When the community assembled ¹  against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting – and ²  the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, ¹  and each man took his staff.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property ¹  among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Eleazar the priest is to take ¹  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ²  directly in front of the tent of meeting.

Then the priest must wash ¹  his clothes and bathe himself ²  in water, and afterward he may come ³  into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

“‘This is the law: When a man dies ¹  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.

Why ¹  have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to ²  this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

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.

¹ Moses ²  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ³  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁴ 

So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ¹  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ²  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ³ 

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom. He said:

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks ¹  at it, he will live.”

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. ¹ 

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ¹  to him the words of Balak.

But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, ¹  for they are blessed.” ² 

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory.

Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again ¹  to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ² 

¹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Then God met Balaam, who ¹  said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary ¹  you have only blessed them!” ²