Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent. ¹⁶ I have claimed them in the place of all the first-born sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone. ^17 (A)When I killed all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal. ¹⁸ I am now taking the Levites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites, ¹⁹ and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”

²⁰ So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the Lord. He also performed the ritual of purification for them. ²² The people did everything the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, ²⁵ and at the age of fifty he shall retire. ²⁶ After that, he may help his fellow Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.”

The Second Passover

9 ^(B)The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. He said, ^2-3 “On the fourteenth day of this month, beginning at sunset, the people of Israel are to observe the Passover according to all the rules and regulations for it.” ⁴ So Moses told the people to observe the Passover, ⁵ and on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month they did so in the Sinai Desert. The people did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ But there were some people who were ritually unclean because they had touched a corpse, and they were not able to keep the Passover on that day. They went to Moses and Aaron ⁷ and said, “We are unclean because we have touched a corpse, but why should we be excluded from presenting the Lord's offering with the rest of the Israelites?”

⁸ Moses answered, “Wait until I receive instructions from the Lord.”

⁹ The Lord told Moses ¹⁰ to say to the people of Israel, “When any of you or your descendants are unclean from touching a corpse or are far away on a journey, but still want to keep the Passover, ¹¹ you are permitted to observe it one month later instead, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. Celebrate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ^12 (C)Do not leave any of the food until the following morning and do not break any of the animal's bones. Observe the Passover according to all the regulations. ¹³ But if any of you are ritually clean and not away on a journey and do not observe the Passover, you shall no longer be considered my people, because you did not present the offering to me at the appointed time. You must suffer the consequences of your sin.

¹⁴ “If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover, they must observe it according to all the rules and regulations. The same law applies to everyone, whether native or foreigner.”

The Fiery Cloud^(D)

^15-16 On the day the Tent of the Lord's presence was set up, a cloud came and covered it. At night the cloud looked like fire. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted, the people of Israel broke camp, and they set up camp again in the place where the cloud came down. ¹⁸ The people broke camp at the command of the Lord, and at his command they set up camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in the same camp. ¹⁹ When the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, they obeyed the Lord and did not move on. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud remained over the Tent for only a few days; in any case, they remained in camp or moved, according to the command of the Lord. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and they moved on as soon as the cloud lifted. Whenever the cloud lifted, they moved on. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, a year, or longer, as long as the cloud remained over the Tent, they did not move on; but when it lifted, they moved. ²³ They set up camp and broke camp in obedience to the commands which the Lord gave through Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to use for calling the people together and for breaking camp. ³ When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather around you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence. ⁴ But when only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather around you. ⁵ When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out. ⁶ When short blasts are sounded a second time, the tribes on the south will move out. So short blasts are to be sounded to break camp, ⁷ but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded. ⁸ The trumpets are to be blown by Aaron's sons, the priests.

“The following rule is to be observed for all time to come. ⁹ When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the Lord your God, will help you and save you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also on joyful occasions—at your New Moon Festivals and your other religious festivals—you are to blow the trumpets when you present your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. Then I will help you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites Break Camp

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year after the people left Egypt, the cloud over the Tent of the Lord's presence lifted, ¹² and the Israelites started on their journey out of the Sinai Desert. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³ They began to march at the command of the Lord through Moses, ¹⁴ and each time they moved, they were in the same order. Those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Judah started out first, company by company, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar was in command of the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was in command of the tribe of Zebulun.

¹⁷ Then the Tent would be taken down, and the clans of Gershon and Merari, who carried it, would start out.

¹⁸ Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Reuben would start out, company by company, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was in command of the tribe of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel was in command of the tribe of Gad.

²¹ Then the Levite clan of Kohath would start out, carrying the sacred objects. By the time they arrived at the next camp, the Tent had been set up again.

²² Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Ephraim would start out, company by company, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was in command of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was in command of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵ Finally, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Dan, serving as the rear guard of all the divisions, would start out, company by company, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran was in command of the tribe of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was in command of the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁸ This, then, was the order of march, company by company, whenever the Israelites broke camp and set out.

²⁹ Moses said to his brother-in-law Hobab son of Jethro the Midianite, “We are about to start out for the place which the Lord said he would give us. He has promised to make Israel prosperous, so come with us, and we will share our prosperity with you.”

³⁰ Hobab answered, “No, I am going back to my native land.”

³¹ “Please don't leave us,” Moses said. “You know where we can camp in the wilderness, and you can be our guide. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you all the blessings that the Lord gives us.”

The People Set Out

³³ When the people left Sinai, the holy mountain, they traveled three days. The Lord's Covenant Box always went ahead of them to find a place for them to camp. ³⁴ As they moved on from each camp, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day.

^35 (E)Whenever the Covenant Box started out, Moses would say, “Arise, Lord; scatter your enemies and put to flight those who hate you!” ³⁶ And whenever it stopped, he would say, “Return, Lord, to the thousands of families of Israel.”^[a]

The Place Named Taberah

11 The people began to complain to the Lord about their troubles. When the Lord heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp. ² The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. ³ So the place was named Taberah,^[b] because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

⁴ There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: “If only we could have some meat! ⁵ In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? ⁶ But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat—nothing but this manna day after day!”

(^7 (F)Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. ^8-9 (G)It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.)

¹⁰ Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, ¹¹ and he said to the Lord, “Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? ¹² I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? ¹³ Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. ¹⁴ I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! ¹⁵ If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. ¹⁸ Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.’”

²¹ Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? ²² Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?”

²³ “Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long.

²⁶ Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. ²⁷ A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing.

²⁸ Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, “Stop them, sir!”

²⁹ Moses answered, “Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction.^{[c] 32} So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. ³³ While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. ³⁴ That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means “Graves of Craving”), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

³⁵ From there the people moved to Hazeroth, where they made camp.

Miriam Is Punished

12 Moses had married a Cushite^[d] woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it. ² They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through^[e] Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through^[f] us?” The Lord heard what they said. (^3 (H)Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)

⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence.” They went, ⁵ and the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron! Miriam!” The two of them stepped forward, ⁶ and the Lord said, “Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you,^[g] I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. ^7 (I)It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel.^{[h] 8} So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The Lord was angry with them; and so as he departed ¹⁰ and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam's skin was suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and turned as white as snow. When Aaron looked at her and saw that she was covered with the disease, ¹¹ he said to Moses, “Please, sir, do not make us suffer this punishment for our foolish sin. ¹² Don't let her become like something born dead with half its flesh eaten away.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, heal her!”

^14 (J)The Lord answered, “If her father had spit in her face, she would have to bear her disgrace for seven days. So let her be shut out of the camp for a week, and after that she can be brought back in.” ¹⁵ Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought back in. ¹⁶ Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the wilderness of Paran.

The Spies^(K)

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” ^3-15 Moses obeyed and from the wilderness of Paran he sent out leaders, as follows:

¹⁶ These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.

¹⁷ When Moses sent them out, he said to them, “Go north from here into the southern part of the land of Canaan and then on into the hill country. ¹⁸ Find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. ¹⁹ Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities. ²⁰ Find out whether the soil is fertile and whether the land is wooded. And be sure to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.” (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.)

²¹ So the men went north and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to Rehob, near Hamath Pass in the north. ²² They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ They came to Eshcol Valley, and there they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs. (²⁴ That place was named Eshcol^[i] Valley because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.)

²⁵ After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned ²⁶ to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought. ²⁷ They told Moses, “We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there. ²⁹ Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.”

³⁰ Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against^[j] Moses, and said, “We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone with Caleb said, “No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are.” ³² So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall, ^33 (L)and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”

The People Complain

14 All night long the people cried out in distress. ² They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, “It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people. ⁶ And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow ⁷ and said to the people, “The land we explored is an excellent land. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. ^9 (M)Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid.” ¹⁰ The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear over the Tent.

Moses Prays for the People

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? ¹² I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!”

^13 (N)But Moses said to the Lord, “You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, ¹⁴ they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say ¹⁶ that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. ¹⁷ So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, ^18 (O)‘I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.’ ¹⁹ And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”

²⁰ The Lord answered, “I will forgive them, as you have asked. ^21 (P)But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, ²² none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. ²³ They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. ^24 (Q)But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land ²⁵ in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba.”

The Lord Punishes the People for Complaining

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁷ “How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints! ²⁸ Now give them this answer: ‘I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the Lord, have spoken. ^29 (R)You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land. ³⁰ I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua. ³¹ You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home. ³² You will die here in this wilderness. ^33 (S)Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies. ³⁴ You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you! ³⁵ I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

^36-37 The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the Lord. And so the Lord struck them with a disease, and they died. ³⁸ Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived.

The First Attempt to Invade the Land^(T)

³⁹ When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed! ⁴² Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. ⁴³ When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him.”

⁴⁴ Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

Laws about Sacrifice

15 The Lord gave Moses ² the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them. ³ A bull, a ram, a sheep, or a goat may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering or as an offering at your regular religious festivals; the odor of these food offerings is pleasing to the Lord. ^4-5 Whoever presents a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering to the Lord is to bring with each animal 2 pounds of flour mixed with 2 pints of olive oil as a grain offering, together with 2 pints of wine. ⁶ When a ram is offered, 4 pounds of flour mixed with 3 pints of olive oil are to be presented as a grain offering, ⁷ together with 3 pints of wine. The odor of these sacrifices is pleasing to the Lord. ⁸ When a bull is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a fellowship offering, ⁹ a grain offering of 6 pounds of flour mixed with 4 pints of olive oil is to be presented, ¹⁰ together with 4 pints of wine. The odor of this sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹ That is what shall be offered with each bull, ram, sheep, or goat. ¹² When more than one animal is offered, the accompanying offering is to be increased proportionately. ¹³ All native Israelites are to do this when they present a food offering, an odor pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁴ And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations. ¹⁵ For all time to come, the same^[k] rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight; ^16 (U)the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.

¹⁷ The Lord gave Moses ¹⁸ the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them. ¹⁹ When any food produced there is eaten, some of it is to be set aside as a special contribution to the Lord. ²⁰ When you bake bread, the first loaf of the first bread made from the new grain is to be presented as a special contribution to the Lord. This is to be presented in the same way as the special contribution you make from the grain you thresh. ²¹ For all time to come, this special gift is to be given to the Lord from the bread you bake.

²² But suppose someone unintentionally fails to keep some of these regulations which the Lord has given Moses. ²³ And suppose that in the future the community fails to do everything that the Lord commanded through Moses. ²⁴ If the mistake was made because of the ignorance of the community, they are to offer a bull as a burnt offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, with the proper grain offering and wine offering. In addition, they are to offer a male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest shall perform the ritual of purification for the community, and they will be forgiven, because the mistake was unintentional and they brought their sin offering as a food offering to the Lord. ²⁶ The whole community of Israel and the foreigners living among them will be forgiven, because everyone was involved in the mistake.

^27 (V)If any of you sin unintentionally, you are to offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. ²⁸ At the altar the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to purify you from your sin, and you will be forgiven. ²⁹ The same regulation applies to all who unintentionally commit a sin, whether they are native Israelites or resident foreigners.

³⁰ But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, ³¹ because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.

The Man Who Broke the Sabbath

³² Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. ³³ He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, ³⁴ and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp.” ³⁶ So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

Rules about Tassels

³⁷ The Lord commanded Moses ^38 (W)to say to the people of Israel: “Make tassels on the corners of your garments and put a blue cord on each tassel. You are to do this for all time to come. ³⁹ The tassels will serve as reminders, and each time you see them you will remember all my commands and obey them; then you will not turn away from me and follow your own wishes and desires. ⁴⁰ The tassels will remind you to keep all my commands, and you will belong completely to me. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”

The Rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram

16 ^(X)1-2 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben—Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. ³ They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar. ^6-7 Tomorrow morning you and your followers take fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”

⁸ Moses continued to speak to Korah. “Listen, you Levites! ⁹ Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them? ¹⁰ He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor—and now you are trying to get the priesthood too! ¹¹ When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling.”

¹² Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? ¹⁴ You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!”

¹⁵ Moses became angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there. ¹⁷ Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar.” ¹⁸ So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community, ²⁰ and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately.”

²² But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?”

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵ Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. ²⁶ He said to the people, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. ²⁸ Moses said to the people, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. ²⁹ If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. ³⁰ But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord.”

³¹ As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open ³² and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. ³³ So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. ³⁴ All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, “Run! The earth might swallow us too!”

³⁵ Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

The Fire Pans

³⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the bronze fire pans from the remains of those who have been burned, and scatter the coals from the fire pans somewhere else, because the fire pans are holy. ³⁸ They became holy when they were presented at the Lord's altar. So take the fire pans of these who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar. It will be a warning to the people of Israel.” ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the fire pans and had them beaten into thin plates to make a covering for the altar. ⁴⁰ This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.

Aaron Saves the People

⁴¹ The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed some of the Lord's people.” ⁴² After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord's presence had appeared. ⁴³ Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent, ^44 (Y)and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Move back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!”

The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground, ⁴⁶ and Moses said to Aaron, “Take your fire pan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord's anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun.” ⁴⁷ Aaron obeyed, took his fire pan and ran into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and performed the ritual of purification for the people. ⁴⁸ This stopped the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the dead. ⁴⁹ The number of people who died was 14,700, not counting those who died in Korah's rebellion. ⁵⁰ When the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent.

Aaron's Walking Stick

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick ³ and then write Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader. ⁴ Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you. ⁵ Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron's stick was put with them. ⁷ Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the Lord's Covenant Box.

^8 (Z)The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds! ⁹ Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back. ¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops.” ¹¹ Moses did as the Lord commanded.

¹² The people of Israel said to Moses, “Then that's the end of us! ¹³ If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!”

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood. ² Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent. ³ They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death. ⁴ They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you. ⁵ You and your sons alone must fulfill the responsibilities for the Holy Place and the altar, so that my anger will not again break out against the people of Israel. ⁶ I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They are dedicated to me, so that they can carry out their duties in the Tent. ⁷ But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death.”

The Share of the Priests

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, “Remember that I am giving you all the special contributions made to me that are not burned as sacrifices. I am giving them to you and to your descendants as the part assigned to you forever. ⁹ Of the most sacred offerings not burned on the altar, the following belong to you: the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings. Everything that is presented to me as a sacred offering belongs to you and your sons. ¹⁰ You must eat these things in a holy place, and only males may eat them; consider them holy.

¹¹ “In addition, any other special contributions that the Israelites present to me shall be yours. I am giving them to you, your sons, and your daughters for all time to come. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat them.

¹² “I am giving you all the best of the first produce which the Israelites give me each year: olive oil, wine, and grain. ¹³ It all belongs to you. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat it.

^14 (AA)“Everything in Israel that has been unconditionally dedicated to me belongs to you.

¹⁵ “Every first-born child or animal that the Israelites present to me belongs to you. But you must accept payment to buy back every first-born child, and must also accept payment for every first-born animal that is ritually unclean. ¹⁶ Children shall be bought back at the age of one month for the fixed price of five pieces of silver, according to the official standard. ¹⁷ But the first-born of cows, sheep, and goats are not to be bought back; they belong completely to me and are to be sacrificed. Throw their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an odor pleasing to me. ¹⁸ The meat from them belongs to you, like the breast and the right hind leg of the special offering.

¹⁹ “I am giving to you, to your sons, and to your daughters, for all time to come, all the special contributions which the Israelites present to me. This is an unbreakable covenant that I have made with you and your descendants.”

²⁰ The Lord said to Aaron, “You will not receive any property that can be inherited, and no part of the land of Israel will be assigned to you. I, the Lord, am all you need.”

The Share of the Levites

^21 (AB)The Lord said, “I have given to the Levites every tithe that the people of Israel present to me. This is in payment for their service in taking care of the Tent of my presence. ²² The other Israelites must no longer approach the Tent and in this way bring on themselves the penalty of death. ²³ From now on only the Levites will take care of the Tent and bear the full responsibility for it. This is a permanent rule that applies also to your descendants. The Levites shall have no permanent property in Israel, ²⁴ because I have given to them as their possession the tithe which the Israelites present to me as a special contribution. That is why I told them that they would have no permanent property in Israel.”

The Levites' Tithe

²⁵ The Lord commanded Moses ²⁶ to say to the Levites: “When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that the Lord gives you as your possession, you must present a tenth of it as a special contribution to the Lord. ²⁷ This special contribution will be considered as the equivalent of the offering which the farmer makes of new grain and new wine. ²⁸ In this way you also will present the special contribution that belongs to the Lord from all the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. You are to give this special contribution for the Lord to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Give it from the best that you receive. ³⁰ When you have presented the best part, you may keep the rest, just as the farmer keeps what is left after he makes his offering. ³¹ You and your families may eat the rest anywhere, because it is your wages for your service in the Tent. ³² You will not become guilty when you eat it, as long as you have presented the best of it to the Lord. But be sure not to profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites by eating any of the gifts before the best part is offered; if you do, you will be put to death.”

Ashes of the Red Cow

19 The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron ² to give the Israelites the following regulations. Bring to Moses and Aaron a red cow which has no defects and which has never been worked, ³ and they will give it to Eleazar the priest. It is to be taken outside the camp and killed in his presence.^{[l] 4} Then Eleazar is to take some of its blood and with his finger sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the Tent. ⁵ The whole animal, including skin, meat, blood, and intestines, is to be burned in the presence of the priest. ⁶ Then he is to take some cedar wood, a sprig of hyssop, and a red cord and throw them into the fire. ⁷ After that, he is to wash his clothes and pour water over himself, and then he may enter the camp; but he remains ritually unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and pour water over himself, but he also remains unclean until evening. ^9 (AC)Then someone who is ritually clean is to collect the ashes of the cow and put them in a ritually clean place outside the camp, where they are to be kept for the Israelite community to use in preparing the water for removing ritual uncleanness. This ritual is performed to remove sin. ¹⁰ The one who collected the ashes must wash his clothes, but he remains unclean until evening. This regulation is valid for all time to come, both for the Israelites and for the foreigners living among them.

Contact with a Corpse

¹¹ Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days. ¹² They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean. ¹³ Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.

¹⁴ In the case of a person who dies in a tent, anyone who is in the tent at the time of death or who enters it becomes ritually unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ Every jar and pot in the tent that has no lid^[m] on it also becomes unclean. ¹⁶ If any touch a person who has been killed or has died a natural death outdoors or if any touch a human bone or a grave, they become unclean for seven days.

¹⁷ To remove the uncleanness, some ashes from the red cow which was burned to remove sin shall be taken and put in a pot, and fresh water added. ¹⁸ In the first case, someone who is ritually clean is to take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, everything in it, and the people who were there. In the second case, someone who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on those who had touched the human bone or the dead body or the grave. ¹⁹ On the third day and on the seventh the person who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on the unclean persons. On the seventh day he is to purify those, who, after washing their clothes and pouring water over themselves, become ritually clean at sunset.

²⁰ Those who have become ritually unclean and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent and will no longer be considered God's people. ²¹ You are to observe this rule for all time to come. The person who sprinkles the water for purification must also wash his clothes; anyone who touches the water remains ritually unclean until evening. ²² Whatever an unclean person touches is unclean, and anyone else who touches it remains unclean until evening.

Events at Kadesh^(AD)

20 In the first month the whole community of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

^2 (AE)There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered around Moses and Aaron ³ and complained: “It would have been better if we had died in front of the Lord's Tent along with the other Israelites. ⁴ Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? ⁵ Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There's no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!” ⁶ Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to them.

⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink.” ⁹ Moses went and got the stick, as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁰ He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, “Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?” ^11 (AF)Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.

¹² But the Lord reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, “Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them.”

¹³ This happened at Meribah,^[n] where the people of Israel complained against the Lord and where he showed them that he is holy.

The King of Edom Refuses to Let Israel Pass

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, “This message is from your kinsmen, the tribes of Israel. You know the hardships we have suffered, ¹⁵ how our ancestors went to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated our ancestors and us, ¹⁶ and we cried to the Lord for help. He heard our cry and sent an angel, who led us out of Egypt. Now we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your territory. ¹⁷ Please permit us to pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road or go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink from your wells. We will stay on the main road^[o] until we are out of your territory.”

¹⁸ But the Edomites answered, “We refuse to let you pass through our country! If you try, we will march out and attack you.”

¹⁹ The people of Israel said, “We will stay on the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it—all we want is to pass through.”

²⁰ The Edomites repeated, “We refuse!” and they marched out with a powerful army to attack the people of Israel. ²¹ Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

The Death of Aaron

²² The whole community of Israel left Kadesh and arrived at Mount Hor, ²³ on the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ “Aaron is not going to enter the land which I promised to give to Israel; he is going to die, because the two of you rebelled against my command at Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor, ²⁶ and there remove Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. Aaron is going to die there.” ²⁷ Moses did what the Lord had commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community, ^28 (AG)and Moses removed Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. There on the top of the mountain Aaron died, and Moses and Eleazar came back down. ²⁹ The whole community learned that Aaron had died, and they all mourned for him for thirty days.

Victory over the Canaanites

21 ^(AH)When the Canaanite king of Arad in the southern part of Canaan heard that the Israelites were coming by way of Atharim, he attacked them and captured some of them. ² Then the Israelites made a vow to the Lord: “If you will let us conquer these people, we will unconditionally dedicate^[p] them and their cities to you and will destroy them.” ³ The Lord heard them and helped them conquer the Canaanites. So the Israelites completely destroyed them and their cities, and named the place Hormah.^[q]

The Snake Made of Bronze

^4 (AI)The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience ^5 (AJ)and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!” ⁶ Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away.” So Moses prayed for the people.