Numbers 11:1--21:35
The Israelites Complain
11:1 When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.
11:2 When the people cried to Moses, he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out.
11:3 So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.
Complaints about Food
11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
11:5 We remember the fish we used to eat freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.
11:6 But now we are dried up, and there is nothing at all before us except this manna!”
11:7 (Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.
11:8 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it with mills or pounded it in mortars; they baked it in pans and made cakes of it. It tasted like fresh olive oil.
11:9 And when the dew came down on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.)
Moses’ Complaint to the Lord
11:10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased.
11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this entire people on me?
11:12 Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father bears a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers?
11:13 From where shall I get meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat!’
11:14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, because it is too heavy for me!
11:15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.”
The Response of God
11:16 The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.
11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.
11:18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.
11:19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
11:20 but a whole month, until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, because you have despised the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”
11:21 Moses said, “The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’
11:22 Would they have enough if the flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”
11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you will see whether my word to you will come true or not!”
11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. He then gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tabernacle.
11:25 And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.
Eldad and Medad
11:26 But two men remained in the camp; one’s name was Eldad, and the other’s name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.
11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his choice young men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”
11:29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
11:30 Then Moses returned to the camp along with the elders of Israel.
Provision of Quail
11:31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet high on the surface of the ground.
11:32 And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.
11:34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that craved different food.
11:35 The people traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).
12:2 They said, “Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard it.
12:3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.)
The Response of the Lord
12:4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went.
12:5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
12:6 The Lord said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.
12:7 My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house.
12:8 With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
12:9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed.
12:10 When the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became leprous as snow. Then Aaron looked at Miriam, and she was leprous!
The Intercession of Moses
12:11 So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned!
12:12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb!”
12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.”
12:14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”
12:15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in.
12:16 After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Spies Sent Out
13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
13:2 “Send out men to investigate the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a leader among them.”
13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
13:4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
13:6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
13:7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
13:8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
13:9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
13:10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
13:11 from the tribe of Joseph, namely, the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi;
13:12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13:13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
13:14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vopshi;
13:15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
13:16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to investigate the land. And Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
The Spies’ Instructions
13:17 When Moses sent them to investigate the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev, and then go up into the hill country
13:18 and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, few or many,
13:19 and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,
13:20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year for the first ripe grapes.
The Spies’ Activities
13:21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, at the entrance of Hamath.
13:22 When they went up through the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
13:23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs.
13:24 That place was called the Eshcol Valley, because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut from there.
13:25 They returned from investigating the land after forty days.
The Spies’ Reports
13:26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.
13:27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
13:28 But the inhabitants are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
13:29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up and occupy it, for we are well able to conquer it.”
13:31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”
13:32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.
13:33 We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.”
The Israelites Respond in Unbelief
14:1 Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
14:2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!
14:3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
14:4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites.
14:6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments.
14:7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.
14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey.
14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”
14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
The Punishment from God
14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?
14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!”
14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them –
14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.
14:15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,
14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’
14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said,
14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’
14:19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”
14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked.
14:21 But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me,
14:23 they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.
14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully – I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants will possess it.
14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
14:26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
14:27 “How long must I bear with this evil congregation that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me.
14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, says the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing.
14:29 Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me.
14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
14:31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised.
14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness,
14:33 and your children will wander in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your dead bodies lie finished in the wilderness.
14:34 According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days – one day for a year – you will suffer for your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me.
14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’”
14:36 The men whom Moses sent to investigate the land, who returned and made the whole community murmur against him by producing an evil report about the land,
14:37 those men who produced the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
14:38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to investigate the land, lived.
14:39 When Moses told these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly.
14:40 And early in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, for we have sinned.”
14:41 But Moses said, “Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed!
14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be defeated before your enemies.
14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”
14:44 But they dared to go up to the crest of the hill, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.
14:45 So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped down and attacked them as far as Hormah.
Sacrificial Rulings
15:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,
15:3 and you make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock (whether a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a freewill offering or in your solemn feasts) to create a pleasing aroma to the Lord,
15:4 then the one who presents his offering to the Lord must bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of olive oil.
15:5 You must also prepare one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with the burnt offering or the sacrifice for each lamb.
15:6 Or for a ram, you must prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with one-third of a hin of olive oil,
15:7 and for a drink offering you must offer one-third of a hin of wine as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
15:8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice for discharging a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord,
15:9 then a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil must be presented with the young bull,
15:10 and you must present as the drink offering half a hin of wine with the fire offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
15:11 This is what is to be done for each ox, or each ram, or each of the male lambs or the goats.
15:12 You must do so for each one according to the number that you prepare.
15:13 “‘Every native-born person must do these things in this way to present an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
15:14 If a resident foreigner is living with you – or whoever is among you in future generations – and prepares an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way you are to do it.
15:15 One statute must apply to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike before the Lord.
15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you.’”
Rules for First Fruits
15:17 The Lord spoke to Moses:
15:18 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you
15:19 and you eat some of the food of the land, you must offer up a raised offering to the Lord.
15:20 You must offer up a cake of the first of your finely ground flour as a raised offering; as you offer the raised offering of the threshing floor, so you must offer it up.
15:21 You must give to the Lord some of the first of your finely ground flour as a raised offering in your future generations.
Rules for Unintentional Offenses
15:22 “‘If you sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses –
15:23 all that the Lord has commanded you by the authority of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses and continuing through your future generations –
15:24 then if anything is done unintentionally without the knowledge of the community, the whole community must prepare one young bull for a burnt offering – for a pleasing aroma to the Lord – along with its grain offering and its customary drink offering, and one male goat for a purification offering.
15:25 And the priest is to make atonement for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven, because it was unintentional and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their unintentional offense.
15:26 And the whole community of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.
15:27 “‘If any person sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering.
15:28 And the priest must make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally – when he sins unintentionally before the Lord – to make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.
Deliberate Sin
15:30 “‘But the person who acts defiantly, whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults the Lord. That person must be cut off from among his people.
15:31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person must be completely cut off. His iniquity will be on him.’”
15:32 When the Israelites were in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
15:33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community.
15:34 They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him.
15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone him with stones outside the camp.”
15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Rules for Tassels
15:37 The Lord spoke to Moses:
15:38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tassels for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread on the tassel of the corners.
15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness.
15:40 Thus you will remember and obey all my commandments and be holy to your God.
15:41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
The Rebellion of Korah
16:1 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men
16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men.
16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”
16:4 When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground.
16:5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him.
16:6 Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers,
16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
16:8 Moses said to Korah, “Listen now, you sons of Levi!
16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them?
16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also?
16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?”
16:12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up.
16:13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us?
16:14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up.”
16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”
16:16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company present yourselves before the Lord – you and they, and Aaron – tomorrow.
16:17 And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron – each of you with his censer.”
16:18 So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
16:19 When Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.
The Judgment on the Rebels
16:20 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant.”
16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”
16:23 So the Lord spoke to Moses:
16:24 “Tell the community: ‘Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”
16:25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him.
16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.”
16:27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers.
16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.
16:29 If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.
16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”
16:31 When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open,
16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods.
16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.
16:34 All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “What if the earth swallows us too?”
16:35 Then a fire went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.
The Atonement for the Rebellion
16:36 (17:1) The Lord spoke to Moses:
16:37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick up the censers out of the flame, for they are holy, and then scatter the coals of fire at a distance.
16:38 As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, they must be made into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the Lord and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites.”
16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been burned up, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar.
16:40 It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company – just as the Lord had spoken by the authority of Moses.
16:41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”
16:42 When the community assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting – and the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
16:43 Then Moses and Aaron stood before the tent of meeting.
16:44 The Lord spoke to Moses:
16:45 “Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant!” But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.
16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, put burning coals from the altar in it, place incense on it, and go quickly into the assembly and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord – the plague has begun!”
16:47 So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.
16:48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.
16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah.
16:50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
17:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, one from every tribal leader, twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.
17:3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.
17:4 You must place them in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant where I meet with you.
17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”
17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, according to their tribes – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.
17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.
17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds!
17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.
The Memorial
17:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end before me, that they will not die.”
17:11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him – this is what he did.
17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die! We perish, we all perish!
17:13 (17:28) Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”
Responsibilities of the Priests
18:1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.
18:3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.
18:4 They must join with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person may approach you.
18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be no more wrath on the Israelites.
18:6 I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties of the tent of meeting.
18:7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”
The Portion of the Priests
18:8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.
18:9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons.
18:10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.
18:11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
18:12 “All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.
18:13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
18:14 “Everything devoted in Israel will be yours.
18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem.
18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs).
18:17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
18:18 And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours.
18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”
Duties of the Levites
18:20 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.
18:21 See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform – the service of the tent of meeting.
18:22 No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin and die.
18:23 But the Levites must perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites have no inheritance.
18:24 But I have given to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance.”
Instructions for the Levites
18:25 The Lord spoke to Moses:
18:26 “You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.
18:27 And your raised offering will be credited to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine from the winepress.
18:28 Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest.
18:29 From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.’
18:30 “Therefore you will say to them, ‘When you offer up the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress.
18:31 And you may eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting.
18:32 And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”
The Red Heifer Ritual
19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:
19:2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has never carried a yoke.
19:3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him.
19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times directly in front of the tent of meeting.
19:5 Then the heifer must be burned in his sight – its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned.
19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning.
19:7 Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
19:8 The one who burns it must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.
19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification – it is a purification for sin.
19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.
Purification from Uncleanness
19:11 “‘Whoever touches the corpse of any person will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
19:12 He must purify himself with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.
19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.
19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean.
19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.
19:17 “‘For a ceremonially unclean person you must take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin and pour fresh running water over them in a vessel.
19:18 Then a ceremonially clean person must take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or one who died, or a grave.
19:19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening.
19:20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.
19:21 “‘So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening.
19:22 And whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”
The Israelites Complain Again
20:1 Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.
20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.
20:3 The people contended with Moses, saying, “If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!
20:4 Why have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here?
20:5 Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
Moses Responds
20:6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
20:7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
20:8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”
20:9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him.
20:10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?”
20:11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
The Lord’s Judgment
20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.”
20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them.
Rejection by the Edomites
20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced,
20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly.
20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country.
20:17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’”
20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword.”
20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”
20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force.
20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.
Aaron’s Death
20:22 So the entire company of Israelites traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.
20:23 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom. He said:
20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.
20:25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up on Mount Hor.
20:26 Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors and will die there.”
20:27 So Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.
20:28 And Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
20:29 When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.
Victory at Hormah
21:1 When the Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
21:2 So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand, then we will utterly destroy their cities.”
21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah.
Fiery Serpents
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way.
21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.”
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.
21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.
The Approach to Moab
21:10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth.
21:11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab, on the eastern side.
21:12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered.
21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah and the wadis,
the Arnon
21:15 and the slope of the valleys
that extends to the dwelling of Ar,
and falls off at the border of Moab.”
21:16 And from there they traveled to Beer; that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”
21:17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
21:18 The well which the princes dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;
21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wilderness.
The Victory over Sihon and Og
21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying,
21:22 “Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”
21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
21:24 But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.
21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, as far as the Arnon.
21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let the city of Sihon be established!
21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It has consumed Ar of Moab
and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
21:29 Woe to you, Moab.
You are ruined, O people of Chemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.
21:30 We have overpowered them;
Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.
We have shattered them as far as Nophah,
which reaches to Medeba.”
21:31 So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites.
21:32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter Jaazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
21:33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.
21:34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.
21:35 So they defeated Og, his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, and they possessed his land.