Exodus 19:1--40:38
Israel at Sinai
19:1 In the third month after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, on the very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai.
19:2 After they journeyed from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
19:3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel:
19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,
19:6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,
19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.
19:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and make them wash their clothes
19:11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
19:12 You must set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!
19:13 No hand will touch him – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may go up on the mountain.”
19:14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”
19:16 On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled.
19:17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain.
19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
19:19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Moses was speaking and God was answering him with a voice.
19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
19:21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish.
19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”
19:23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us, ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’”
19:24 The Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest he break through against them.”
19:25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
The Decalogue
20:1 God spoke all these words:
20:2 “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.
20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,
20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.
20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy.
20:9 For six days you may labor and do all your work,
20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.
20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you.
20:13 “You shall not murder.
20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.
20:15 “You shall not steal.
20:16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
20:18 All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance.
20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you so that you do not sin.”
20:21 The people kept their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
The Altar
20:22 The Lord said to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.
20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, nor make gods of gold for yourselves.
20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be honored I will come to you and I will bless you.
20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of stones shaped with tools, for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.
20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’
The Decisions
21:1 “These are the decisions that you will set before them:
Hebrew Servants
21:2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything.
21:3 If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.
21:4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.
21:5 But if the servant should declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’
21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
21:7 “If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do.
21:8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her.
21:9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters.
21:10 If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.
Personal Injuries
21:12 “Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death.
21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.
21:15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death.
21:17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death.
21:18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,
21:19 and then if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay for the injured person’s loss of time and see to it that he is fully healed.
21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished.
21:21 However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.
21:22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.
21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,
21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.
21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
Laws about Animals
21:28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.
21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, and he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.
21:30 If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.
21:31 If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule.
21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.
21:33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
21:34 the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his.
21:35 If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, and they will also divide the dead ox.
21:36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his.
Laws about Property
22:1 (21:37) “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.
22:2 “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.
22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.
22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.
22:5 “If a man grazes his livestock in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.
22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles for safekeeping, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double.
22:8 If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to see whether he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods.
22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, and the one whom the judges declare guilty must repay double to his neighbor.
22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt or is carried away without anyone seeing it,
22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.
22:12 But if it was stolen from him, he will pay its owner.
22:13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence, and he will not have to pay for what was torn.
22:14 “If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it will surely pay.
22:15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it.
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
22:16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife.
22:17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.
22:18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live.
22:19 “Whoever has sexual relations with a beast must surely be put to death.
22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.
22:21 “You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22:22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan.
22:23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry,
22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.
22:25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest.
22:26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down,
22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
22:28 “You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons.
22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.
22:31 “You will be holy people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.
Justice
23:1 “You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
23:2 “You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice,
23:3 and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.
23:4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him.
23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.
23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.
23:7 Keep your distance from a false charge – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.
23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.
23:9 “You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Sabbaths and Feasts
23:10 “For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.
23:11 But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.
23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help may refresh themselves.
23:13 “Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips.
23:14 “Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me.
23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed.
23:16 “You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.
23:17 At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God.
23:18 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning.
23:19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
The Angel of the Presence
23:20 “I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.
23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him.
23:22 But if you diligently obey him and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries.
23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.
23:24 “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.
23:25 You must serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.
23:26 No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
23:27 “I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
23:28 I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.
23:29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you.
23:30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.
23:31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
23:32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their gods.
23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
The Lord Ratifies the Covenant
24:1 But to Moses the Lord said, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.
24:2 Moses alone may come near the Lord, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”
24:3 Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,”
24:4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones – according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
24:5 He sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings to the Lord.
24:6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar.
24:7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.”
24:8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
24:9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up,
24:10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself.
24:11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank.
24:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.”
24:13 So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God.
24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute can approach them.”
24:15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
24:16 The glory of the Lord resided on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.
24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people.
24:18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
The Materials for the Sanctuary
25:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
25:2 “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me; from every person motivated by a willing heart you are to receive my offering.
25:3 This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, bronze,
25:4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat’s hair,
25:5 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood,
25:6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for fragrant incense,
25:7 onyx stones, and other gems to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece.
25:8 Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.
25:9 According to all that I am showing you – the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings – you must make it exactly so.
The Ark of the Covenant
25:10 “They are to make an ark of acacia wood – its length is to be three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches.
25:11 You are to overlay it with pure gold – both inside and outside you must overlay it, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold over it.
25:12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.
25:13 You are to make poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold,
25:14 and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them.
25:15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it.
25:16 You are to put into the ark the testimony that I will give to you.
25:17 “You are to make an atonement lid of pure gold; its length is to be three feet nine inches, and its width is to be two feet three inches.
25:18 You are to make two cherubim of gold; you are to make them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid.
25:19 Make one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid you are to make the cherubim on the two ends.
25:20 The cherubim are to be spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings, and the cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the atonement lid.
25:21 You are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you.
25:22 I will meet with you there, and from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.
The Table for the Bread of the Presence
25:23 “You are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches.
25:24 You are to overlay it with pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it.
25:25 You are to make a surrounding frame for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame.
25:26 You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach the rings at the four corners where its four legs are.
25:27 The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table.
25:28 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.
25:29 You are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold.
25:30 You are to set the Bread of the Presence on the table before me continually.
The Lampstand
25:31 “You are to make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece.
25:32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it.
25:33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next branch, and the same for the six branches extending from the lampstand.
25:34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,
25:35 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand.
25:36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece, all of it one hammered piece of pure gold.
25:37 “You are to make its seven lamps, and then set its lamps up on it, so that it will give light to the area in front of it.
25:38 Its trimmers and its trays are to be of pure gold.
25:39 About seventy-five pounds of pure gold is to be used for it and for all these utensils.
25:40 Now be sure to make them according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.
The Tabernacle
26:1 “The tabernacle itself you are to make with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you are to make them with cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer.
26:2 The length of each curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet – the same size for each of the curtains.
26:3 Five curtains are to be joined, one to another, and the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another.
26:4 You are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set.
26:5 You are to make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you are to make fifty loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another.
26:6 You are to make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle is a unit.
26:7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you are to make eleven curtains.
26:8 The length of each curtain is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet – the same size for the eleven curtains.
26:9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.
26:10 You are to make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joins the second set.
26:11 You are to make fifty bronze clasps and put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it is a unit.
26:12 Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent – the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle.
26:13 The foot and a half on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it.
26:14 “You are to make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.
26:15 “You are to make the frames for the tabernacle out of acacia wood as uprights.
26:16 Each frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide,
26:17 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way.
26:18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side,
26:19 and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections;
26:20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, twenty frames,
26:21 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.
26:22 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames.
26:23 You are to make two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back.
26:24 At the two corners they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both.
26:25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.
26:26 “You are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle,
26:27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west.
26:28 The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end.
26:29 You are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold.
26:30 You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain.
26:31 “You are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer.
26:32 You are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases.
26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
26:34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.
26:35 You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side.
26:36 “You are to make a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer.
26:37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.
The Altar
27:1 “You are to make the altar of acacia wood, seven feet six inches long, and seven feet six inches wide; the altar is to be square, and its height is to be four feet six inches.
27:2 You are to make its four horns on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, and you are to overlay it with bronze.
27:3 You are to make its pots for the ashes, its shovels, its tossing bowls, its meat hooks, and its fire pans – you are to make all its utensils of bronze.
27:4 You are to make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and you are to make on the network four bronze rings on its four corners.
27:5 You are to put it under the ledge of the altar below, so that the network will come halfway up the altar.
27:6 You are to make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you are to overlay them with bronze.
27:7 The poles are to be put into the rings so that the poles will be on two sides of the altar when carrying it.
27:8 You are to make the altar hollow, out of boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so they must make it.
The Courtyard
27:9 “You are to make the courtyard of the tabernacle. For the south side there are to be hangings for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long for one side,
27:10 with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
27:11 Likewise for its length on the north side, there are to be hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
27:12 The width of the court on the west side is to be seventy-five feet with hangings, with their ten posts and their ten bases.
27:13 The width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, is to be seventy-five feet.
27:14 The hangings on one side of the gate are to be twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.
27:15 On the second side there are to be hangings twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.
27:16 For the gate of the courtyard there is to be a curtain of thirty feet, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four posts and their four bases.
27:17 All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands; their hooks are to be silver, and their bases bronze.
27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet and the width seventy-five feet, and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings is to be seven and a half feet, with their bronze bases.
27:19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze.
Offering the Oil
27:20 “You are to command the Israelites that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps will burn regularly.
27:21 In the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come.
The Clothing of the Priests
28:1 “And you, bring near to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
28:2 You must make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty.
28:3 You are to speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so that they may make Aaron’s garments to set him apart to minister as my priest.
28:4 Now these are the garments that they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons, that they may minister as my priests.
28:5 The artisans are to use the gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen.
28:6 “They are to make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, the work of an artistic designer.
28:7 It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be joined together.
28:8 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that is on it is to be like it, of one piece with the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
28:9 “You are to take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,
28:10 six of their names on one stone, and the six remaining names on the second stone, according to the order of their birth.
28:11 You are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a seal; you are to have them set in gold filigree settings.
28:12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial.
28:13 You are to make filigree settings of gold
28:14 and two braided chains of pure gold, like a cord, and attach the chains to the settings.
28:15 “You are to make a breastpiece for use in making decisions, the work of an artistic designer; you are to make it in the same fashion as the ephod; you are to make it of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
28:16 It is to be square when doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide.
28:17 You are to set in it a setting for stones, four rows of stones, a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row;
28:18 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;
28:19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
28:20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They are to be enclosed in gold in their filigree settings.
28:21 The stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like the engravings of a seal.
28:22 “You are to make for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,
28:23 and you are to make for the breastpiece two gold rings and attach the two rings to the upper two ends of the breastpiece.
28:24 You are to attach the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece;
28:25 the other two ends of the two chains you will attach to the two settings and then attach them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.
28:26 You are to make two rings of gold and put them on the other two ends of the breastpiece, on its edge that is on the inner side of the ephod.
28:27 You are to make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod.
28:28 They are to tie the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it may be above the waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece will not be loose from the ephod.
28:29 Aaron will bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of decision over his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.
28:30 “You are to put the Urim and the Thummim into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. Aaron is to bear the decisions of the Israelites over his heart before the Lord continually.
28:31 “You are to make the robe of the ephod completely blue.
28:32 There is to be an opening in its top in the center of it, with an edge all around the opening, the work of a weaver, like the opening of a collar, so that it cannot be torn.
28:33 You are to make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet all around its hem and bells of gold between them all around.
28:34 The pattern is to be a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe.
28:35 The robe is to be on Aaron as he ministers, and his sound will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he leaves, so that he does not die.
28:36 “You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: “Holiness to the Lord.”
28:37 You are to attach to it a blue cord so that it will be on the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban,
28:38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance before the Lord.
28:39 You are to weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen, and make the sash the work of an embroiderer.
28:40 “For Aaron’s sons you are to make tunics, sashes, and headbands for glory and for beauty.
28:41 “You are to clothe them – your brother Aaron and his sons with him – and anoint them and ordain them and set them apart as holy, so that they may minister as my priests.
28:42 Make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must cover from the waist to the thighs.
28:43 These must be on Aaron and his sons when they enter to the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no iniquity and die. It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants after him.
The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
29:1 “Now this is what you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young bull and two rams without blemish;
29:2 and bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread with oil – you are to make them using fine wheat flour.
29:3 You are to put them in one basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.
29:4 “You are to present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash them with water
29:5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband.
29:6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.
29:7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics
29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate Aaron and his sons.
29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put their hands on the head of the bull.
29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting
29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar.
29:13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.
29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up outside the camp. It is the purification offering.
29:15 “You are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head,
29:16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar.
29:17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head
29:18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
29:19 “You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head,
29:20 and you are to kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and then splash the blood all around on the altar.
29:21 You are to take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, so that he may be holy, he and his garments along with his sons and his sons’ garments.
29:22 “You are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh – for it is the ram for consecration –
29:23 and one round flat cake of bread, one perforated cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of bread made without yeast that is before the Lord.
29:24 You are to put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
29:25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
29:26 You are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration; you are to wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it is to be your share.
29:27 You are to sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution, which were waved and lifted up as a contribution from the ram of consecration, from what belongs to Aaron and to his sons.
29:28 It is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.
29:29 “The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and consecrated in them.
29:30 The priest who succeeds him from his sons, when he first comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days.
29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook its meat in a holy place.
29:32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
29:33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.
29:34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you are to burn up what is left over. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
29:35 “Thus you are to do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you are to consecrate them for seven days.
29:36 Every day you are to prepare a bull for a purification offering for atonement. You are to purge the altar by making atonement for it, and you are to anoint it to set it apart as holy.
29:37 For seven days you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will be holy.
29:38 “Now this is what you are to prepare on the altar every day continually: two lambs a year old.
29:39 The first lamb you are to prepare in the morning, and the second lamb you are to prepare around sundown.
29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.
29:41 The second lamb you are to offer around sundown; you are to prepare for it the same meal offering as for the morning and the same drink offering, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
29:42 “This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you to speak to you there.
29:43 There I will meet with the Israelites, and it will be set apart as holy by my glory.
29:44 “So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me.
29:45 I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their God,
29:46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the Lord their God.
The Altar of Incense
30:1 “You are to make an altar for burning incense; you are to make it of acacia wood.
30:2 Its length is to be a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, with its horns of one piece with it.
30:3 You are to overlay it with pure gold – its top, its four walls, and its horns – and make a surrounding border of gold for it.
30:4 You are to make two gold rings for it under its border, on its two flanks; you are to make them on its two sides. The rings will be places for poles to carry it with.
30:5 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
30:6 “You are to put it in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the testimony (before the atonement lid that is over the testimony), where I will meet you.
30:7 Aaron is to burn sweet incense on it morning by morning; when he attends to the lamps he is to burn incense.
30:8 When Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.
30:9 You must not offer strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it.
30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; once in the year he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
The Ransom Money
30:11 The Lord spoke to Moses:
30:12 “When you take a census of the Israelites according to their number, then each man is to pay a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.
30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered is to pay this: a half shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering to the Lord.
30:14 Everyone who crosses over to those numbered, from twenty years old and up, is to pay an offering to the Lord.
30:15 The rich are not to increase it, and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving the offering of the Lord, to make atonement for your lives.
30:16 You are to receive the atonement money from the Israelites and give it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, to make atonement for your lives.”
The Bronze Laver
30:17 The Lord spoke to Moses:
30:18 “You are also to make a large bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. You are to put it between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it,
30:19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.
30:20 When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they do not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Lord,
30:21 they must wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants throughout their generations.”
Oil and Incense
30:22 The Lord spoke to Moses:
30:23 “Take choice spices: twelve and a half pounds of free-flowing myrrh, half that – about six and a quarter pounds – of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six and a quarter pounds of sweet-smelling cane,
30:24 and twelve and a half pounds of cassia, all weighed according to the sanctuary shekel, and four quarts of olive oil.
30:25 You are to make this into a sacred anointing oil, a perfumed compound, the work of a perfumer. It will be sacred anointing oil.
30:26 “With it you are to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony,
30:27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense,
30:28 the altar for the burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its base.
30:29 So you are to sanctify them, and they will be most holy; anything that touches them will be holy.
30:30 “You are to anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify them, so that they may minister as my priests.
30:31 And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations.
30:32 It must not be applied to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.
30:33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest will be cut off from his people.’”
30:34 The Lord said to Moses: “Take spices, gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense of equal amounts
30:35 and make it into an incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer. It is to be finely ground, and pure and sacred.
30:36 You are to beat some of it very fine and put some of it before the ark of the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it is to be most holy to you.
30:37 And the incense that you are to make, you must not make for yourselves using the same recipe; it is to be most holy to you, belonging to the Lord.
30:38 Whoever makes anything like it, to use as perfume, will be cut off from his people.”
Willing Artisans
31:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
31:2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
31:3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in skill, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,
31:4 to make artistic designs for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze,
31:5 and with cutting and setting stone, and with cutting wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.
31:6 Moreover, I have also given him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given ability to all the specially skilled, that they may make everything I have commanded you:
31:7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent,
31:8 the table with its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,
31:9 the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils, the large basin with its base,
31:10 the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests,
31:11 the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the Holy Place. They will make all these things just as I have commanded you.”
Sabbath Observance
31:12 The Lord said to Moses,
31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people.
31:15 Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.
31:16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
31:18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God.
The Sin of the Golden Calf
32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!”
32:2 So Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
32:3 So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.
32:4 He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.”
32:6 So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.
32:7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly.
32:8 They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”
32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are!
32:10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”
32:11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people.
32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’”
32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
32:15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on the front and on the back.
32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “It is the sound of war in the camp!”
32:18 Moses said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear.”
32:19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain.
32:20 He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”
32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil.
32:23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
32:24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
32:25 Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies.
32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” All the Levites gathered around him,
32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
32:28 The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died.
32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.”
32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin.”
32:31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold.
32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin…, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written.”
32:33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me – that person I will wipe out of my book.
32:34 So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”
32:35 And the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf – the one Aaron made.
33:1 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’
33:2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
33:3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
33:4 When the people heard this troubling word they mourned; no one put on his ornaments.
33:5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, that I may know what I should do to you.’”
33:6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
The Presence of the Lord
33:7 Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone seeking the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.
33:8 And when Moses went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.
33:9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.
33:10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship.
33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent.
33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.’
33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people.”
33:14 And the Lord said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
33:15 And Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here.
33:16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”
33:17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
33:18 And Moses said, “Show me your glory.”
33:19 And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”
33:20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.”
33:21 The Lord said, “Here is a place by me; you will station yourself on a rock.
33:22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by.
33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.”
The New Tablets of the Covenant
34:1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed.
34:2 Be prepared in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself for me there on the top of the mountain.
34:3 No one is to come up with you; do not let anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks or the herds may graze in front of that mountain.”
34:4 So Moses cut out two tablets of stone like the first; early in the morning he went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
34:5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name.
34:6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness,
34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”
34:8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped
34:9 and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
34:10 He said, “See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.
34:11 “Obey what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
34:12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.
34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.
34:14 For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
34:15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice;
34:16 and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.
34:17 You must not make yourselves molten gods.
34:18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
34:19 “Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, even every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep.
34:20 Now the firstling of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.
“No one will appear before me empty-handed.
34:21 “On six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.
34:22 “You must observe the Feast of Weeks – the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat – and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.
34:23 At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
34:24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
34:25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.
34:26 “The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.
You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
34:27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
34:28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
The Radiant Face of Moses
34:29 Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to approach him.
34:31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke to them.
34:32 After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.
34:33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he would put a veil on his face.
34:34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded.
34:35 When the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Sabbath Regulations
35:1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.
35:2 In six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.
35:3 You must not kindle a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.”
Willing Workers
35:4 Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Lord has commanded:
35:5 ‘Take an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart bring an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, bronze,
35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair,
35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood,
35:8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
35:9 onyx stones, and other gems for mounting on the ephod and the breastpiece.
35:10 Every skilled person among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded:
35:11 the tabernacle with its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases;
35:12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it;
35:13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence;
35:14 the lampstand for the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light;
35:15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle;
35:16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal;
35:17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard;
35:18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes;
35:19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”
35:20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses.
35:21 Everyone whose heart stirred him to action and everyone whose spirit was willing came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.
35:22 They came, men and women alike, all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, and everyone came who waved a wave offering of gold to the Lord.
35:23 Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather brought them.
35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.
35:25 Every woman who was skilled spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen,
35:26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled spun goats’ hair.
35:27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted for the ephod and the breastpiece,
35:28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
35:29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do.
35:30 Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
35:31 He has filled him with the Spirit of God – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work,
35:32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,
35:33 and in cutting stones for their setting, and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.
35:34 And he has put it in his heart to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35:35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are craftsmen in all the work and artistic designers.
36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord has put skill and ability to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary are to do the work according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
36:2 Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him to volunteer to do the work,
36:3 and they received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning.
36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work they were doing
36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than is needed for the completion of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!”
36:6 Moses instructed them to take his message throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more.
36:7 Now the materials were more than enough for them to do all the work.
The Building of the Tabernacle
36:8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer.
36:9 The length of one curtain was forty-two feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – the same size for each of the curtains.
36:10 He joined five of the curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another.
36:11 He made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set.
36:12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another.
36:13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.
36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.
36:15 The length of one curtain was forty-five feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – one size for all eleven curtains.
36:16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.
36:17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set.
36:18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit.
36:19 He made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.
36:20 He made the frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood as uprights.
36:21 The length of each frame was fifteen feet, the width of each frame was two and a quarter feet,
36:22 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way.
36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side.
36:24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections,
36:25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames
36:26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next frame.
36:27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames.
36:28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back.
36:29 At the two corners they were doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So he did for both.
36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.
36:31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle
36:32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west.
36:33 He made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames.
36:34 He overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.
36:35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer.
36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, and he cast for them four silver bases.
36:37 He made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer,
36:38 and its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their tops and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.
The Making of the Ark
37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches.
37:2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it.
37:3 He cast four gold rings for it that he put on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.
37:4 He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold,
37:5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.
37:6 He made an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches.
37:7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid,
37:8 one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end. He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends.
37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the atonement lid.
The Making of the Table
37:10 He made the table of acacia wood; its length was three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches.
37:11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it.
37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame.
37:13 He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings at the four corners where its four legs were.
37:14 The rings were close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table.
37:15 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table.
37:16 He made the vessels which were on the table out of pure gold, its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.
The Making of the Lampstand
37:17 He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece.
37:18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it.
37:19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the next branch, and the same for the six branches that were extending from the lampstand.
37:20 On the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,
37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it.
37:22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece; all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold.
37:23 He made its seven lamps, its trimmers, and its trays of pure gold.
37:24 He made the lampstand and all its accessories with seventy-five pounds of pure gold.
The Making of the Altar of Incense
37:25 He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half – a square – and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it.
37:26 He overlaid it with pure gold – its top, its four walls, and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it.
37:27 He also made two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, as places for poles to carry it with.
37:28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
37:29 He made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.
The Making of the Altar for the Burnt Offering
38:1 He made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood seven feet six inches long and seven feet six inches wide – it was square – and its height was four feet six inches.
38:2 He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
38:3 He made all the utensils of the altar – the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans – he made all its utensils of bronze.
38:4 He made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom.
38:5 He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, to provide places for the poles.
38:6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
38:7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar hollow, out of boards.
38:8 He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
The Construction of the Courtyard
38:9 He made the courtyard. For the south side the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long,
38:10 with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
38:11 For the north side the hangings were one hundred fifty feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
38:12 For the west side there were hangings seventy-five feet long, with their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
38:13 For the east side, toward the sunrise, it was seventy-five feet wide,
38:14 with hangings on one side of the gate that were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases,
38:15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.
38:16 All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen.
38:17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.
38:18 The curtain for the gate of the courtyard was of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was thirty feet long, and like the hangings in the courtyard, it was seven and a half feet high,
38:19 with four posts and their four bronze bases. Their hooks and their bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver.
38:20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze.
The Materials of the Construction
38:21 This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted by the order of Moses, being the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.
38:22 Now Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses;
38:23 and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, a designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.
38:24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary (namely, the gold of the wave offering) was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
38:25 The silver of those who were numbered of the community was one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel,
38:26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, 603,550 in all.
38:27 The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base.
38:28 From the remaining 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them.
38:29 The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels.
38:30 With it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar,
38:31 the bases for the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around.
The Making of the Priestly Garments
39:1 From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Ephod
39:2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
39:3 They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into narrow strips to weave them into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and into the fine linen, the work of an artistic designer.
39:4 They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together.
39:5 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal with the names of the sons of Israel.
39:7 He put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Breastpiece of Decision
39:8 He made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
39:9 It was square – they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled.
39:10 They set on it four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row;
39:11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;
39:12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
39:13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings.
39:14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.
39:15 They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,
39:16 and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper two ends of the breastpiece.
39:17 They attached the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece;
39:18 the other two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.
39:19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the other two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod.
39:20 They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod.
39:21 They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Other Garments
39:22 He made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver.
39:23 There was an opening in the center of the robe, like the opening of a collar, with an edge all around the opening so that it could not be torn.
39:24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen around the hem of the robe.
39:25 They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates.
39:26 There was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe, to be used in ministering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:27 They made tunics of fine linen – the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons –
39:28 and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen.
39:29 The sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:30 They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.”
39:31 They attached to it a blue cord, to attach it to the turban above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Moses Inspects the Sanctuary
39:32 So all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed, and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses – they did it exactly so.
39:33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases;
39:34 and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the protecting curtain;
39:35 the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement lid;
39:36 the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence;
39:37 the pure lampstand, its lamps, with the lamps set in order, and all its accessories, and oil for the light;
39:38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; and the curtain for the entrance to the tent;
39:39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin with its pedestal;
39:40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;
39:41 the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.
39:42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:43 Moses inspected all the work – and they had done it just as the Lord had commanded – they had done it exactly – and Moses blessed them.
Setting Up the Sanctuary
40:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
40:2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
40:3 You are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain.
40:4 You are to bring in the table and set out the things that belong on it; then you are to bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.
40:5 You are to put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
40:6 You are to put the altar for the burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
40:7 You are to put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.
40:8 You are to set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard.
40:9 And take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.
40:10 Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar.
40:11 You must also anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and you are to sanctify it.
40:12 “You are to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
40:13 Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest.
40:14 You are to bring his sons and clothe them with tunics
40:15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”
40:16 This is what Moses did, according to all the Lord had commanded him – so he did.
40:17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month, in the second year.
40:18 When Moses set up the tabernacle and put its bases in place, he set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its posts.
40:19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:20 He took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark.
40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung the protecting curtain, and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:22 And he put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain.
40:23 And he set the bread in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:24 And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.
40:25 Then he set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:26 And he put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain,
40:27 and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:28 Then he put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
40:29 He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:30 Then he put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing.
40:31 Moses and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it.
40:32 Whenever they entered the tent of meeting, and whenever they approached the altar, they would wash, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
40:33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
40:35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
40:36 But when the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on all their journeys;
40:37 but if the cloud was not lifted up, then they would not journey further until the day it was lifted up.
40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be on it at night, in plain view of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Numbers 1:1--10:36
Introduction to the Sacrificial Regulations
1:1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent:
1:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Lord, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock.
Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd
1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord.
1:4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
1:5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
1:6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts,
1:7 and the sons of Aaron, the priest, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
1:8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar.
1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Animal from the Flock
1:10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering – from the sheep or the goats – he must present a flawless male,
1:11 and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar’s sides.
1:12 Next, the one presenting the offering must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood which is in the fire, on the altar.
1:13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
From the Birds
1:14 “‘If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering from the birds, he must present his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons.
1:15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off its head and offer the head up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar.
1:16 Then the priest must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, and throw them to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes,
1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Grain Offering Regulations: Offering of Raw Flour
2:1 “‘When a person presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it.
2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar – it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
2:3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons – it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord.
Processed Grain Offerings
2:4 “‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil or unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil.
2:5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened.
2:6 Crumble it in pieces and pour olive oil on it – it is a grain offering.
2:7 If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.
2:8 “‘You must bring the grain offering that must be made from these to the Lord. Present it to the priest, and he will bring it to the altar.
2:9 Then the priest must take up from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
2:10 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons – it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord.
Additional Grain Offering Regulations
2:11 “‘No grain offering which you present to the Lord can be made with yeast, for you must not offer up in smoke any yeast or honey as a gift to the Lord.
2:12 You can present them to the Lord as an offering of first fruit, but they must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma.
2:13 Moreover, you must season every one of your grain offerings with salt; you must not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be missing from your grain offering – on every one of your grain offerings you must present salt.
2:14 “‘If you present a grain offering of first ripe grain to the Lord, you must present your grain offering of first ripe grain as soft kernels roasted in fire – crushed bits of fresh grain.
2:15 And you must put olive oil on it and set frankincense on it – it is a grain offering.
2:16 Then the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke – some of its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its frankincense – it is a gift to the Lord.
Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd
3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female.
3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides.
3:3 Then the one presenting the offering must present a gift to the Lord from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that surrounds the entrails,
3:4 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).
3:5 Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Animal from the Flock
3:6 “‘If his offering for a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female.
3:7 If he presents a sheep as his offering, he must present it before the Lord.
3:8 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides.
3:9 Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails,
3:10 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).
3:11 Then the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar as a food gift to the Lord.
3:12 “‘If his offering is a goat he must present it before the Lord,
3:13 lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides.
3:14 Then he must present from it his offering as a gift to the Lord: the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat on the entrails,
3:15 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).
3:16 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a food gift for a soothing aroma – all the fat belongs to the Lord.
3:17 This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live: You must never eat any fat or any blood.’”
Sin Offering Regulations
4:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
4:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any one of them –
For the Priest
4:3 “‘If the high priest sins so that the people are guilty, on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord for a sin offering.
4:4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the Lord.
4:5 Then that high priest must take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the Meeting Tent.
4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord toward the front of the veil-canopy of the sanctuary.
4:7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull’s blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
4:8 “‘Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull: the fat covering the entrails and all the fat surrounding the entrails,
4:9 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys)
4:10 – just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice – and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.
4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung –
4:12 all the rest of the bull – he must bring outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ash pile, and he must burn it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.
For the Whole Congregation
4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter is not noticed by the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, so they become guilty,
4:14 the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent,
4:15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter the bull before the Lord.
4:16 Then the high priest must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent,
4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord toward the front of the veil-canopy.
4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
4:19 “‘Then the priest must take all its fat and offer the fat up in smoke on the altar.
4:20 He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven.
4:21 He must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull – it is the sin offering of the assembly.
For the Leader
4:22 “‘Whenever a leader, by straying unintentionally, sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty,
4:23 or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering.
4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord – it is a sin offering.
4:25 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
4:26 Then the priest must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he will be forgiven.
For the Common Person
4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty
4:28 or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat as his offering for the sin that he committed.
4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.
4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.
4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf and he will be forgiven.
4:32 “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female.
4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.
4:34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.
4:35 Then the one who brought the offering must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.
Additional Sin Offering Regulations
5:1 “‘When a person sins in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened) and he does not make it known, then he will bear his punishment for iniquity.
5:2 Or when there is a person who touches anything ceremonially unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has become unclean and is guilty;
5:3 or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty;
5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths –
5:5 when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned,
5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
5:7 “‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.
5:8 He must bring them to the priest and present first the one that is for a sin offering. The priest must pinch its head at the nape of its neck, but must not sever the head from the body.
5:9 Then he must sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the wall of the altar, and the remainder of the blood must be squeezed out at the base of the altar – it is a sin offering.
5:10 The second bird he must make a burnt offering according to the standard regulation. So the priest will make atonement on behalf of this person for his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
5:11 “‘If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed a tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.
5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering.
5:13 So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed by doing one of these things, and he will be forgiven. The remainder of the offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering.’”
Guilt Offering Regulations: Known Trespass
5:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
5:15 “When a person commits a trespass and sins by straying unintentionally from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, then he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, for a guilt offering.
5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.”
Unknown trespass
5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity
5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven.
5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.”
Trespass by Deception and False Oath
6:1 (5:20) Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen,
6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin –
6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, or the lost thing that he had found,
6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. He must restore it in full and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty.
6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest.
6:7 So the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven for whatever he has done to become guilty.”
Sacrificial Instructions for the Priests: The Burnt Offering
6:8 (6:1) Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
6:9 “Command Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it.
6:10 Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar, and he must place them beside the altar.
6:11 Then he must take off his clothes and put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place,
6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it.
6:13 A continual fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be extinguished.
The Grain Offering of the Common Person
6:14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it before the Lord in front of the altar,
6:15 and the priest must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar as a soothing aroma to the Lord.
6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent.
6:17 It must not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.
6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion throughout your generations from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts must be holy.’”
The Grain Offering of the Priests
6:19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
6:20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.
6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces as a soothing aroma to the Lord.
6:22 The high priest who succeeds him from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the Lord.
6:23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten.”
The Sin Offering
6:24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
6:25 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy.
6:26 The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Meeting Tent.
6:27 Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment, you must wash whatever he spatters it on in a holy place.
6:28 Any clay vessel it is boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel must be rubbed out and rinsed in water.
6:29 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.
6:30 But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned up in the fire.
The Guilt Offering
7:1 “‘This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy.
7:2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering, and the officiating priest must splash the blood against the altar’s sides.
7:3 Then the one making the offering must present all its fat: the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails,
7:4 the two kidneys and the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he must remove along with the kidneys).
7:5 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a gift to the Lord. It is a guilt offering.
7:6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.
Priestly Portions of Burnt and Grain Offerings
7:8 “‘As for the priest who presents someone’s burnt offering, the hide of that burnt offering which he presented belongs to him.
7:9 Every grain offering which is baked in the oven or made in the pan or on the griddle belongs to the priest who presented it.
7:10 Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, each one alike.
The Peace Offering
7:11 “‘This is the law of the peace offering sacrifice which he is to present to the Lord.
7:12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, and well soaked ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil.
7:13 He must present this grain offering in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering.
7:14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering as a contribution offering to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering.
7:15 The meat of his thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.
7:16 “‘If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day,
7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire on the third day.
7:18 If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled, and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity.
7:19 The meat which touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up in the fire. As for ceremonially clean meat, everyone who is ceremonially clean may eat the meat.
7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness persists will be cut off from his people.
7:21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’”
Sacrificial Instructions for the Common People: Fat and Blood
7:22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
7:23 “Tell the Israelites, ‘You must not eat any fat of an ox, sheep, or goat.
7:24 Moreover, the fat of an animal that has died of natural causes and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must certainly never eat it.
7:25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.
7:26 And you must not eat any blood of the birds or the domesticated land animals in any of the places where you live.
7:27 Any person who eats any blood – that person will be cut off from his people.’”
Priestly Portions of Peace Offerings
7:28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
7:29 “Tell the Israelites, ‘The one who presents his peace offering sacrifice to the Lord must bring his offering to the Lord from his peace offering sacrifice.
7:30 With his own hands he must bring the Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast to wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord,
7:31 and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons.
7:32 The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering to the priest from your peace offering sacrifices.
7:33 The one from Aaron’s sons who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his share,
7:34 for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.’”
7:35 This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day Moses presented them to serve as priests to the Lord.
7:36 This is what the Lord commanded to give to them from the Israelites on the day Moses anointed them – a perpetual allotted portion throughout their generations.
Summary of Sacrificial Regulations in Leviticus 6:8-7:36
7:37 This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the peace offering sacrifice,
7:38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.
Ordination of the Priests
8:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
8:2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, the sin offering bull, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread,
8:3 and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.”
8:4 So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation assembled at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
8:5 Then Moses said to the congregation: “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.”
Clothing Aaron
8:6 So Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.
8:7 Then he put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, and clothed him with the robe. Next he put the ephod on him and placed on him the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band.
8:8 He then set the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim into the breastpiece.
8:9 Finally, he set the turban on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Anointing the Tabernacle and Aaron, and Clothing Aaron’s Sons
8:10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them.
8:11 Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the wash basin and its stand to consecrate them.
8:12 He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him.
8:13 Moses also brought forward Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and wrapped headbands on them just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Consecration Offerings
8:14 Then he brought near the sin offering bull and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering bull,
8:15 and he slaughtered it. Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it.
8:16 Then he took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar,
8:17 but the rest of the bull – its hide, its flesh, and its dung – he completely burned up outside the camp just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:18 Then he presented the burnt offering ram and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram,
8:19 and he slaughtered it. Moses then splashed the blood against the altar’s sides.
8:20 Then he cut the ram into parts, and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke,
8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar – it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram
8:23 and he slaughtered it. Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
8:24 Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.
8:25 Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat) and the right thigh,
8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh.
8:27 He then put all of them on the palms of Aaron and his sons, who waved them as a wave offering before the Lord.
8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord.
8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Anointing Aaron, his Sons, and their Garments
8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
8:31 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’
8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread you must burn with fire.
8:33 And you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent for seven days, until the day when your days of ordination are completed, because you must be ordained over a seven-day period.
8:34 What has been done on this day the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you.
8:35 You must reside at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.”
8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Inauguration of Tabernacle Worship
9:1 On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel,
9:2 and said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both flawless, and present them before the Lord.
9:3 Then tell the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering and a calf and lamb, both a year old and flawless, for a burnt offering,
9:4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, for today the Lord is going to appear to you.’”
9:5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Meeting Tent and the whole congregation presented them and stood before the Lord.
9:6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”
9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and make your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement on behalf of yourself and on behalf of the people; and also make the people’s offering and make atonement on behalf of them just as the Lord has commanded.”
The Sin Offering for the Priests
9:8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself.
9:9 Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.
9:10 The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the Lord had commanded Moses,
9:11 but the flesh and the hide he completely burned up outside the camp.
The Burnt Offering for the Priests
9:12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and his sons handed the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides.
9:13 The burnt offering itself they handed to him by its parts, including the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar,
9:14 and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
The Offerings for the People
9:15 Then he presented the people’s offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a decontamination rite with it like the first one.
9:16 He then presented the burnt offering, and did it according to the standard regulation.
9:17 Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.
9:18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram – the peace offering sacrifices which were for the people – and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides.
9:19 As for the fat parts from the ox and from the ram (the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver),
9:20 they set those on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar.
9:21 Finally Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord just as Moses had commanded.
9:22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering.
9:23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Meeting Tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
9:24 Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.
Nadab and Abihu
10:1 Then Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.
10:2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.
10:3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke: ‘Among the ones close to me I will show myself holy, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron kept silent.
10:4 Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”
10:5 So they came near and carried them away in their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken.
10:6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not dishevel the hair of your heads and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath does not come on the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house of Israel, are to mourn the burning which the Lord has caused,
10:7 but you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they acted according to the word of Moses.
Perpetual Statutes the Lord Spoke to Aaron
10:8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron,
10:9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter into the Meeting Tent, so that you do not die, which is a perpetual statute throughout your generations,
10:10 as well as to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
10:11 and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”
Perpetual Statutes Moses spoke to Aaron
10:12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his remaining sons, “Take the grain offering which remains from the gifts of the Lord and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.
10:13 You must eat it in a holy place because it is your allotted portion and the allotted portion of your sons from the gifts of the Lord, for this is what I have been commanded.
10:14 Also, the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering you must eat in a ceremonially clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you, for they have been given as your allotted portion and the allotted portion of your sons from the peace offering sacrifices of the Israelites.
10:15 The thigh of the contribution offering and the breast of the wave offering they must bring in addition to the gifts of the fat parts to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord, and it will belong to you and your sons with you for a perpetual statute just as the Lord has commanded.”
The Problem with the Inaugural Sin Offering
10:16 Later Moses sought diligently for the sin offering male goat, but it had actually been burnt. So he became angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, saying,
10:17 “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.
10:18 See here! Its blood was not brought into the holy place within! You should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary just as I commanded!”
10:19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, “See here! Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten a sin offering today would the Lord have been pleased?”
10:20 When Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied.
Clean and Unclean Land Creatures
11:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
11:2 “Tell the Israelites: ‘This is the kind of creature you may eat from among all the animals that are on the land.
11:3 You may eat any among the animals that has a divided hoof (the hooves are completely split in two) and that also chews the cud.
11:4 However, you must not eat these from among those that chew the cud and have divided hooves: The camel is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided.
11:5 The rock badger is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided.
11:6 The hare is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided.
11:7 The pig is unclean to you because its hoof is divided (the hoof is completely split in two), even though it does not chew the cud.
11:8 You must not eat from their meat and you must not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
Clean and Unclean Water Creatures
11:9 “‘These you can eat from all creatures that are in the water: Any creatures in the water that have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat.
11:10 But any creatures that do not have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, from all the swarming things of the water and from all the living creatures that are in the water, are detestable to you.
11:11 Since they are detestable to you, you must not eat their meat and their carcass you must detest.
11:12 Any creature in the water that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.
Clean and Unclean Birds
11:13 “‘These you are to detest from among the birds – they must not be eaten, because they are detestable: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
11:14 the kite, the buzzard of any kind,
11:15 every kind of crow,
11:16 the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind,
11:17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl,
11:18 the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey,
11:19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
Clean and Unclean Insects
11:20 “‘Every winged swarming thing that walks on all fours is detestable to you.
11:21 However, this you may eat from all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours, which have jointed legs to hop with on the land.
11:22 These you may eat from them: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, the grasshopper of any kind.
11:23 But any other winged swarming thing that has four legs is detestable to you.
Carcass Uncleanness
11:24 “‘By these you defile yourselves; anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening,
11:25 and anyone who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening.
Inedible Land Quadrupeds
11:26 “‘All animals that divide the hoof but it is not completely split in two and do not chew the cud are unclean to you; anyone who touches them becomes unclean.
11:27 All that walk on their paws among all the creatures that walk on all fours are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening,
11:28 and the one who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
Creatures that Swarm on the Land
11:29 “‘Now this is what is unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the land: the rat, the mouse, the large lizard of any kind,
11:30 the Mediterranean gecko, the spotted lizard, the wall gecko, the skink, and the chameleon.
11:31 These are the ones that are unclean to you among all the swarming things. Anyone who touches them when they die will be unclean until evening.
11:32 Also, anything they fall on when they die will become unclean – any wood vessel or garment or article of leather or sackcloth. Any such vessel with which work is done must be immersed in water and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean.
11:33 As for any clay vessel they fall into, everything in it will become unclean and you must break it.
11:34 Any food that may be eaten which becomes soaked with water will become unclean. Anything drinkable in any such vessel will become unclean.
11:35 Anything their carcass may fall on will become unclean. An oven or small stove must be smashed to pieces; they are unclean, and they will stay unclean to you.
11:36 However, a spring or a cistern which collects water will be clean, but one who touches their carcass will be unclean.
11:37 Now, if such a carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean,
11:38 but if water is put on the seed and such a carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
Edible Land Quadrupeds
11:39 “‘Now if an animal that you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening.
11:40 One who eats from its carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening, and whoever carries its carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
11:41 Every swarming thing that swarms on the land is detestable; it must not be eaten.
11:42 You must not eat anything that crawls on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable.
11:43 Do not make yourselves detestable by any of the swarming things. You must not defile yourselves by them and become unclean by them,
11:44 for I am the Lord your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground,
11:45 for I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy.
11:46 This is the law of the land animals, the birds, all the living creatures that move in the water, and all the creatures that swarm on the land,
11:47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the living creatures that may be eaten and the living creatures that must not be eaten.’”
Purification of a Woman after Childbirth
12:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
12:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a woman produces offspring and bears a male child, she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation.
12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised.
12:4 Then she will remain thirty-three days in blood purity. She must not touch anything holy and she must not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
12:5 If she bears a female child, she will be impure fourteen days as during her menstrual flow, and she will remain sixty-six days in blood purity.
12:6 “‘When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, to the priest.
12:7 The priest is to present it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law of the one who bears a child, for the male or the female child.
12:8 If she cannot afford a sheep, then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.’”
Infections on the Skin
13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
13:2 “When someone has a swelling or a scab or a bright spot on the skin of his body that may become a diseased infection, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons, the priests.
13:3 The priest must then examine the infection on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, then it is a diseased infection, so when the priest examines it he must pronounce the person unclean.
A Bright Spot on the Skin
13:4 “If it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days.
13:5 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if, as far as he can see, the infection has stayed the same and has not spread on the skin, then the priest is to quarantine the person for another seven days.
13:6 The priest must then examine it again on the seventh day, and if the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person clean. It is a scab, so he must wash his clothes and be clean.
13:7 If, however, the scab is spreading further on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, then he must show himself to the priest a second time.
13:8 The priest must then examine it, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. It is a disease.
A Swelling on the Skin
13:9 “When someone has a diseased infection, he must be brought to the priest.
13:10 The priest will then examine it, and if a white swelling is on the skin, it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,
13:11 it is a chronic disease on the skin of his body, so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. The priest must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean.
13:12 If, however, the disease breaks out on the skin so that the disease covers all the skin of the person with the infection from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see,
13:13 the priest must then examine it, and if the disease covers his whole body, he is to pronounce the person with the infection clean. He has turned all white, so he is clean.
13:14 But whenever raw flesh appears in it he will be unclean,
13:15 so the priest is to examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean – it is diseased.
13:16 If, however, the raw flesh once again turns white, then he must come to the priest.
13:17 The priest will then examine it, and if the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the person with the infection clean – he is clean.
A Boil on the Skin
13:18 “When someone’s body has a boil on its skin and it heals,
13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish white bright spot, he must show himself to the priest.
13:20 The priest will then examine it, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.
13:21 If, however, the priest examines it, and there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days.
13:22 If it is spreading further on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is an infection.
13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil, so the priest is to pronounce him clean.
A Burn on the Skin
13:24 “When a body has a burn on its skin and the raw area of the burn becomes a reddish white or white bright spot,
13:25 the priest must examine it, and if the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest is to pronounce the person unclean. It is a diseased infection.
13:26 If, however, the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the bright spot, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days.
13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if it is spreading further on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is a diseased infection.
13:28 But if the bright spot stays in its place, has not spread on the skin, and it has faded, then it is the swelling of the burn, so the priest is to pronounce him clean, because it is the scar of the burn.
Scall on the Head or in the Beard
13:29 “When a man or a woman has an infection on the head or in the beard,
13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. It is scall, a disease of the head or the beard.
13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days.
13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if the scall has not spread, there is no reddish yellow hair in it, and the scall does not appear to be deeper than the skin,
13:33 then the individual is to shave himself, but he must not shave the area affected by the scall, and the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall for another seven days.
13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day, and if the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him clean. So he is to wash his clothes and be clean.
13:35 If, however, the scall spreads further on the skin after his purification,
13:36 then the priest is to examine it, and if the scall has spread on the skin the priest is not to search further for reddish yellow hair. The person is unclean.
13:37 If, as far as the priest can see, the scall has stayed the same and black hair has sprouted in it, the scall has been healed; the person is clean. So the priest is to pronounce him clean.
Bright White Spots on the Skin
13:38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots – white bright spots – on the skin of their body,
13:39 the priest is to examine them, and if the bright spots on the skin of their body are faded white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin. The person is clean.
Baldness on the Head
13:40 “When a man’s head is bare so that he is balding in back, he is clean.
13:41 If his head is bare on the forehead so that he is balding in front, he is clean.
13:42 But if there is a reddish white infection in the back or front bald area, it is a disease breaking out in his back or front bald area.
13:43 The priest is to examine it, and if the swelling of the infection is reddish white in the back or front bald area like the appearance of a disease on the skin of the body,
13:44 he is a diseased man. He is unclean. The priest must surely pronounce him unclean because of his infection on his head.
The Life of the Person with Skin Disease
13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
13:46 The whole time he has the infection he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp.
Infections in Garments, Cloth, or Leather
13:47 “When a garment has a diseased infection in it, whether a wool or linen garment,
13:48 or in the warp or woof of the linen or the wool, or in leather or anything made of leather,
13:49 if the infection in the garment or leather or warp or woof or any article of leather is yellowish green or reddish, it is a diseased infection and it must be shown to the priest.
13:50 The priest is to examine and then quarantine the article with the infection for seven days.
13:51 He must then examine the infection on the seventh day. If the infection has spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the leather – whatever the article into which the leather was made – the infection is a malignant disease. It is unclean.
13:52 He must burn the garment or the warp or the woof, whether wool or linen, or any article of leather which has the infection in it. Because it is a malignant disease it must be burned up in the fire.
13:53 But if the priest examines it and the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of leather,
13:54 the priest is to command that they wash whatever has the infection and quarantine it for another seven days.
13:55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out, and if the infection has not changed its appearance even though the infection has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it up in the fire. It is a fungus, whether on the back side or front side of the article.
13:56 But if the priest has examined it and the infection has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear it out of the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof.
13:57 Then if it still appears again in the garment or the warp or the woof, or in any article of leather, it is an outbreak. Whatever has the infection in it you must burn up in the fire.
13:58 But the garment or the warp or the woof or any article of leather which you wash and infection disappears from it is to be washed a second time and it will be clean.”
Summary of Infection Regulations
13:59 This is the law of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.
Purification of Diseased Skin Infections
14:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
14:2 “This is the law of the diseased person on the day of his purification, when he is brought to the priest.
14:3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine the infection. If the infection of the diseased person has been healed,
14:4 then the priest will command that two live clean birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop be taken up for the one being cleansed.
14:5 The priest will then command that one bird be slaughtered into a clay vessel over fresh water.
14:6 Then he is to take the live bird along with the piece of cedar wood, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the twigs of hyssop, and he is to dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over the fresh water,
14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed from the disease, pronounce him clean, and send the live bird away over the open countryside.
The Seven Days of Purification
14:8 “The one being cleansed must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean. Then afterward he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days.
14:9 When the seventh day comes he must shave all his hair – his head, his beard, his eyebrows, all his hair – and he must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and so be clean.
The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals
14:10 “On the eighth day he must take two flawless male lambs, one flawless yearling female lamb, three-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a grain offering mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil,
14:11 and the priest who pronounces him clean will have the man who is being cleansed stand along with these offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
14:12 “The priest is to take one male lamb and present it for a guilt offering along with the log of olive oil and present them as a wave offering before the Lord.
14:13 He must then slaughter the male lamb in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered, in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
14:14 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
14:15 The priest will then take some of the log of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand.
14:16 Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
14:17 The priest will then put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering,
14:18 and the remainder of the olive oil that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:19 “The priest must then perform the sin offering and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he is to slaughter the burnt offering,
14:20 and the priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean.
The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals for the Poor Person
14:21 “If the person is poor and does not have sufficient means, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make atonement for himself, one-tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, which are within his means. One will be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
14:23 “On the eighth day he must bring them for his purification to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord,
14:24 and the priest is to take the male lamb of the guilt offering and the log of olive oil and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
14:25 Then he is to slaughter the male lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
14:26 The priest will then pour some of the olive oil into his own left hand,
14:27 and sprinkle some of the olive oil that is in his left hand with his right forefinger seven times before the Lord.
14:28 Then the priest is to put some of the olive oil that is in his hand on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering,
14:29 and the remainder of the olive oil that is in the hand of the priest he is to put on the head of the one being cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:30 “He will then make one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, which are within his means,
14:31 a sin offering and the other a burnt offering along with the grain offering. So the priest is to make atonement for the one being cleansed before the Lord.
14:32 This is the law of the one in whom there is a diseased infection, who does not have sufficient means for his purification.”
Purification of Disease-Infected Houses
14:33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give to you for a possession, and I put a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess,
14:35 then whoever owns the house must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’
14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared before the priest enters to examine the infection so that everything in the house does not become unclean, and afterward the priest will enter to examine the house.
14:37 He is to examine the infection, and if the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions, and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall,
14:38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days.
14:39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if the infection has spread in the walls of the house,
14:40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown outside the city into an unclean place.
14:41 Then he is to have the house scraped all around on the inside, and the plaster which is scraped off must be dumped outside the city into an unclean place.
14:42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones, and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house.
14:43 “If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered,
14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean.
14:45 He must tear down the house, its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it outside the city to an unclean place.
14:46 Anyone who enters the house all the days the priest has quarantined it will be unclean until evening.
14:47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes.
14:48 “If, however, the priest enters and examines it, and the infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed.
14:49 Then he is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop to decontaminate the house,
14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water.
14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric,
14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.
Summary of Purification Regulations for Infections
14:54 “This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall,
14:55 for the diseased garment, for the house,
14:56 for the swelling, for the scab, and for the bright spot,
14:57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for dealing with infectious disease.”
Male Bodily Discharges
15:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
15:3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge – whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, he is unclean. All the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness.
15:4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and any furniture he sits on will be unclean.
15:5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:6 The one who sits on the furniture the man with a discharge sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:7 The one who touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:9 Any means of riding the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean.
15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:12 A clay vessel which the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.
Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges
15:13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, and be clean.
15:14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and he is to present himself before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest,
15:15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.
15:16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission, he must bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until evening,
15:17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it, and it will be unclean until evening.
15:18 When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and there is a seminal emission, they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Female Bodily Discharges
15:19 “‘When a woman has a discharge and her discharge is blood from her body, she is to be in her menstruation seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.
15:20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.
15:21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening,
15:24 and if a man actually has sexual intercourse with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.
15:25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation, all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation – she is unclean.
15:26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation,
15:27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges
15:28 “‘If she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean.
15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent,
15:30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. So the priest is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.
Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges
15:31 “‘Thus you are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst.
15:32 This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission and becomes unclean by it,
15:33 the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female, and a man who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”
The Day of Atonement
16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord and died,
16:2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy in front of the atonement plate that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.
Day of Atonement Offerings
16:3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
16:4 He must put on a holy linen tunic, linen leggings are to cover his body, and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. They are holy garments, so he must bathe his body in water and put them on.
16:5 He must also take two male goats from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
16:6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household.
16:7 He must then take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent,
16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel.
16:9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering,
16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness.
The Sin Offering Sacrificial Procedures
16:11 “Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin offering bull which is for himself,
16:12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the veil-canopy.
16:13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony, so that he will not die.
16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger.
16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate.
16:16 So he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins, and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities.
16:17 Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.
16:18 “Then he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar.
16:19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it from the impurities of the Israelites.
The Live Goat Ritual Procedures
16:20 “When he has finished purifying the holy place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat.
16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready.
16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away in the wilderness.
The Concluding Rituals
16:23 “Aaron must then enter the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there.
16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and the people.
16:25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering in smoke on the altar,
16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up,
16:28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
Review of the Day of Atonement
16:29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in your midst,
16:30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord.
16:31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute.
16:32 “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments,
16:33 and he is to purify the Most Holy Place, he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, and he is to make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
16:34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Slaughter of Animals
17:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
17:2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them: ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded:
17:3 “Blood guilt will be accounted to any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp,
17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.
17:5 This is so that the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent to the priest and sacrifice them there as peace offering sacrifices to the Lord.
17:6 The priest is to splash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord.
17:7 So they must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, acting like prostitutes by going after them. This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.
17:8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice
17:9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the Lord – that person will be cut off from his people.
Prohibition against Eating Blood
17:10 “‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in their midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,
17:11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.
17:12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood.
17:13 “‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in their midst who hunts a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten must pour out its blood and cover it with soil,
17:14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing because the life of every living thing is its blood – all who eat it will be cut off.
Regulations for Eating Carcasses
17:15 “‘Any person who eats an animal that has died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean.
17:16 But if he does not wash his clothes and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for iniquity.’”
Exhortation to Obedience and Life
18:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God!
18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes.
18:4 You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God.
18:5 So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord.
Laws of Sexual Relations
18:6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the Lord.
18:7 You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her.
18:8 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness.
18:9 You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them.
18:10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness.
18:11 You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her.
18:12 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.
18:13 You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh.
18:14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her. She is your aunt.
18:15 You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her.
18:16 You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.
18:17 You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. They are closely related to her – it is lewdness.
18:18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual intercourse with her.
18:19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her.
18:20 You must not have sexual intercourse with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her.
18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord!
18:22 You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act.
18:23 You must not have sexual intercourse with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; it is a perversion.
Warning against the Abominations of the Nations
18:24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things.
18:25 Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.
18:26 You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst,
18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean.
18:28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you.
18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people.
18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”
Religious and Social Regulations
19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
19:4 Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.
Eating the Peace Offering
19:5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you.
19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day, but what is left over until the third day must be burned up.
19:7 If, however, it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled, it will not be accepted,
19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord. That person will be cut off from his people.
Leaving the Gleanings
19:9 “‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest.
19:10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
Dealing Honestly
19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen.
19:12 You must not swear falsely in my name, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. You must not withhold the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.
19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
Justice, Love, and Propriety
19:15 “‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.
19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord.
19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.
19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
19:19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.
Lying with a Slave Woman
19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. They must not be put to death, because she was not free.
19:21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram,
19:22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven of his sin that he has committed.
The Produce of Fruit Trees
19:23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. Three years it will be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.
19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings to the Lord.
19:25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. I am the Lord your God.
Blood, Hair, and Body
19:26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.
19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.
19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person or incise a tattoo on yourself. I am the Lord.
19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.
Purity, Honor, Respect, and Honesty
19:30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.
19:32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord.
19:33 When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume.
19:36 You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.
19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. I am the Lord.’”
Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship
20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones.
20:3 I myself will set my face against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.
20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes to that man when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death,
20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech.
Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums
20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience
20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.
20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions
20:9 “‘If anyone curses his father and mother he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself.
20:10 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst.
20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.
20:18 If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them must be cut off from the midst of their people.
20:19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity.
20:20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless.
20:21 If a man has sexual intercourse with his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless.
Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience
20:22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, so that the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out.
20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.
20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.
20:25 Therefore you must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures I have distinguished for you as unclean.
20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.
Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums
20:27 “‘A man or woman who has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; their blood guilt is on themselves.’”
Rules for the Priests
21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person no priest is to defile himself among his people,
21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband; he may defile himself for her.
21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself.
21:5 Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body.
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy.
21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, am holy.
21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death.
Rules for the High Priest
21:10 “‘The high priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments.
21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother.
21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord.
21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin.
21:14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people as a wife.
21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
Rules for the Priesthood
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses:
21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations who has a physical flaw is to approach to present the food of his God.
21:18 Certainly no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, or a limb too long,
21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm,
21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a spot in his eye, or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, or a crushed testicle.
21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God.
21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God,
21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
21:24 So Moses spoke these things to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
Regulations for the Eating of Priestly Stipends
22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.
22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate to the Lord while he is impure, that person must be cut off from before me. I am the Lord.
22:4 No man from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person, or a man who has a seminal emission,
22:5 or a man who touches a swarming thing by which he becomes unclean, or touches a person by which he becomes unclean, whatever that person’s impurity –
22:6 the person who touches any of these will be unclean until evening and must not eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body in water.
22:7 When the sun goes down he will be clean, and afterward he may eat from the holy offerings, because they are his food.
22:8 He must not eat an animal that has died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the Lord.
22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it and therefore die because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
22:10 “‘No lay person may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy,
22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, that person may eat the holy offerings, and those born in the priest’s own house may eat his food.
22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, she may not eat the holy contribution offerings,
22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest.
22:15 They must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute to the Lord,
22:16 and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt when they eat their holy offerings, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
Regulations for Offering Votive and Freewill Offerings
22:17 The Lord spoke to Moses:
22:18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners in Israel presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering,
22:19 if it is to be acceptable for your benefit it must be a flawless male from the cattle, sheep, or goats.
22:20 You must not present anything that has a flaw, because it will not be acceptable for your benefit.
22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; it must have no flaw.
22:22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore, or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash. You must not give any of these as a gift on the altar to the Lord.
22:23 As for an ox or a sheep with a limb too long or stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, but it will not be acceptable for a votive offering.
22:24 You must not present to the Lord something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off; you must not do this in your land.
22:25 Even from a foreigner you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed; they will not be acceptable for your benefit.’”
22:26 The Lord spoke to Moses:
22:27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift to the Lord.
22:28 You must not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young on the same day.
22:29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is acceptable for your benefit.
22:30 On that very day it must be eaten; you must not leave any part of it over until morning. I am the Lord.
22:31 “You must be sure to do my commandments. I am the Lord.
22:32 You must not profane my holy name, and I will be sanctified in the midst of the Israelites. I am the Lord who sanctifies you,
22:33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”
Regulations for Israel’s Appointed Times
23:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies – my appointed times:
The Weekly Sabbath
23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.
The Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread
23:4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time.
23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is a Passover offering to the Lord.
23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month will be the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
23:7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work.
23:8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
The Presentation of First Fruits
23:9 The Lord spoke to Moses:
23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest to the priest,
23:11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit – on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it.
23:12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer a flawless yearling lamb for a burnt offering to the Lord,
23:13 along with its grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma, and its drink offering, one fourth of a hin of wine.
23:14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live.
The Festival of Weeks
23:15 “‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks.
23:16 You must count fifty days – until the day after the seventh Sabbath – and then you must present a new grain offering to the Lord.
23:17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, as first fruits to the Lord.
23:18 Along with the loaves of bread, you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs, one young bull, and two rams. They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
23:19 You must also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering sacrifice,
23:20 and the priest is to wave them – the two lambs – along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.
23:21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.
23:22 When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’”
The Festival of Horn Blasts
23:23 The Lord spoke to Moses:
23:24 “Tell the Israelites, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a complete rest, a memorial announced by loud horn blasts, a holy assembly.
23:25 You must not do any regular work, but you must present a gift to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
23:26 The Lord spoke to Moses:
23:27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves and present a gift to the Lord.
23:28 You must not do any work on this particular day, because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the Lord your God.
23:29 Indeed, any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.
23:30 As for any person who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people!
23:31 You must not do any work. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live.
23:32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.”
The Festival of Booths
23:33 The Lord spoke to Moses:
23:34 “Tell the Israelites, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Temporary Shelters for seven days to the Lord.
23:35 On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work.
23:36 For seven days you must present a gift to the Lord. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly day; you must not do any regular work.
23:37 “‘These are the appointed times of the Lord that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the Lord – burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings, each day according to its regulation,
23:38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord and all your gifts, votive offerings, and freewill offerings which you must give to the Lord.
23:39 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you must celebrate a pilgrim festival of the Lord for seven days. On the first day is a complete rest and on the eighth day is complete rest.
23:40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees – palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook – and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
23:41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you must celebrate it in the seventh month.
23:42 You must live in temporary shelters for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in temporary shelters,
23:43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
23:44 So Moses spoke to the Israelites about the appointed times of the Lord.
Regulations for the Lampstand and Table of Bread
24:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
24:2 “Command the Israelites to bring to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.
24:3 Outside the veil-canopy of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
24:4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand he must arrange the lamps before the Lord continually.
24:5 “You must take choice wheat flour and bake twelve loaves; there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in each loaf,
24:6 and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord.
24:7 You must put pure frankincense on each row, and it will become a memorial portion for the bread, a gift to the Lord.
24:8 Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant.
24:9 It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion from the gifts of the Lord.”
A Case of Blaspheming the Name
24:10 Now an Israelite woman’s son whose father was an Egyptian went out among the Israelites, and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man had a fight in the camp.
24:11 The Israelite woman’s son misused the Name and cursed, so they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)
24:12 So they placed him in custody until they were able to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the Lord.
24:13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
24:14 “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death.
24:15 Moreover, you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God he will bear responsibility for his sin,
24:16 and one who misuses the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.
24:17 “‘If a man beats any person to death, he must be put to death.
24:18 One who beats an animal to death must make restitution for it, life for life.
24:19 If a man inflicts an injury on his fellow citizen, just as he has done it must be done to him –
24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth – just as he inflicts an injury on another person that same injury must be inflicted on him.
24:21 One who beats an animal to death must make restitution for it, but one who beats a person to death must be put to death.
24:22 There will be one regulation for you, whether a foreigner or a native citizen, for I am the Lord your God.’”
24:23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. So the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Regulations for the Sabbatical Year
25:1 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai:
25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath to the Lord.
25:3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce,
25:4 but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest – a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
25:5 You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned vines; the land must have a year of complete rest.
25:6 You may have the Sabbath produce of the land to eat – you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you,
25:7 your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land – all its produce will be for you to eat.
Regulations for the Jubilee Year of Release
25:8 “‘You must count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years.
25:9 You must sound loud horn blasts – in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement – you must sound the horn in your entire land.
25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, and you must proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; each one of you must return to his property and each one of you must return to his clan.
25:11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines.
25:12 Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you – you may eat its produce from the field.
Release of Landed Property
25:13 “‘In this year of jubilee you must each return to your property.
25:14 If you make a sale to your fellow citizen or buy from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother.
25:15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left.
25:16 The more years there are, the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are, the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of produce.
25:17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen, but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God.
25:18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them so that you may live securely in the land.
25:19 “‘The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied, and you may live securely in the land.
25:20 If you say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?’
25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield the produce for three years,
25:22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year’s produce – old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year’s produce, you may eat old produce.
25:23 The land must not be sold without reclaim because the land belongs to me, for you are foreigners and residents with me.
25:24 In all your landed property you must provide for the right of redemption of the land.
25:25 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold.
25:26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers and gains enough for its redemption,
25:27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold, refund the balance to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property.
25:28 If he has not prospered enough to refund a balance to him, then what he sold will belong to the one who bought it until the jubilee year, but it must revert in the jubilee and the original owner may return to his property.
Release of Houses
25:29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, its right of redemption must extend until one full year from its sale; its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year.
25:30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, the house in the walled city will belong without reclaim to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee.
25:31 The houses of villages, however, which have no wall surrounding them must be considered as the field of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the jubilee.
25:32 As for the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption.
25:33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem – the sale of a house which is his property in a city – must revert in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.
25:34 Moreover, the open field areas of their cities must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession.
Debt and Slave Regulations
25:35 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, you must support him; he must live with you like a foreign resident.
25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, but you must fear your God and your brother must live with you.
25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit.
25:38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan – to be your God.
25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.
25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee,
25:41 but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.
25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.
25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, but you must fear your God.
25:44 “‘As for your male and female slaves who may belong to you – you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you.
25:45 Also you may buy slaves from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property.
25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly.
25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member of a foreigner’s family,
25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. One of his brothers may redeem him,
25:49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives – his family – may redeem him, or if he prospers he may redeem himself.
25:50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him.
25:51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption,
25:52 but if only a few years remain until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption.
25:53 He must be with the one who bought him like a yearly hired worker. The one who bought him must not rule over him harshly in your sight.
25:54 If, however, he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free in the jubilee year, he and his children with him,
25:55 because the Israelites are my own servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Exhortation to Obedience
26:1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before it, for I am the Lord your God.
26:2 You must keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
The Benefits of Obedience
26:3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and are sure to obey my commandments,
26:4 I will give you your rains in their time so that the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.
26:5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes, and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so you will eat your bread until you are satisfied, and you will live securely in your land.
26:6 I will grant peace in the land so that you will lie down to sleep without anyone terrifying you. I will remove harmful animals from the land, and no sword of war will pass through your land.
26:7 You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.
26:8 Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.
26:9 I will turn to you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and maintain my covenant with you.
26:10 You will still be eating stored produce from the previous year and will have to clean out what is stored from the previous year to make room for new.
26:11 “‘I will put my tabernacle in your midst and I will not abhor you.
26:12 I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people.
26:13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.
The Consequences of Disobedience
26:14 “‘If, however, you do not obey me and keep all these commandments –
26:15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep all my commandments and you break my covenant –
26:16 I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
26:18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins.
26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.
26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land will not produce their fruit.
26:21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction seven times according to your sins.
26:22 I will send the wild animals against you and they will bereave you of your children, annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population so that your roads will become deserted.
26:23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me,
26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you seven times on account of your sins.
26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. Although you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands.
26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.
26:27 “‘If in spite of this you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me,
26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins.
26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. I will abhor you.
26:31 I will lay your cities waste and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas.
26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled.
26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths.
26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.
26:36 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.
26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand for you before your enemies.
26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.
Restoration through Confession and Repentance
26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ iniquities which are with them.
26:40 However, when they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, by which they also walked in hostility against me
26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for their iniquity,
26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
26:43 The land will be abandoned by them in order that it may make up for its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them, and they will make up for their iniquity because they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred my statutes.
26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.
26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”
Summary Colophon
26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the Lord established between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai through Moses.
Redemption of Vowed People
27:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
27:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When a man makes a special votive offering based on the conversion value of persons to the Lord,
27:3 the conversion value of the male from twenty years old up to sixty years old is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel.
27:4 If the person is a female, the conversion value is thirty shekels.
27:5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
27:6 If the person is one month old up to five years old, the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver, and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver.
27:7 If the person is from sixty years old and older, if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
27:8 If he is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value; according to what the man who made the vow can afford, the priest will establish his conversion value.
Redemption of Vowed Animals
27:9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal will be holy.
27:10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal and its substitute will be holy.
27:11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord, then he must stand the animal before the priest,
27:12 and the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. According to the assessed conversion value of the priest, thus it will be.
27:13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal, he must add one fifth to its conversion value.
Redemption of Vowed Houses
27:14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand.
27:15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house, he must add to it one fifth of its conversion value in silver, and it will belong to him.
Redemption of Vowed Fields
27:16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it, a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver.
27:17 If he consecrates his field in the jubilee year, the conversion value will stand,
27:18 but if he consecrates his field after the jubilee, the priest will calculate the price for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value.
27:19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it, he must add to it one fifth of the conversion price and it will belong to him.
27:20 If he does not redeem the field, but sells the field to someone else, he may never redeem it.
27:21 When it reverts in the jubilee, the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field; it will become the priest’s property.
27:22 “‘If he consecrates to the Lord a field he has purchased, which is not part of his own landed property,
27:23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the jubilee year, and he must pay the conversion value on that jubilee day as something that is holy to the Lord.
27:24 In the jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property.
27:25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel; twenty gerahs to the shekel.
Redemption of the Firstborn
27:26 “‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the Lord.
27:27 If, however, it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according to its conversion value and must add one fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.
Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord
27:28 “‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lord from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord.
27:29 Any human being who is permanently dedicated must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.
Redemption of the Tithe
27:30 “‘Any tithe of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
27:31 If a man redeems part of his tithe, however, he must add one fifth to it.
27:32 All the tithe of herd or flock, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord.
27:33 The owner must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it, both the original animal and its substitute will be holy. It must not be redeemed.’”
Final Colophon
27:34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Organizing the Census of the Israelites
1:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites departed from the land of Egypt. He said:
1:2 “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male.
1:3 You and Aaron are to number all in Israel who can serve in the army, those who are twenty years old or older, by their divisions.
1:4 And to help you there is to be a man from each tribe, each man the head of his family.
1:5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help you:
from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;
1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
1:7 from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;
1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;
1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;
1:10 from the sons of Joseph:
from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;
from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;
1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
1:13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;
1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;
1:15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
The Census of the Tribes
1:16 These were the ones chosen from the community, leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
1:17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned specifically by name,
1:18 and they assembled the entire community together on the first day of the second month. Then the people recorded their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name individually,
1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
1:20 And they were as follows:
The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually.
1:21 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
1:22 From the descendants of Simeon: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually.
1:23 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
1:24 From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:25 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
1:26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:27 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:29 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:31 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
1:32 From the sons of Joseph:
From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:33 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:35 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:37 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
1:38 From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:39 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
1:40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:41 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
1:42 From the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.
1:43 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
1:44 These were the men whom Moses and Aaron numbered along with the twelve leaders of Israel, each of whom was from his own family.
1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered according to their families.
1:46 And all those numbered totaled 603,550.
The Exemption of the Levites
1:47 But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.
1:48 The Lord had said to Moses,
1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites.
1:50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it.
1:51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, the Levites must set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it must be killed.
1:52 “The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard.
1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
1:54 The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses – that is what they did.
The Arrangement of the Tribes
2:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron:
2:2 “Every one of the Israelites must camp under his standard with the emblems of his family; they must camp at some distance around the tent of meeting.
The Tribes on the East
2:3 “Now those who will be camping on the east, toward the sunrise, are the divisions of the camp of Judah under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab.
2:4 Those numbered in his division are 74,600.
2:5 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Issachar. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar.
2:6 Those numbered in his division are 54,400.
2:7 Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon.
2:8 Those numbered in his division are 57,400.
2:9 All those numbered of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, are 186,400. They will travel at the front.
The Tribes on the South
2:10 “On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur.
2:11 Those numbered in his division are 46,500.
2:12 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
2:13 Those numbered in his division are 59,300.
2:14 Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.
2:15 Those numbered in his division are 45,650.
2:16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, are 151,450. They will travel second.
The Tribe in the Center
2:17 “Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place under his standard.
The Tribes on the West
2:18 “On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Amihud.
2:19 Those numbered in his division are 40,500.
2:20 Next to them will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
2:21 Those numbered in his division are 32,200.
2:22 Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni.
2:23 Those numbered in his division are 35,400.
2:24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, are 108,100. They will travel third.
The Tribes on the North
2:25 “On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan, under their standards. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
2:26 Those numbered in his division are 62,700.
2:27 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Asher. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Ocran.
2:28 Those numbered in his division are 41,500.
2:29 Next will be the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan.
2:30 Those numbered in his division are 53,400.
2:31 All those numbered of the camp of Dan are 157,600. They will travel last, under their standards.”
Summary
2:32 These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.
2:33 But the Levites were not numbered among the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.
2:34 So the Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.
The Sons of Aaron
3:1 Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
3:2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests.
3:4 Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Assignment of the Levites
3:5 The Lord spoke to Moses:
3:6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.
3:7 They are responsible for his needs and the needs of the whole community before the tent of meeting, by attending to the service of the tabernacle.
3:8 And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve in the tabernacle.
3:9 You are to assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they will be assigned exclusively to him out of all the Israelites.
3:10 So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; but the unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.”
3:11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
3:12 “Look, I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,
3:13 because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.”
The Numbering of the Levites
3:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai:
3:15 “Number the Levites by their clans and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.”
3:16 So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded.
The Summary of Families
3:17 These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
3:18 These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.
3:19 The sons of Kohath by their families were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
3:20 The sons of Merari by their families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their clans.
The Numbering of the Gershonites
3:21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.
3:22 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 7,500.
3:23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle toward the west.
3:24 Now the leader of the clan of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.
3:25 And the responsibilities of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the tent of meeting,
3:26 the hangings of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard that surrounded the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, plus all the service connected with these things.
The Numbering of the Kohathites
3:27 From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites.
3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary.
3:29 The families of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle.
3:30 Now the leader of the clan of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
3:31 Their responsibilities included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the curtain, and all their service.
3:32 Now the head of all the Levitical leaders was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was appointed over those who were responsible for the sanctuary.
The Numbering of Merari
3:33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari.
3:34 Those of them who were numbered, counting every male from a month old and upward, were 6,200.
3:35 Now the leader of the clan of the families of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
3:36 The appointed responsibilities of the Merarites included the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets, its utensils, plus all the service connected with these things,
3:37 and the pillars of the courtyard all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their ropes.
3:38 But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons. They were responsible for the needs of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.
3:39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, according to their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
The Substitution for the Firstborn
3:40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
3:41 And take the Levites for me – I am the Lord – instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”
3:42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him.
3:43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names from a month old and upward, totaled 22,273.
3:44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.
3:46 And for the redemption of the 273 firstborn males of the Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites,
3:47 collect five shekels for each one individually; you are to collect this amount in the currency of the sanctuary shekel (this shekel is twenty gerahs).
3:48 And give the money for the redemption of the excess number of them to Aaron and his sons.”
3:49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were in excess of those redeemed by the Levites.
3:50 From the firstborn males of the Israelites he collected the money, 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
3:51 Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Service of the Kohathites
4:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
4:2 “Take a census of the Kohathites from among the Levites, by their families and by their clans,
4:3 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work in the tent of meeting.
4:4 This is the service of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting, relating to the most holy things.
4:5 When it is time for the camp to journey, Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
4:6 Then they must put over it a covering of fine leather and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue, and then they must insert its poles.
4:7 “On the table of the presence they must spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring, and the Bread of the Presence must be on it continually.
4:8 They must spread over them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather; and they must insert its poles.
4:9 “They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand of the light, with its lamps, its wick-trimmers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, with which they service it.
4:10 Then they must put it with all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on a carrying beam.
4:11 “They must spread a blue cloth on the gold altar, and cover it with a covering of fine leather; and they must insert its poles.
4:12 Then they must take all the utensils of the service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying beam.
4:13 Also, they must take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it.
4:14 Then they must place on it all its implements with which they serve there – the trays, the meat forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar – and they must spread on it a covering of fine leather, and then insert its poles.
4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then the Kohathites will come to carry them; but they must not touch any holy thing, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.
4:16 “The appointed responsibility of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is for the oil for the light, and the spiced incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil; he also has the appointed responsibility over all the tabernacle with all that is in it, over the sanctuary and over all its furnishings.”
4:17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
4:18 “Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off from among the Levites;
4:19 but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility.
4:20 But the Kohathites are not to go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, or they will die.”
The Service of the Gershonites
4:21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
4:22 “Also take a census of the Gershonites, by their clans and by their families.
4:23 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.
4:24 This is the service of the families of Gershonites, as they serve and carry it.
4:25 They must carry the curtains for the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is over it, the curtains for the entrance of the tent of meeting,
4:26 the hangings for the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the court, which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, along with all the furnishings for their service and everything that is made for them. So they are to serve.
4:27 “All the service of the Gershonites, whether carrying loads or for any of their work, will be at the direction of Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks as their responsibility.
4:28 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites concerning the tent of meeting. Their responsibilities will be under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The Service of the Merarites
4:29 “As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their families and by their clans.
4:30 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.
4:31 This is what they are responsible to carry as their entire service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, its sockets,
4:32 and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their sockets, tent pegs, and ropes, along with all their furnishings and everything for their service. You are to assign by names the items that each man is responsible to carry.
4:33 This is the service of the families of the Merarites, their entire service concerning the tent of meeting, under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
Summary
4:34 So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community numbered the Kohathites by their families and by clans,
4:35 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting;
4:36 and those of them numbered by their families were 2,750.
4:37 These were those numbered from the families of the Kohathites, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the authority of Moses.
4:38 Those numbered from the Gershonites, by their families and by their clans,
4:39 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –
4:40 those of them numbered by their families, by their clans, were 2,630.
4:41 These were those numbered from the families of the Gershonites, everyone who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord.
4:42 Those numbered from the families of the Merarites, by their families, by their clans,
4:43 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered the company for the work in the tent of meeting –
4:44 those of them numbered by their families were 3,200.
4:45 These are those numbered from the families of the Merarites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the authority of Moses.
4:46 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their families and by their clans,
4:47 from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service and the work of carrying relating to the tent of meeting –
4:48 those of them numbered were 8,580.
4:49 According to the word of the Lord they were numbered, by the authority of Moses, each according to his service and according to what he was to carry. Thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Separation of the Unclean
5:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
5:2 “Command the Israelites to expel from the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.
5:3 You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps, among which I live.”
5:4 So the Israelites did so, and expelled them outside the camp. As the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.
Restitution for Sin
5:5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
5:6 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a man or a woman commits any sin that people commit, thereby breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is found guilty,
5:7 then he must confess his sin that he has committed and must make full reparation, add one fifth to it, and give it to whomever he wronged.
5:8 But if the individual has no close relative to whom reparation can be made for the wrong, the reparation for the wrong must be paid to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement by which atonement is made for him.
5:9 Every offering of all the Israelites’ holy things that they bring to the priest will be his.
5:10 Every man’s holy things will be his; whatever any man gives the priest will be his.’”
The Jealousy Ordeal
5:11 The Lord spoke to Moses:
5:12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,
5:13 and a man has sexual relations with her without her husband knowing it, and it is hidden that she has defiled herself, since there was no witness against her, nor was she caught –
5:14 and if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is defiled; or if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is not defiled –
5:15 then the man must bring his wife to the priest, and he must bring the offering required for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he must not pour olive oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of suspicion, a grain offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance.
5:16 “‘Then the priest will bring her near and have her stand before the Lord.
5:17 The priest will then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.
5:18 Then the priest will have the woman stand before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.
5:19 Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to the her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.
5:20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had sexual relations with you….”
5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse and will say to the her, “The Lord make you an attested curse among your people, if the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell;
5:22 and this water that causes the curse will go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot.” Then the woman must say, “Amen, amen.”
5:23 “‘Then the priest will write these curses on a scroll and then scrape them off into the bitter water.
5:24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.
5:25 The priest will take the grain offering of suspicion from the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.
5:26 Then the priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.
5:27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness – her abdomen will swell, her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
5:28 But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she will be free of ill effects and will be able to bear children.
5:29 “‘This is the law for cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
5:30 or when jealous feelings come over a man and he becomes suspicious of his wife; then he must have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will carry out all this law upon her.
5:31 Then the man will be free from iniquity, but that woman will bear the consequences of her iniquity.’”
The Nazirite Vow
6:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman takes a special vow, to take a vow as a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,
6:3 he must separate himself from wine and strong drink, he must drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
6:4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.
6:5 “‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor may be used on his head until the time is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord. He will be holy, and he must let the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body.
6:7 He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, because the separation for his God is on his head.
6:8 All the days of his separation he must be holy to the Lord.
Contingencies for Defilement
6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it.
6:10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance to the tent of meeting.
6:11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because of his transgression in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate his head on that day.
6:12 He must rededicate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, but the former days will not be counted because his separation was defiled.
Fulfilling the Vows
6:13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,
6:14 and he must present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering, one ram without blemish for a peace offering,
6:15 and a basket of bread made without yeast, cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, wafers made without yeast and smeared with olive oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.
6:16 “‘Then the priest must present all these before the Lord and offer his purification offering and his burnt offering.
6:17 Then he must offer the ram as a peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of bread made without yeast; the priest must also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.
6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire where the peace offering is burning.
6:19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head;
6:20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering. After this the Nazirite may drink wine.’
6:21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. Thus he must fulfill his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”
The Priestly Benediction
6:22 The Lord spoke to Moses:
6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
6:24 “The Lord bless you and protect you;
6:25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
6:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.”’
6:27 So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
The Leader’s Offerings
7:1 When Moses had completed setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and he anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils.
7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising the numbering.
7:3 They brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen – one cart for every two of the leaders, and an ox for each one; and they presented them in front of the tabernacle.
The Distribution of the Gifts
7:4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
7:5 “Receive these gifts from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tent of meeting; and you must give them to the Levites, to every man as his service requires.”
7:6 So Moses accepted the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
7:7 He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites, as their service required;
7:8 and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their service required, under the authority of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
7:9 But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried on their shoulders, was their responsibility.
The Time of Presentation
7:10 The leaders offered gifts for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed. And the leaders presented their offering before the altar.
7:11 For the Lord said to Moses, “They must present their offering, one leader for each day, for the dedication of the altar.”
The Tribal Offerings
7:12 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah.
7:13 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels, and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:14 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:15 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:16 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.
7:18 On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering.
7:19 He offered for his offering one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:20 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:21 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:22 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:23 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.
7:24 On the third day Eliab son of Helon, leader of the Zebulunites, presented an offering.
7:25 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:26 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:27 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:28 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:29 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
7:30 On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the Reubenites, presented an offering.
7:31 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:32 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:33 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:34 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:35 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.
7:36 On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the Simeonites, presented an offering.
7:37 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:38 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels;
7:39 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:40 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:41 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Sheloumiel son of Zurishaddai.
7:42 On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the Gadites, presented an offering.
7:43 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:44 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels;
7:45 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:46 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:47 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.
7:48 On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the Ephraimites, presented an offering.
7:49 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:50 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:51 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:52 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:53 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.
7:54 On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the Manassehites, presented an offering.
7:55 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:56 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:57 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:58 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:59 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
7:60 On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the Benjaminites, presented an offering.
7:61 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:62 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:63 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:64 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:65 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.
7:66 On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Amishaddai, leader of the Danites, presented an offering.
7:67 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:68 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:69 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:70 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:71 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Amishaddai.
7:72 On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, leader of the Asherites, presented an offering.
7:73 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:74 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels, full of incense;
7:75 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:76 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:77 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran.
7:78 On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the Naphtalites, presented an offering.
7:79 His offering was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70 shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
7:80 one gold pan weighing 10 shekels;
7:81 one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
7:82 one male goat for a purification offering;
7:83 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.
Summary
7:84 This was the dedication for the altar from the leaders of Israel, when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver sprinkling bowls, and twelve gold pans.
7:85 Each silver platter weighed 130 shekels, and each silver sprinkling bowl weighed 70 shekels. All the silver of the vessels weighed 2,400 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
7:86 The twelve gold pans full of incense weighed 10 shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel; all the gold of the pans weighed 120 shekels.
7:87 All the animals for the burnt offering were 12 young bulls, 12 rams, 12 male lambs in their first year, with their grain offering, and 12 male goats for a purification offering.
7:88 All the animals for the sacrifice for the peace offering were 24 young bulls, 60 rams, 60 male goats, and 60 lambs in their first year. These were the dedication offerings for the altar after it was anointed.
7:89 Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Thus he spoke to him.
Lighting the Lamps
8:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
8:2 “Speak to Aaron and tell him, ‘When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.’”
8:3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses.
8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: It was beaten work in gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
The Separation of the Levites
8:5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
8:6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them.
8:7 And do this to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification on them; then have them shave all their body and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.
8:8 Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take a second young bull for a purification offering.
8:9 You are to bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire community of the Israelites.
8:10 Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites;
8:11 and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work of the Lord.
8:12 When the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
8:13 You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.
8:14 And so you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
8:15 “After this, the Levites will go in to do the work of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering.
8:16 For they are entirely given to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.
8:17 For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.
8:18 So I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons among the Israelites.
8:19 I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary.”
8:20 So Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the Israelites did this with the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, this is what the Israelites did with them.
8:21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.
8:22 After this, the Levites went in to do their work in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did.
The Work of the Levites
8:23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
8:24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: At the age of twenty-five years and upward one may begin to join the company in the work of the tent of meeting,
8:25 and at the age of fifty years they must retire from performing the work and may no longer work.
8:26 They may assist their colleagues in the tent of meeting, to attend to needs, but they must do no work. This is the way you must establish the Levites regarding their duties.”
Passover Regulations
9:1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt:
9:2 “The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.
9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you are to observe it at its appointed time; you must keep it in accordance with all its statutes and all its customs.”
9:4 So Moses instructed the Israelites to observe the Passover.
9:5 And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
9:6 It happened that some men who were ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man could not keep the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.
9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”
9:8 So Moses said to them, “Remain here and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9:9 The Lord spoke to Moses:
9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may observe the Passover to the Lord.
9:11 They may observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight; they are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs.
9:12 They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover.
9:13 But the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin.
9:14 If a resident foreigner lives among you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have the same statute for the resident foreigner and for the one who was born in the land.’”
The Leading of the Lord
9:15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle – the tent of the testimony – and from evening until morning there was a fiery appearance over the tabernacle.
9:16 This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day, and there was a fiery appearance by night.
9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.
9:18 At the commandment of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.
9:19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions of the Lord and did not journey.
9:20 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.
9:21 And when the cloud remained only from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled.
9:22 Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud prolonged its stay over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; but when it was taken up, they traveled on.
9:23 At the commandment of the Lord they camped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled on; they kept the instructions of the Lord according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority of Moses.
The Blowing of Trumpets
10:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
10:2 “Make two trumpets of silver; you are to make them from a single hammered piece. You will use them for assembling the community and for directing the traveling of the camps.
10:3 When they blow them both, all the community must come to you to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
10:4 “But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, must come to you.
10:5 When you blow an alarm, then the camps that are located on the east side must begin to travel.
10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that are located on the south side must begin to travel. An alarm must be sounded for their journeys.
10:7 But when you assemble the community, you must blow, but you must not sound an alarm.
10:8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blow the trumpets; and they will be to you for an eternal ordinance throughout your generations.
10:9 If you go to war in your land against an adversary who opposes you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.
10:10 “Also in the time when you rejoice, such as on your appointed festivals or at the beginnings of your months, you must blow with your trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, so that they may become a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”
The Journey From Sinai to Kadesh
10:11 On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.
10:12 So the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.
Judah Begins the Journey
10:13 This was the first time they set out on their journey according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority of Moses.
10:14 The standard of the camp of the Judahites set out first according to their companies, and over his company was Nahshon son of Amminadab.
10:15 Over the company of the tribe of Issacharites was Nathanel son of Zuar,
10:16 and over the company of the tribe of the Zebulunites was Elion son of Helon.
10:17 Then the tabernacle was dismantled, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle.
Journey Arrangements for the Tribes
10:18 The standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their companies; over his company was Elizur son of Shedeur.
10:19 Over the company of the tribe of the Simeonites was Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,
10:20 and over the company of the tribe of the Gadites was Eliasaph son of Deuel.
10:21 And the Kohathites set out, carrying the articles for the sanctuary; the tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.
10:22 And the standard of the camp of the Ephraimites set out according to their companies; over his company was Elishama son of Ammihud.
10:23 Over the company of the tribe of the Manassehites was Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,
10:24 and over the company of the tribe of Benjaminites was Abidan son of Gideoni.
10:25 The standard of the camp of the Danites set out, which was the rear guard of all the camps by their companies; over his company was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
10:26 Over the company of the tribe of the Asherites was Pagiel son of Ocran,
10:27 and over the company of the tribe of the Naphtalites was Ahira son of Enan.
10:28 These were the traveling arrangements of the Israelites according to their companies when they traveled.
The Appeal to Hobab
10:29 Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things for Israel.”
10:30 But Hobab said to him, “I will not go, but I will go instead to my own land and to my kindred.”
10:31 Moses said, “Do not leave us, because you know places for us to camp in the wilderness, and you could be our guide.
10:32 And if you come with us, it is certain that whatever good things the Lord will favor us with, we will share with you as well.”
10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.
10:34 And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they traveled from the camp.
10:35 And when the ark traveled, Moses would say, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee before you!”
10:36 And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!”