Moses, “Is ^aYahweh’s ¹power limited? Now you shall see whether ^bMy word will happen for you or not.”

²⁴So Moses went out and ^atold the people the words of Yahweh. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. ²⁵^aThen Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the ¹other Medad. And ^athe Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸Then ^aJoshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “^bMoses, my lord, restrain them.” ²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^aWould that all the people of Yahweh were prophets, that Yahweh would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰Then Moses ¹returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

³¹^aNow there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and ¹about two ²cubits over the surface of the ground. ³²And the people ¹spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ²ten ^ahomers), and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³^aWhile the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of Yahweh was kindled against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very severe plague. ³⁴So the name of that place was called ¹^,^aKibroth-hattaavah because there they buried the people who had been greedy. ³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah ^athe people set out for Hazeroth, and they ¹remained at Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses

12Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife (for he had taken a ^aCushite woman); ²^aand they said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And Yahweh heard it. ³(Now the man Moses was ^avery humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. ⁵^aThen Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called ¹Aaron and Miriam. And then both came forward, ⁶and He said, “Hear now My words:If there is a prophet among you,I, Yahweh, shall make Myself known to him in a ^avision.I shall speak with him in a ^bdream.

⁷“Not so, with ^aMy servant Moses,^bHe is faithful in all My household;⁸^aWith him I speak mouth to mouth,Indeed clearly, and not in riddles,And he beholds ^bthe form of Yahweh.Why then were you not afraidTo speak against My servant, against Moses?”

⁹So the anger of Yahweh burned against them, and ^aHe went away. ¹⁰But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold, ^aMiriam was leprous, as ^bwhite as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. ¹¹Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^ado not place this sin on us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. ¹²“Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” ¹³And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “O God, ^aheal her, I pray!” ¹⁴But Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but ^aspit in her face, would she not bear her dishonor for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days ^boutside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” ¹⁵So ^aMiriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶Afterward, however, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

The Spies Sent into Canaan

13Then ^aYahweh spoke to Moses saying, ²“^aSend out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” ³So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the ¹command of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. ⁴These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶from the tribe of Judah, ^aCaleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸from the tribe of Ephraim, ^aHoshea the son of Nun; ⁹from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹²from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called ^aHoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

¹⁷So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up ¹there into ^athe ²Negev; then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸“And see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. ¹⁹“And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they ¹like open camps or with fortifications? ²⁰“^aAnd how is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? ¹Make an ^beffort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

²¹So they went up and spied out the land from ^athe wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, ¹^,^bat Lebo-hamath. ²²And they had gone up into ^athe Negev and ¹came to Hebron where ^bAhiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ²descendants of ^cAnak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before ^dZoan in Egypt.)

²³Then they came to the ¹valley of ²^,^aEshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men with some of the pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴That place was called the valley of ¹Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

The Spies Recount What They Saw

²⁵Then they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶and went and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel ¹in the wilderness of Paran, at ^aKadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and ^ait certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^bthis is its fruit. ²⁸“Nevertheless, ^athe people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw ^bthe ¹descendants of Anak there. ²⁹“Amalek is living in the land of ^athe Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and ^bthe Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^cthe Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people ¹before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are surely able to overcome it.” ³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, “^aWe are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” ³²So they gave out to the sons of Israel ^aa bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is ^ba land that devours its ¹inhabitants; and ^call the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. ³³“There also we saw the ^aNephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^bwe became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14Then all the congregation ¹lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept ²that night. ²And all the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “^bWould that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³“And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, ^ato fall by the sword? ^bOur wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴So they said to one another, “^aLet us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

⁵^aThen Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. ⁶And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; ⁷and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “^aThe land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. ⁸“^aIf Yahweh is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—^ba land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹“But as for you, only ^ado not rebel against Yahweh; and do not ^bfear the people of the land, for they are our ¹bread. Their ²protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.” ¹⁰^aBut all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then ^bthe glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Prays for the People

¹¹^aYahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will ^bthey not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst? ¹²“I will strike them with ¹^,^apestilence and dispossess them, and I ^bwill make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³^aBut Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your power You brought up this people from their midst, ¹⁴and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for ^aYou, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵“Now if You put this people to death as one man, ^athen the nations who have heard of Your fame will ¹say, ¹⁶‘Because Yahweh ^awas not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷“So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have ¹declared, ¹⁸‘^aYahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but ^bHe will by no means clear the guilty, ^cvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children ¹to the third and the fourth generations.’ ¹⁹“^aPardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

Evil Complainers

²⁰So Yahweh said, “^aI have pardoned them according to your word; ²¹but indeed, ^aas I live, ¹^,^ball the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahweh. ²²“Surely ^aall the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^bhave put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, ²³^ashall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. ²⁴“But My servant Caleb, ^abecause he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ¹^,^bI will bring into the land ²which he entered, and his seed shall take possession of it. ²⁵“^aNow the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the ¹Red Sea.”

²⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²⁷“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are ^agrumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are ¹making against Me. ²⁸“Say to them, ‘^aAs I live,’ declares Yahweh, ‘just as ^byou have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; ²⁹^ayour corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all ^byour ¹numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ³⁰‘Surely you shall not come into the land in which I ¹swore to make you dwell, ^aexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹‘^aYour little ones, however, who you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, so that they will know the land which you have rejected. ³²‘^aBut as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. ³³‘And your sons shall be shepherds for ^aforty years in the wilderness, and they will ¹suffer for your ²unfaithfulness, until your corpses come to an end in the wilderness. ³⁴‘According to the ^anumber of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your ¹guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. ³⁵‘^aI, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall come to an end, and there they will die.’”

³⁶^aAs for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, ³⁷even ^athose men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a ^bplague before Yahweh. ³⁸But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Israel Struck Down

³⁹Then Moses spoke ^athese words to all the sons of Israel, and ^bthe people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ¹ridge of the hill country, saying, “^aHere we are; we will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised because we have indeed sinned.” ⁴¹But Moses said, “^aWhy then do you trespass against the ¹command of Yahweh, when it will not succeed? ⁴²“^aDo not go up, for Yahweh is not among you, so that you are not ¹defeated before your enemies. ⁴³“For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following Yahweh. And Yahweh will not be with you.” ⁴⁴But they went up heedlessly to the ¹ridge of the hill country; neither ^athe ark of the covenant of Yahweh nor Moses moved from the camp. ⁴⁵Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as ^aHormah.

Offerings When Entering Canaan

15Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“^aSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of your places of habitation, which I am going to give you, ³then make ^aan offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to ¹^,^bfulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your ^cappointed times, to make a ^dsoothing aroma to Yahweh, from the herd or from the flock. ⁴‘^aAnd the one who brings his offering near shall bring near to Yahweh a grain offering of one-tenth of an ¹ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a ²hin of oil, ⁵and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one-fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for ^aeach lamb. ⁶‘Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; ⁷and for the drink offering you shall bring near one-third of a hin of wine as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ⁸‘And when you prepare ^aa bull from the herd as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to ¹fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, ⁹then you shall bring near with the bull from the herd a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-half a hin of oil; ¹⁰and you shall bring near as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

¹¹‘Thus it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. ¹²‘According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number. ¹³‘All who are native shall do these things in this manner, in bringing near an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

Statute for the Sojourner

¹⁴‘And if a sojourner sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he ¹offers an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, just as you do so he shall do. ¹⁵‘As for the assembly, there shall be ^aone statute for you and for the sojourner who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the sojourner be before Yahweh. ¹⁶‘There shall be ^aone law and one judgment for you and for the sojourner who sojourns with you.’”

¹⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am going to bring you, ¹⁹then it shall be, that when you eat of the ¹^,^afood of the land, you shall ²raise up ³a contribution offering to Yahweh. ²⁰‘^aOf the first of your ¹dough you shall ²raise up a cake as a ³contribution offering; as ^bthe ⁴contribution offering of the threshing floor, so you shall raise it up. ²¹‘From the first of your ¹dough you shall give to Yahweh a ²contribution offering throughout your generations.

²²‘But when you ^aunintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses, ²³even all that Yahweh has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day when Yahweh commanded and onward throughout your generations, ²⁴then it will be, if it is done ^aunintentionally, hidden from the sight of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, ^bwith its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the legal judgment, and one male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵‘Then ^athe priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be pardoned; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error. ²⁶‘So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be pardoned, with the sojourner who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through ^aerror.

²⁷‘Also if one person sins ^aunintentionally, then he shall bring near a one year old female goat for a sin offering. ²⁸‘^aAnd the priest shall make atonement before Yahweh for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him ¹that he may be pardoned. ²⁹‘You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns among them. ³⁰‘But the person who does anything with a ^ahigh hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, that one is blaspheming Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹‘Because he has ^adespised the word of Yahweh and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; ^bhis ¹guilt will be on him.’”

A Sabbath-breaker Put to Death

³²Now the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man ^agathering wood on the sabbath day. ³³And those who found him gathering wood brought him near to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; ³⁴and they put him in ¹custody ^abecause it had not been ²declared what should be done to him. ³⁵Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; ^aall the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him ¹to death with stones, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁷Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves ^atassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. ³⁹“And it shall be a tassel for you ¹to look at and ^aremember all the commandments of Yahweh, so as to do them and not ²follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, ⁴⁰so that you may remember to do all My commandments and ^abe holy to your God. ⁴¹“I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”

Korah Rises Up Against Moses

16Now ^aKorah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^bDathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took others, ²and they rose up before Moses, ¹together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, ²^,^athose called upon by the assembly, men of renown. ³Then they assembled together ^aagainst Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “¹^,^bYou have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and ^cYahweh is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?”

⁴And Moses heard this and ^afell on his face; ⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his congregation, saying, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will show who is His, and ^awho is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even ^bthe one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶“Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all ¹your congregation, ⁷and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of Yahweh tomorrow; and the man whom Yahweh chooses shall be the one who is holy. ¹^,^aYou have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, ⁹^ais it ¹not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, ^bto bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you ^aseeking for the priesthood also? ¹¹“Therefore you and all your congregation are gathered together ^aagainst Yahweh; but as for Aaron, ¹who is he that ^byou grumble against him?”

¹²Then Moses sent ¹a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³“Is it ¹not enough that you have brought us up out of a ^aland flowing with milk and honey ^bto put us to death in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? ¹⁴“Indeed, you have not brought us ^ainto a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of ^bfields and vineyards. Would you ¹^,^cput out the eyes of ²these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry and said to Yahweh, “^aDo not regard their offering! ^bI have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” ¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your congregation be present before Yahweh tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷“And each of you take his firepan and put incense on ¹it, and each of you bring his censer near before Yahweh, 250 firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” ¹⁸So they each took his own censer and put fire on ¹it, and laid incense on ²it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And ^athe glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹“^aSeparate yourselves from among this congregation, ^bthat I may consume them instantly.” ²²But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, ^aGod of the spirits of all flesh, ^bwhen one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘^aGet back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

²⁵Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “^aTurn aside now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, ^blest you be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; but Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and ^atheir sons and their little ones. ²⁸And Moses said, “By this you shall know that ^aYahweh has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not from my heart. ²⁹“If these men die ¹the death of all men or ²if they suffer the ^afate of all men, then Yahweh has not sent me. ³⁰“But ^aif Yahweh creates an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they ^bgo down to Sheol alive, then you will know that these men have spurned Yahweh.”

³¹And it happened that as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; ³²and ^athe earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and ^ball the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. ³³So they and all that belonged to them went down to Sheol alive; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴Then all Israel who were around them fled at their ¹outcry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” ³⁵^aFire also came forth from Yahweh and consumed the ^b250 men who were bringing near the incense.

³⁶¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ¹blaze, and you scatter ²the burning coals abroad; for they are holy. ³⁸“As for the censers of these ¹men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, make them into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they brought them near before Yahweh, and they are holy; and ^athey shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had brought near, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, ⁴⁰as a ¹memorial to the sons of Israel that ^ano ²outsider who is not of the seed of Aaron should come near ^bto burn incense before Yahweh; so that he will not become like Korah and his congregation—just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.

Grumbling and Plague

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.” ⁴²It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and ^athe glory of Yahweh appeared. ⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵“¹^,^aGet away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^amake atonement for them, for ^bwrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. ^aSo he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. ⁴⁹^aBut those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^bdied on account of Korah. ⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

Aaron’s Rod Buds

17¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, ³and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴“You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of ^athe testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵“And it will come about that the rod of ^athe man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will rid Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods. ⁷So Moses deposited the rods before Yahweh in ^athe tent of the testimony.

⁸Now it happened on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^athe rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced flowers, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of Yahweh to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰But Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron ^abefore the testimony ¹to be kept as a sign against the ²^,^brebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.” ¹¹Thus Moses did; just as Yahweh had commanded him, so he did.

¹²Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “^aBehold, we are breathing our last breath, we are perishing, we are all perishing! ¹³“^aEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, must die. Are we to breathe our utter last?”

Responsibilities of the Levites

18So Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall ^abear the guilt ¹in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ²in connection with your priesthood. ²“But bring near with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^ajoined with you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³“And they shall thus keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, but ^athey shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^bthe altar, so that neither they nor you will die. ⁴“And they shall be joined with you and keep the responsibility of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ¹an outsider may not come near you. ⁵“So you shall keep the ^aresponsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, ^bso that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. ⁶“And behold, I Myself ^ahave taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^ba gift to you, given to Yahweh, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷“But you and your sons with you shall ^akeep your priesthood in everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^ba ¹bestowed service, but ^cthe ²outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

⁸Then Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you the responsibility of My ¹^,^acontributions, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual statute. ⁹“This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even ^aevery grain offering and every ^bsin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰“As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. ¹¹“This also is yours, ^athe contribution from their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^bgiven them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual statute. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ¹²“^aAll the ¹best of the fresh oil and all the ²best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to Yahweh, I give them to you. ¹³“^aThe first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. ¹⁴“^aEvery devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵“¹^,^aEvery first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶“Now as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five ¹shekels in silver, according to the ²shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷“But ^athe firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^bYou shall splash their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁸“And their ¹meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^abreast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. ¹⁹“^aAll the contributions of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel raise up to Yahweh, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is ^ban everlasting covenant of salt before Yahweh to you and your seed with you.” ²⁰Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “^aYou shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; ^bI am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

²¹“Now to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^atithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. ²²“^aAnd the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die. ²³“Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^abear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^bthey shall have no inheritance. ²⁴“For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they raise up as a contribution offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘^aThey shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

²⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ^athe tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall raise up a contribution offering from it to Yahweh, a ^btithe of the tithe. ²⁷‘And your contribution offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. ²⁸‘So you shall also raise up a contribution offering to Yahweh from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the contribution offering of Yahweh to Aaron the priest. ²⁹‘Out of all your gifts you shall raise up every contribution offering due to Yahweh, from all the ¹best of them, ²the sacred part from them.’ ³⁰“And you shall say to them, ‘When you have raised up from it the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the wine vat. ³¹‘And you may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. ³²‘And you will bear no sin by reason of it when you have raised up the ¹best of it. But you shall not ^aprofane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you will not die.’”

Statute of the Red Heifer

19Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they take to you a ^ared heifer without blemish, in which is no defect and ^bon which a yoke has never ¹been placed. ³‘And you shall give it to ^aEleazar the priest, and it shall ^bbe brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴‘Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and ^asprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵‘Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; ^aits hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. ⁶‘And the priest shall take ^acedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the ¹burning heifer. ⁷‘The priest ^ashall then wash his clothes and bathe his ¹body in water and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening. ⁸‘The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his ¹body in water and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹‘Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and ¹the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as ^awater to remove impurity; it is ²purification from sin. ¹⁰‘And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^ashall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the sojourner who sojourns among them.

¹¹‘^aThe one who touches the corpse of any ¹person shall be unclean for seven days. ¹²‘That one shall ^apurify himself from uncleanness with ¹the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. ¹³‘^aAnyone who touches a corpse, the ¹body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, ²^,^bmakes the ³tabernacle of Yahweh unclean; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not ⁴^,^csplashed on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵‘And every open vessel, which has no covering ¹tied down on it, shall be unclean. ¹⁶‘^aAlso, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷‘Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ¹ashes of the ²burnt ³^,^apurification from sin and ⁴flowing water shall be ⁵added to them in a vessel. ¹⁸‘And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave. ¹⁹‘Then the clean person ^ashall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.

²⁰‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he has ¹^,^amade the sanctuary of Yahweh unclean; the water for impurity has not been ²splashed on him; he is unclean. ²¹‘So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he ^awho sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. ²²‘^aFurthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’”

No Water for the Congregation

20Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the ^awilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

²^aNow there was no water for the congregation, ^band they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. ³^aThe people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “^bIf only we had breathed our last ^cwhen our brothers breathed their last before Yahweh! ⁴“^aWhy then have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die ¹here? ⁵“And why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this evil place? ^aIt is not a place of ¹grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” ⁶Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and ^afell on their faces. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared to them; ⁷and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸“Take ^athe rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

Moses Strikes the Rock

⁹So Moses took the rod ^afrom before Yahweh, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “^aListen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses raised high his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and ^awater came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. ¹²But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “^aBecause you did not believe Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³Those were the waters of ¹^,^aMeribah ²because the sons of Israel contended with Yahweh, and He proved Himself holy among them.

Edom Refuses Passage

¹⁴From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^athe king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You ^bknow all the hardship that has befallen us, ¹⁵that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶‘So ^awe cried out to Yahweh, and He heard our voice and sent ^ban angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷‘Please ^alet us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we pass through your territory.’”

¹⁸^aEdom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ¹us, lest I come out to meet you with the sword.” ¹⁹Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and ^amy livestock do drink any of your water, ^bthen I will ¹pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ²nothing else.” ²⁰But he said, “^aYou shall not pass through.” And Edom came out to meet him with a heavy ¹force and with a strong hand. ²¹^aThus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^bso Israel turned away from him.

²²Then they set out from ^aKadesh, and the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

The Death of Aaron

²³And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at ^aMount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴“Aaron will be ^agathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel because ^byou rebelled against My ¹command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵“Take Aaron and his son ^aEleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be ^agathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷So Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and ^aput them on his son Eleazar, and ^bAaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹So all the congregation saw that Aaron breathed his last, and all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty ^adays.

Destruction of Canaanite Cities

21Then the Canaanite, the king of ^aArad, who lived in the ¹Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of ²Atharim, and he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ²So ^aIsrael made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.” ³Then Yahweh heard the voice of Israel and gave the Canaanites over; so they devoted them and their cities to destruction. Thus the name of the place was called ¹^,^aHormah.

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way to the ¹Red Sea, to ^ago around the land of Edom; and the ²people became impatient on the way. ⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “^aWhy have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ¹food and no water, and ²^,^bwe loathe this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

⁶^aSo Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and ^bthey bit the people so that ^cmany people of Israel died. ⁷^aThen the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you; ^bpray to Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸Then Yahweh said to Moses, “¹Make a ^afiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it will be that everyone who is bitten and looks at it, will live.” ⁹And Moses made a ^abronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

¹⁰^aThen the sons of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹They then set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, east toward the sunrise. ¹²^aFrom there they set out and camped in ¹Wadi Zered. ¹³From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, ^afor the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, “Waheb in Suphah,And the wadis of the Arnon,

¹⁵And the slope of the wadisThat extends to the site of ^aAr,And leans to the border of Moab.”

¹⁶^aAnd from there they continued to ¹Beer, that is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

¹⁷^aThen Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing to it!

¹⁸“The well, which the leaders dug,Which the nobles of the people carved out,With the scepter and with their staffs.” And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah,

¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the ¹wasteland.

Sihon and Og Struck Down

²¹^aThen Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²²“^aLet me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed through your border.” ²³^aBut Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel in the wilderness and came to ^bJahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴Then ^aIsrael ¹struck him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^bborder of the sons of Ammon was ²Jazer. ²⁵And Israel took all these cities, and ^aIsrael lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her ¹towns. ²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Now it was he who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore those who use proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!So let the city of Sihon be established.

²⁸“^aFor a fire went forth from Heshbon,A flame from the town of Sihon;It devoured ^bAr of Moab,The ¹^,^cdominant ²heights of the Arnon.²⁹“^aWoe to you, O Moab!You perish, O people of ^bChemosh!^cHe has given his sons as fugitives,^dAnd his daughters into captivity,To an Amorite king, Sihon.³⁰“But we have cast them down,Heshbon perishes as far as ^aDibon,And we have made desolate even to Nophah,Which reaches to Medeba.”

³¹Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³²And Moses sent to spy out ^aJazer, and they captured its towns and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

³³^aThen they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out to meet them, he and all his people for battle at ^bEdrei. ³⁴But Yahweh said to Moses, “^aDo not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” ³⁵So ^athey struck down him and his sons and all his people, until ¹there was no survivor remaining for him; and they possessed his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22^aThen the sons of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

²And ^aBalak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³^aSo Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴Then Moab said to the elders of ^aMidian, “Now this assembly will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵So he sent messengers to ^aBalaam the son of Beor, at ^bPethor, which is near the ¹River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are settled opposite me. ⁶“^aSo now, please come, ^bcurse this people for me since they are too ¹mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went away with the fees for ^adivination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and spoke Balak’s words to him. ⁸And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as Yahweh may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹Then ^aGod came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, ¹¹‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹²And God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^ayou shall not curse the people, for they ^bare blessed.” ¹³So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your land, for Yahweh has refused to allow me to go with you.” ¹⁴And the leaders of Moab arose and came to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to go with us.”

¹⁵Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more ¹honorable than ²the former. ¹⁶And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Let nothing, I beg you, withhold you from coming to me; ¹⁷for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. ^aPlease come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸And Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^aThough Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, to trespass the ¹command of Yahweh my God. ¹⁹“So now, please, you also stay here tonight, and I will know what else Yahweh will speak to me.” ²⁰And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but ^aonly the word which I speak to you shall you do.”

²¹^aSo Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel

²²But God was angry because he was going, ^aso the angel of Yahweh took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two young men were with him. ²³Then the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; so Balaam struck the donkey to turn it back into the way. ²⁴Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. ²⁵And the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and it pressed itself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. ²⁶And the angel of Yahweh passed on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left. ²⁷Then the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and lay down under Balaam; so ^aBalaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. ²⁸And ^aYahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, ^aI would have killed you by now.” ³⁰And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw ^athe angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head down ¹and prostrated himself to the ground. ³²And the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary because your way was ¹^,^acontrary to me. ³³“And the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If it had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let it live.” ³⁴And Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, “^aI have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” ³⁵But the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but ^ayou shall speak only the word which I ¹tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

³⁶Then Balak heard that Balaam was coming and went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ¹at the end of the border. ³⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I indeed unable to honor you?” ³⁸So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come now to you! ^aAm I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.” ³⁹And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹Then it happened in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ¹^,^athe high places of Baal, and he saw from there the ^bend of the camp of the people.

Yahweh Speaks Through Balaam

23Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ²So Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” ⁵Then Yahweh ^aput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” ⁶So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷Then he took up his ¹discourse and said, “From ^aAram Balak has brought me,Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,‘^bCome curse Jacob for me,And come, denounce Israel!’

⁸“^aHow shall I curse whom God has not cursed?And how can I denounce whom Yahweh has not denounced?⁹“For I see him from the top of the rocks,And I look at him from the hills;^aBehold, a people who dwells alone,And will not be reckoned among the nations.¹⁰“^aWho can number the dust of Jacob,Or count the fourth part of Israel?^bLet ¹me die the death of the upright,^cAnd let my end be like his!”

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^aI took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly!” ¹²And he replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^awhat Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Discourse

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, but you will only see the end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet Yahweh over there.” ¹⁶Then Yahweh met Balaam and ^aput a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ¹⁷So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?” ¹⁸Then he took up his ¹discourse and said, “Arise, O Balak, and hear;Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!

¹⁹“^aGod is not a man, that He should lie,Nor a son of man, that He should repent;^bHas He said, and will He not do it?Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?²⁰“Behold, I have received a command to bless;^aWhen He has blessed, then ^bI cannot revoke it.²¹“^aHe has not observed ¹misfortune in Jacob;^bNor has He seen trouble in Israel;^cYahweh his God is with him,^dAnd the shout of a king is among them.²²“^aGod brings them out of Egypt,He is for them like the ^bhorns of the wild ox.²³“^aFor there is no omen against Jacob,Nor is there any divination against Israel;At the proper time it shall be said to JacobAnd to Israel, what God has done!²⁴“^aBehold, a people rises like a lioness,And as a lion it lifts itself;It will not lie down until it devours the prey,And drinks the blood of the slain.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘^aWhatever Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be right in the eyes of God that you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the ¹wasteland. ²⁹And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰And Balak did just as Balaam had said and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Spirit of God Comes upon Balaam

24And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel, so he did not go as at other times to ¹encounter ^aomens, but he set his face toward the ^bwilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and ^athe Spirit of God came upon him. ³Then he took up his ¹discourse and said, “^aThe oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered;

⁴The oracle of him who ^ahears the ¹words of God,Who beholds the ^bvision of ²the Almighty,Falling down, yet having his eyes opened,⁵How fair are your tents, O Jacob,Your dwellings, O Israel!⁶“Like ¹valleys that stretch out,Like gardens beside the river,Like ^aaloes planted by Yahweh,Like ^bcedars beside the waters.⁷“Water will flow from his buckets,And his seed will be by many waters,And his king shall be lifted up higher than ^aAgag,^bAnd his kingdom shall be exalted.⁸“^aGod brings him out of Egypt,He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.^bHe will devour the nations who are his adversaries,And will gnaw their bones in pieces,And ¹shatter them with his ^carrows.⁹“^aHe ¹crouches, he lies down as a lion,And as a ²lion, who ³dares rouse him?^bBlessed is everyone who blesses you,And cursed is everyone who curses you.”

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his ¹hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly these three times! ¹¹“So now, ¹flee to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.” ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, “^aDid I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything to trespass the ¹command of Yahweh, either good or bad, ^aof my own ²accord. ^bWhat Yahweh speaks, that I will speak’? ¹⁴“So now, behold, ^aI am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days.”

Oracle of Balaam

¹⁵Then he took up his discourse and said, “^aThe oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered,

¹⁶The oracle of him who hears the ¹words of God,And knows the knowledge of the ²Most High,Who beholds the vision of the ³Almighty,Falling down, yet having his eyes opened.¹⁷“I see him, but not now;I behold him, but not near;A star shall come forth from Jacob,^aA scepter shall rise from Israel,^bAnd shall crush through the ¹forehead of Moab,And ²tear down all the sons of ³Sheth.¹⁸“^aAnd Edom shall be a possession,^bSeir, its enemies, also will be a possession,While Israel performs valiantly.¹⁹“And one from Jacob shall have dominion,And will make the survivor perish from the city.”

²⁰Then he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations,^aBut his end shall be ¹destruction.”

²¹Then he looked at the ^aKenite and took up his discourse and said, “Your habitation is enduring,And your nest is set in the cliff.

²²“Nevertheless Kain will be consumed;How long will ^aAsshur ¹keep you captive?”

²³Then he took up his discourse and said, “Woe, who can live except when God has ordained it?

²⁴“But ships shall come from the coast of ^aKittim,And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict ^bEber;^cSo they also will come to destruction.”

²⁵Then Balaam arose and went and returned to ^ahis place, and Balak also went his way.

Israel Sacrifices to Baal

25And Israel remained at ^aShittim, and the people began ^bto play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. ²Indeed ^athey called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So ^aIsrael joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. ⁴And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them ¹in broad daylight before Yahweh, ^aso that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.” ⁵So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^akill his men who have joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor.”

⁶Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a ^aMidianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^bwhile they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁷^aAnd Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, ⁸and he went after the man of Israel into the ¹tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the ²body. ^aThen the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. ⁹^aSo those who died by the plague were 24,000.

The Jealousy of Phinehas

¹⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel ^bin My jealousy. ¹²“Therefore say, ‘^aBehold, I give him My ^bcovenant of peace; ¹³and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of a ^aperpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and ^bmade atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

¹⁴Now the name of the ¹slain man of Israel who was ²slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. ¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman, who was struck down, was ^aCozbi the daughter of ^bZur, ¹who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

¹⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“^aBe hostile to the Midianites and strike them, ¹⁸for they have been hostile to you with their deceptive tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

Census of the Sons of Israel

26¹Then it happened after the ^aplague, ²that Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, ²“^aTake a ¹census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel.” ³So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them ^ain the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴“Take a census of the people from twenty years old and upward, as Yahweh has commanded Moses.” Now the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

⁵Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ⁶of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ⁷These are the families of the Reubenites, and those who were numbered of them were ^a43,730. ⁸And the son of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were ^acalled upon by the congregation, who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the congregation of Korah, when they contended against Yahweh,

¹⁰and ^athe earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that congregation died, ^bwhen the fire consumed 250 men, so that they became a ¹warning. ¹¹^aThe sons of Korah, however, did not die.

¹²The sons of Simeon according to their families: of ¹Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of ²Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ¹³of ¹Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ¹⁴These are the families of the Simeonites, ^a22,200. ¹⁵The sons of Gad according to their families: of ¹Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ¹⁶of ¹Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ¹⁷of ¹Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ¹⁸These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, ^a40,500. ¹⁹The ^asons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰And the ^asons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ²¹And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ²²These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them, ^a76,500. ²³The ^asons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of ¹Puvah, the family of the Punites; ²⁴of ¹Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ²⁵These are the families of Issachar according to those who were numbered of them, ^a64,300. ²⁶The ^asons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ²⁷These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them, ^a60,500. ²⁸The ^asons of Joseph according to their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and ^aMachir ¹became the father of Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ³⁰These are the sons of Gilead: of ¹Iezer, the family of the ^aIezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ³¹and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ³²and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ³³Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; and ^athe names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. ³⁴These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were ^a52,700. ³⁵These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of ¹Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ³⁶And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ³⁷These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered of them, ^a32,500. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families. ³⁸The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of ¹Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ³⁹of ¹Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of ²Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ⁴⁰And the sons of Bela were ¹Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ⁴¹These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were ^a45,600. ⁴²These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of ¹Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families. ⁴³All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were ^a64,400. ⁴⁴The ^asons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. ⁴⁵Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ⁴⁶And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered of them, ^a53,400. ⁴⁸The ^asons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ⁴⁹of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of ^aShillem, the family of the Shillemites. ⁵⁰These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were ^a45,400.

⁵¹These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, ^a601,730.

⁵²Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³“¹Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. ⁵⁴“^aTo the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those who were numbered of them. ⁵⁵“But the land shall be ^adivided by lot. They shall ¹receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. ⁵⁶“According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

⁵⁷^aAnd these are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

⁵⁸These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. ^aKohath ¹became the father of Amram.

⁵⁹And the name of Amram’s wife ^awas Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. ⁶⁰^aAnd to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹^aBut Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before Yahweh. ⁶²And those who were numbered of them were ^a23,000, every male from a month old and upward, for ^bthey were not numbered among the sons of Israel ^csince no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

⁶³These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁶⁴^aBut among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵For Yahweh had said ¹of them, “^aThey shall surely die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, ^bexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

The Daughters of Zelophehad

27Then ^athe daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are ^bthe names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. ²And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying, ³“Our father ^adied in the wilderness, yet he was not among the congregation of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the congregation of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and ^bhe had no sons. ⁴“Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.” ⁵^aSo Moses brought their case near before Yahweh.

⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁷“^aThe daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements. You shall surely give them a possession for an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall have the inheritance of their father pass on to them. ⁸“Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall have his inheritance pass on to his daughter. ⁹‘And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰‘And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹‘And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his blood relative in his own family, and he shall possess it; and it shall be a ^astatutory judgment to the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.’”

¹²^aThen Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up to this ^bmountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. ¹³“So when you have seen it, you too ^awill be gathered to your people, ^bas Aaron your brother ¹was, ¹⁴for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, ^ayou rebelled against My ¹command ²to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

Moses Commissions Joshua

¹⁵Then Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, ¹⁶“^aMay Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, ¹⁷who ^awill go out ¹and come in before them, and who will lead them out and ²bring them in, so that the congregation of Yahweh will not be ^blike sheep which have no shepherd.” ¹⁸So Yahweh said to Moses, “¹Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man ^ain whom is the Spirit, and ^blay your hand on him; ¹⁹and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and ^acommission him in their sight. ²⁰“And you shall put some of your ¹splendor on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. ²¹“Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him ^aby the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his ¹command they shall go out, and at his ²command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” ²²So Moses did just as Yahweh commanded him; and he took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. ²³Then he laid his hands on him and ^acommissioned him, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.

Daily Offerings

28Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall ¹be careful to bring near My offering, My ^afood for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’ ³“^aAnd you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall bring near to Yahweh: two male lambs one year old without blemish as a continual burnt offering every day. ⁴‘You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer ¹at twilight, ⁵also ^aa tenth of an ¹ephah of fine flour for a ^bgrain offering, mixed with a fourth of a ²hin of beaten oil. ⁶‘It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. ⁷‘Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, ^ain the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh. ⁸‘And the other lamb you shall offer ¹at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

Sabbath Offerings

⁹‘Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without blemish, and two-tenths of an ¹ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: ¹⁰‘This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the ^acontinual burnt offering and its drink offering.

Monthly Offerings

¹¹‘Then ^aat the beginning of each of your months you shall bring near a burnt offering to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ¹²^aand three-tenths of an ¹ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; ¹³and a tenth of an ¹ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. ¹⁴‘And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵‘And one male goat for a sin offering to Yahweh; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the ^acontinual burnt offering.

Passover Offerings

¹⁶‘^aThen on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the Passover of Yahweh. ¹⁷‘^aAnd on the fifteenth day of this month shall be a ^bfeast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. ¹⁸‘On the ^afirst day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. ¹⁹‘And you shall bring near an offering by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd and one ram and seven male lambs one year old; ^athey shall be for you without blemish. ²⁰‘Now as for their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ¹ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. ²¹‘A tenth of an ¹ephah you shall offer for ²each of the seven lambs; ²²and one male goat for a ^asin offering to make atonement for you. ²³‘You shall offer these besides ^athe burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. ²⁴‘After this manner you shall offer daily, for seven days, ^athe food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to Yahweh; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the ^bcontinual burnt offering. ²⁵‘Now on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; ^ayou shall do no laborious work.

Offerings for the Feast of Weeks

²⁶‘Also on ^athe day of the first fruits, when you bring near a new grain offering to Yahweh in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; ^byou shall do no laborious work. ²⁷‘And you shall bring near a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to Yahweh: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; ²⁸and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ¹ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ²⁹a tenth for ¹each of the seven lambs; ³⁰also one male goat to make atonement for you. ³¹‘^aBesides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall offer them with their drink offerings. They shall be ¹without blemish.

The Various Offerings of the Seventh Month

29‘^aNow in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; ^byou shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. ²‘And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh: one bull from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ³also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ¹ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, ⁴and one-tenth for ¹each of the seven lambs. ⁵‘And offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, ⁶^abesides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the ^bcontinual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their legal judgment, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh.

⁷‘Then on ^athe tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work. ⁸‘And you shall bring near a burnt offering to Yahweh as a soothing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs one year old, ^ahaving them without blemish; ⁹and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ¹ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ¹⁰a tenth for each of the seven lambs; ¹¹one male goat for a sin offering, besides ^athe sin offering of atonement and ^bthe continual burnt offering and its grain offering and their drink offerings.

¹²‘Then on ^athe fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you ^bshall do no laborious work, and you shall celebrate a feast to Yahweh for seven days. ¹³‘And you shall bring near a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to Yahweh: thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without blemish; ¹⁴and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ¹ephah for ²each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for ³each of the two rams, ¹⁵and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; ¹⁶and one male goat for a sin offering, ^abesides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

¹⁷‘Then on ^athe second day: twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ¹⁸and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number ^aaccording to the legal judgment; ¹⁹and one male goat for a sin offering, ^abesides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and their drink offerings.

²⁰‘Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ²¹and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ²²and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²³‘Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ²⁴their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ²⁵and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁶‘Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old ^awithout blemish; ²⁷and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ²⁸and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

²⁹‘Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ³⁰and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ³¹and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offerings.

³²‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ³³and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ³⁴and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

³⁵‘^aOn the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. ³⁶‘But you shall bring near a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ³⁷their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram and for the lambs, by their number according to the legal judgment; ³⁸and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

³⁹‘You shall offer these to Yahweh at your ^aappointed times, besides your ¹votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings.’” ⁴⁰¹And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses.

The Statutes for Vows

30Then Moses spoke to ^athe heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which Yahweh has commanded. ²“^aIf a man makes a vow to Yahweh or swears an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

³“Also if a woman makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, ⁴and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father ¹says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵“But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and Yahweh will pardon her because her father had forbidden her.

⁶“However, if she should ¹marry while ²under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, ⁷and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand, and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸“But if, on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which ¹she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and Yahweh will pardon her.

⁹“But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. ¹⁰“However, if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by an obligation with an oath, ¹¹and her husband heard it but said nothing to her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand, and every obligation by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹²“But if her husband indeed annuls them on the day he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her husband has annulled them, and Yahweh will pardon her.

¹³“Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may cause it to stand, or her husband may annul it. ¹⁴“But if her husband indeed says nothing to her from day to day, then he causes all her vows or all her obligations which are on her to stand; he has caused them to stand because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. ¹⁵“But if he indeed annuls them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”

¹⁶These are the statutes which Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her father’s house.

Vengeance on Midian

31Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“^aTake full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be ^bgathered to your people.” ³And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may ¹go against Midian to execute ^aYahweh’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴“One thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” ⁵So there were ¹furnished from the thousands of Israel, one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶And Moses sent them, one thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, ^aand the holy vessels and ^bthe trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷So they made war against Midian, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, and ^athey killed every male. ⁸They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: ^aEvi and Rekem and ^bZur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed ^cBalaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹And the sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered. ¹⁰Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. ¹¹^aAnd they took all the spoil and all the loot, both of man and of beast. ¹²And they brought the captives and the loot and the spoil to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

¹³And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵So Moses said to them, “Have you ¹spared ^aall the women? ¹⁶“^aBehold, these ¹caused the sons of Israel, through the word of ^bBalaam, to ²act unfaithfully against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. ¹⁷“^aSo now, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man ¹intimately. ¹⁸“But all the ¹girls who have not known man ²intimately, ³spare for yourselves. ¹⁹“^aAnd you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰“And you shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of ¹leather and all the work of goats’ hair and all articles of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses: ²²only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin and the lead, ²³everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with ^awater for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water. ²⁴“And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.”

Division of the Loot

²⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the loot ¹that was captured, both of man and of animal; ²⁷and ^adivide the loot between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸“^aAnd you shall exact a levy for Yahweh from the men of war who went out to battle, one ¹in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep; ²⁹take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as a ¹contribution to Yahweh. ³⁰“And from the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who ^akeep charge of the tabernacle of Yahweh.” ³¹Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³²Now the loot that remained from the plunder which the ¹men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, ³³and 72,000 cattle, ³⁴and 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵and of human beings, of the women who had not known man ¹intimately, all the persons were 32,000.

³⁶And the half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500; ³⁷and the levy of Yahweh from the sheep was 675; ³⁸and the cattle were 36,000, from which the levy of Yahweh was 72; ³⁹and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the levy of Yahweh was 61; ⁴⁰and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the levy of Yahweh was 32 persons. ⁴¹And Moses gave the levy, which was the contribution to Yahweh, to Eleazar the priest, just ^aas Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁴²As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses ¹separated from the men who had gone to war— ⁴³now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴and 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶and the human beings were 16,000— ⁴⁷and from the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses, ⁴⁹and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. ⁵⁰“So we have brought near as an offering to Yahweh what each man found—articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—^ato make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh.” ⁵¹And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of crafted articles. ⁵²And all the gold from the contribution offering which they raised up in offering to Yahweh, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 ¹shekels. ⁵³^aThe men of war had taken plunder, every man for himself. ⁵⁴So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and they brought it to the tent of meeting as ^aa memorial for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.

Reuben and Gad Possess Gilead

32Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an ^aexceedingly large number of livestock. And they saw the land of ^bJazer and the land of Gilead, that ¹it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, ²so the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, ³“^aAtaroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴the land, ^awhich Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? ⁷“^aNow why are you ¹discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which Yahweh has given them? ⁸“¹This is what your fathers did when I sent them from ^aKadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹“Indeed they went up to ^athe ¹valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and they ²discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. ¹⁰“So ^aYahweh’s anger burned in that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ¹¹‘^aNone of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, ¹²except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, ^afor they have followed Yahweh fully.’ ¹³“^aSo Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh was brought to an end. ¹⁴“Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning ^aanger of Yahweh against Israel. ¹⁵“For if you ^aturn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; ¹⁷^abut we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, and our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸“^aWe will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. ¹⁹“For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond because our inheritance has fallen to us ^aon this side of the Jordan east.”

²⁰^aSo Moses said to them, “If you will do ¹this, if you will arm yourselves before Yahweh for the war, ²¹and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before Yahweh until He has dispossessed His enemies from before Him, ²²^aand the land is subdued before Yahweh, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward Yahweh and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before Yahweh. ²³“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and be sure ^ayour sin will find you out. ²⁴“Build yourselves cities for your little ones and sheepfolds for your sheep, and ^ado ¹what you have promised.”

²⁵And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶“^aOur little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall ¹remain there in the cities of Gilead; ²⁷but your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will ^across over in the presence of Yahweh to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸So Moses gave a command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²⁹And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; ³⁰but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so we will do. ³²“We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”

³³^aSo Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their ¹territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴And the sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and ^aAroer, ³⁵and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, ³⁶and ^aBeth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. ³⁷And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, ³⁸and ^aNebo and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. ³⁹And the sons of ^aMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰So Moses gave ^aGilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. ⁴¹And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its ¹towns and called them ²^,^aHavvoth-jair. ⁴²And Nobah went and took Kenath and its towns and called it Nobah after ^ahis own name.

The Journey from Egypt to Jordan

33These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, by ^athe hand of Moses and Aaron. ²And Moses wrote down their starting places according to their journeys by the ¹command of Yahweh, and these are their journeys according to their starting places.

³^aThey journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the ¹next day after the Passover the sons of Israel ^bstarted out ²with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,

⁴but the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom Yahweh had struck down among them. Yahweh had also executed judgments ^aon their gods.

⁵Then ^athe sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth. ⁶^aThey journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷^aThey journeyed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. ⁸^aThey journeyed ¹from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness; and ^bthey went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹^aThey journeyed from Marah and came to Elim; and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. ¹⁰They journeyed from Elim and camped by the ¹Red Sea. ¹¹They journeyed from the ¹Red Sea and camped in ^athe wilderness of Sin. ¹²They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³They journeyed from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴They journeyed from Alush and camped ^aat Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink. ¹⁵They journeyed from Rephidim and camped in ^athe wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at ^aKibroth-hattaavah. ¹⁷They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at ^aHazeroth. ¹⁸They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹They journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰They journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at ^aLibnah. ²¹They journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²²They journeyed from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. ²³They journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴They journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵They journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶They journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷They journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸They journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah. ²⁹They journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰They journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at ^aMoseroth. ³¹They journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. ³²They journeyed from ^aBene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. ³³They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at ^aJotbathah. ³⁴They journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵They journeyed from Abronah and camped at ^aEzion-geber. ³⁶They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of ^aZin, that is, Kadesh. ³⁷They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at ^aMount Hor, ^bat the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸^aThen Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the ¹command of Yahweh, and he died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month. ³⁹Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰Now the Canaanite, the king of ^aArad ¹who lived in the ²Negev in the land of Canaan, heard when the sons of Israel were coming. ⁴¹Then they journeyed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴²They journeyed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³They journeyed from Punon and camped at ^aOboth. ⁴⁴They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, at the border of Moab. ⁴⁵They journeyed from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶They journeyed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷They journeyed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of ^aAbarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸They journeyed from the mountains of Abarim and ^acamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho. ⁴⁹They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^aAbel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Statutes of Possessing the Land

⁵⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ⁵¹“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aWhen you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²then you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you and ^adestroy all their carved stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; ⁵³^aand you shall take possession of the land and inhabit it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ⁵⁴‘^aAnd you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. ⁵⁵‘But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it will be that those whom you let remain of them will become ^aas pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land which you inhabit. ⁵⁶‘And it will be as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”

Apportioning Canaan

34Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter ^athe land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. ³‘^aAnd your southern ¹sector shall ²extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall ³extend from the end of the Salt Sea ^beastward. ⁴‘Then your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and ¹continue to Zin, and its ²termination shall be to the south of ^aKadesh-barnea; and it shall ³reach Hazaraddar and ⁴continue to Azmon. ⁵‘And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at ^athe sea.

⁶‘And as for the west border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its ¹coastline; this shall be your west border.

⁷‘^aAnd this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. ⁸‘You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to ¹^,^aLebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; ⁹and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.

¹⁰‘For your east border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, ¹¹and the border shall go down from Shepham to ^aRiblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the ¹slope on the east side of the Sea of ²^,^bChinnereth. ¹²‘And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”

¹³So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “^aThis is the land that you shall inherit by lot among you as a possession, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴“^aFor the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. ¹⁵“The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan opposite Jericho to the east toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“^aThese are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸“And you shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. ¹⁹“Now these are the names of the men: Of the tribe of ^aJudah, ^bCaleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰“Of the tribe of the sons of ^aSimeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. ²¹“Of the tribe of ^aBenjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. ²²“Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. ²³“Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. ²⁴“Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. ²⁵“Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. ²⁶“Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. ²⁷“Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. ²⁸“Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

²⁹These are those whom Yahweh commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35^aNow Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. ³“And the cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.

⁴“And the pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city ¹outward ²one thousand cubits around. ⁵“You shall also measure outside the city on the east side ¹two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

⁶“And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the ^asix cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷“All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be ^aforty-eight cities, ¹together with their pasture lands. ⁸“^aNow as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“^aSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹^athen you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^bcities of refuge, that the manslayer who has struck down any person ^cunintentionally may flee there. ¹²‘^aAnd the cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³‘And the cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴‘You ^ashall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ¹in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵‘These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner and for the foreign resident among them; that anyone who strikes a person down ^aunintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶‘^aBut if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷‘And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer ^ashall surely be put to death. ¹⁸‘Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁹‘The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. ²⁰‘^aAnd if he pushed him of hatred or threw something at him ^blying in wait and as a result he died, ²¹or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²‘^aBut if he pushed him suddenly without enmity or threw something at him without lying in wait, ²³or with any stone—by which one might die, yet without seeing—and it fell upon him, and he died, but he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury, ²⁴then ^athe congregation shall judge between the ¹slayer and the blood avenger according to these legal judgments. ²⁵‘And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶‘But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, ²⁷and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood ²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession.

²⁹‘And these things shall be for a ^astatutory judgment to you throughout your generations in all your places of habitation.

³⁰‘^aIf anyone strikes down a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the mouth of witnesses, but ^bno person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹‘Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³²‘And you shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land ¹before the death of the priest. ³³‘^aSo you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land, and no propitiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except ^bby the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴‘And you shall not ^adefile the land in which you live, in the midst of which ^bI dwell; for I Yahweh am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Inheritance Through Marriage

36^aAnd the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ²and they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord ^awas commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³“But if they ¹marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. ⁴“And when the ^ajubilee of the sons of Israel ¹comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the ¹word of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements. ⁶“^aThis is ¹what Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whoever is good in their sight; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ ⁷“Thus ^ano inheritance of the sons of Israel shall ¹be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each ²hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸“^aAnd every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹“Thus no inheritance shall ¹be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each ²hold to his own inheritance.”

¹⁰Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: ¹¹^aAnd Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. ¹²They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance ¹remained with the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³^aThese are the commandments and the judgments which Yahweh commanded to the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.