Numbers 9:1-14

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 9

Observing the Passover. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. He said, ² “Let the people of Israel celebrate the Passover at its appointed time. ³ You will celebrate it at its appointed time, on the fourteenth day of this month, at sunset. You will observe it in accordance with all its statutes; you shall follow all of its ordinances.” ⁴ So Moses told the people of Israel that they should observe the Passover. ⁵ They celebrated Passover on the sunset of the fourteenth day of the month in the Sinai Desert. The people of Israel did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ Now there were some men who had become unclean by touching a dead body, and they could not observe the Passover on that day. They came to Moses and Aaron on that day ⁷ and they said, “We are unclean because we touched a dead person’s body. Why are we prohibited from presenting an offering to the Lord at its appointed time with the rest of the people of Israel?”

⁸ Moses said to them, “Stand here, and I will listen to what the Lord commands concerning your situation.” ⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If any of you or your descendants is unclean because that person comes into contact with a dead body or he is on a journey and is far away, that person shall still observe^[a] the Passover of the Lord. ¹¹ You will celebrate it the fourteenth day of the second month, you will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² You shall not leave any leftovers until the morning, nor shall you break any of its bones. You will observe it according to the ordinances of the Passover of the Lord.

¹³ “ ‘But if some person is ritually clean and is not off on a journey and that person refuses to observe the Passover, let that person be cut off from among his people. He did not bring his offerings at the appointed time, so he will bear his sin.

¹⁴ “ ‘If a foreigner^[b] dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover of the Lord, let him do so according to the ordinances of the Passover and according to its ceremonies. There is one set of ordinances for those who are foreigners and for those who were born in the land.’ ”