“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ¹  the Israelites to bring ²  you a red ³  heifer ⁴  without blemish, which has no defect ⁵  and has never carried a yoke.

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, ¹  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

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.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ¹  to show me as holy ²  before ³  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ⁴ 

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 ¹  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

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.

Balaam replied ¹  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ²  of the Lord my God ³  to do less or more.

Then God’s anger was kindled ¹  because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose ²  him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with ¹  his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.

The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing ¹  is perverse before me. ² 

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ¹  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ²  I will go back home.” ³ 

But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ¹  the word that I will speak to you.” ²  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ²  he did not go as at the other times ³  to seek for omens, ⁴  but he set his face ⁵  toward the wilderness.

Eliab’s descendants were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram who as leaders of the community rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers ¹  of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.

For the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

“Our father died in the wilderness, although ¹  he was not part of ²  the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, ³  and he had no sons.

and if his father has no brothers, then you are to give his inheritance to his relative nearest to him from his family, and he will possess it. This will be for the Israelites a legal requirement, ¹  as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, ¹  and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that ²  the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹  will seek counsel ²  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ³  At his command ⁴  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

From the Israelites’ half-share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep – from every kind of animal – and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”