Numbers 11-25

World English Bible

11 The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ² The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. ³ The name of that place was called Taberah,^[a] because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.

⁴ The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” ⁷ The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.^{[b] 8} The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased. ¹¹ Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’? ¹³ Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ ¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.

¹⁸ “Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”

²¹ Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ ²² Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”

²³ Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

²⁴ Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. ²⁵ Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. ²⁶ But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

²⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”

³⁰ Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. ³¹ A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits^[c] above the surface of the earth. ³² The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers;^[d] and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah,^[e] because there they buried the people who lusted.

³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.

12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. ² They said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?” And Yahweh heard it.

³ Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth. ⁴ Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, “You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!”

The three of them came out. ⁵ Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. ⁶ He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. ⁷ My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. ⁸ With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” ⁹ Yahweh’s anger burned against them; and he departed.

¹⁰ The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

¹¹ Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, please don’t count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. ¹² Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

¹³ Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “Heal her, God, I beg you!”

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”

¹⁵ Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. ¹⁶ Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”

³ Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel. ⁴ These were their names:

Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

⁵ Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

⁶ Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

⁷ Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

⁸ Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.

⁹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

¹⁰ Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

¹¹ Of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

¹² Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

¹³ Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

¹⁴ Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

¹⁵ Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. ¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; ¹⁹ and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; ²⁰ and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. ²² They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. ²⁵ They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. ²⁶ They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”

³¹ But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” ³² They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim,^[f] the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim.^[g] We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

14 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. ² All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” ⁴ They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

⁶ Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. ⁷ They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”

¹⁰ But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones.

Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel. ¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³ Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. ¹⁴ They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and 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 killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ Now please let the power of the Lord^[h] be great, according as you have spoken, saying, ¹⁸ ‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹ Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

²⁰ Yahweh said, “I have pardoned according to your word; ²¹ but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory— ²² because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; ²³ surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it. ²⁵ Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” ²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they complain against me. ²⁸ Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. ²⁹ Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, ³⁰ surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹ But I will bring in your little ones that you said should be captured or killed, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. ³² But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. ³⁴ After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you will know my alienation.’ ³⁵ I, Yahweh, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”

³⁶ The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, ³⁷ even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.

³⁹ Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised; for we have sinned.”

⁴¹ Moses said, “Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, since it shall not prosper? ⁴² Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³ For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh; therefore Yahweh will not be with you.”

⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the ark of Yahweh’s covenant and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down even to Hormah.

15 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, ³ and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock— ⁴ then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah^[i] of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin^[j] of oil. ⁵ You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶ “‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah^[k] of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil; ⁷ and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ⁸ When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, ⁹ then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah^[l] of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; ¹⁰ and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹¹ Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. ¹² According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.

¹³ “‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁴ If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, as you do, so he shall do. ¹⁵ For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before Yahweh. ¹⁶ One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’”

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you, ¹⁹ then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh. ²⁰ Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it. ²¹ Of the first of your dough, you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.

²² “‘When you err, and don’t observe all these commandments which Yahweh has spoken to Moses— ²³ even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment and onward throughout your generations— ²⁴ then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error. ²⁶ All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly.

²⁷ “‘If a person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs when he sins unwittingly before Yahweh. He shall make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. ²⁹ You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.

³⁰ “‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”

³² While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

³⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.” ³⁶ All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes^[m] on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe^[n] of each border a cord of blue. ³⁹ It shall be to you for a fringe,^[o] that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute; ⁴⁰ so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.”

16 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men. ² They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”

⁴ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. ⁵ He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him. ⁶ Do this: have Korah and all his company take censers, ⁷ put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! ⁹ Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹² Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up! ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.”

¹⁵ Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company go before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. ¹⁷ Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”

¹⁸ They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Korah assembled all the congregation opposite them to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the congregation. ²⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”

²² They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!’”

²⁵ Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!”

²⁷ So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

²⁸ Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then Yahweh hasn’t sent me. ³⁰ But if Yahweh makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol,^[p] then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh.”

³¹ As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods. ³³ So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol.^[q] The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” ³⁵ Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

³⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are holy, ³⁸ even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”

³⁹ Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, ⁴⁰ to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before Yahweh, that he not be as Korah and as his company; as Yahweh spoke to him by Moses.

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed Yahweh’s people!”

⁴² When the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting. Behold, the cloud covered it, and Yahweh’s glory appeared. ⁴³ Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.

⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.”

⁴⁷ Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. ⁴⁹ Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah. ⁵⁰ Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. ³ You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses. ⁴ You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. ⁵ It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

⁶ Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods. ⁷ Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the Tent of the Testimony.

⁸ On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” ¹¹ Moses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did.

¹² The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! ¹³ Everyone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

18 Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ² Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. ³ They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. ⁴ They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you.

⁵ “You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to Yahweh, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. ⁹ This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹ “This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹² “I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh. ¹³ The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹⁴ “Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵ Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. ¹⁶ You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel^[r] of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs.^[s]

¹⁷ “But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁸ Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. ¹⁹ All the wave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you.”

²⁰ Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ “To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²² Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’”

²⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸ Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh’s wave offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering to Yahweh, of all its best parts, even the holy part of it.’

³⁰ “Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. ³¹ You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting. ³² You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.’”

19 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded. Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked. ³ You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face. ⁴ Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times. ⁵ One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her meat, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn. ⁶ The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer. ⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. ⁸ He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

⁹ “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.

¹¹ “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. ¹² He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles Yahweh’s tabernacle; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet 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 seven days. ¹⁵ Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean.

¹⁶ “Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ “For the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be poured on them in a vessel. ¹⁸ A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. ¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening. ²⁰ But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean. ²¹ It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

²² “Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

20 The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. ² There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! ⁴ Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? ⁵ Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them. ⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹ Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.

¹² Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

¹³ These are the waters of Meribah;^[t] because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:

“Your brother Israel says: You know all the travail that has happened to us; ¹⁵ how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers. ¹⁶ When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border.

¹⁷ “Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.”

¹⁸ Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.”

¹⁹ The children of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.”

²⁰ He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

²² They traveled from Kadesh, and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.”

²⁷ Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up onto Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

21 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ² Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³ Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.^[u]

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey. ⁵ The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”

⁶ Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died. ⁷ The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.

¹⁰ The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth. ¹¹ They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise. ¹² From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered. ¹³ From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Therefore it is said in The Book of the Wars of Yahweh, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon, ¹⁵ the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”

¹⁶ From there they traveled to Beer; that is the well of which Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. ²¹ Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.”

²³ Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel. ²⁴ Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. ²⁷ Therefore those who speak in proverbs say,

³¹ Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³ They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

³⁵ So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land.

22 The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. ² Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.”

Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me. ⁶ Please come now therefore, and curse this people for me; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.

⁸ He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹ God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me, ¹¹ ‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’”

¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

¹³ Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.”

¹⁴ The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, ¹⁷ for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’”

¹⁸ Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more. ¹⁹ Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else Yahweh will speak to me.”

²⁰ God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”

²¹ Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. ²² God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s angel placed himself in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path. ²⁴ Then Yahweh’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. ²⁵ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.

²⁶ Yahweh’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. ²⁷ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸ Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?”

He said, “No.”

³¹ Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. ³² Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. ³³ The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”

³⁴ Balaam said to Yahweh’s angel, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.”

³⁵ Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but you shall only speak the word that I shall speak to you.”

So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. ³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?”

³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? I will speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”

³⁹ Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. ⁴¹ In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.

23 Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

² Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. ³ Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.”

He went to a bare height. ⁴ God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

⁵ Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

⁶ He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷ He took up his parable, and said,

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

¹² He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

¹³ Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

¹⁴ He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. ¹⁵ He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

¹⁶ Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

¹⁷ He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”

¹⁸ He took up his parable, and said,

²⁵ Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”

²⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

²⁸ Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. ²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

³⁰ Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him. ³ He took up his parable, and said,

¹⁰ Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore, flee to your place, now! I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor.”

¹² Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, ¹³ ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’? ¹⁴ Now, behold, I go to my people. Come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.”

¹⁵ He took up his parable, and said,

²⁰ He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,

²¹ He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,

²³ He took up his parable, and said,

²⁵ Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

25 Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; ² for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel. ⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”

⁵ Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”

⁶ Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. ⁸ He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. ⁹ Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. ¹³ It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”

¹⁴ Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Harass the Midianites, and strike them; ¹⁸ for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.”