From the Greek Septuagint text as used by First Century Christians.
Written by Moses, covering the period from the second year after the IsraElite
Exodus until just before they entered the Promised land.
We believe that of this all happened during the reigns of the Egyptian Kings Amenhotep I and Thutmose I, whom historians
say ruled between 1554-BCE and 1515-BCE.
Chapter 1
1 On the
first day of the second month ([while they were still] in the desert at Sinai),
two years after their departure from the land of Egypt, the Lord spoke to
Moses inside the Tent of Proofs and said,
2 ‘Take a census of the entire gathering of IsraEl by families and lines of descent.
[Record] the names of all the males 3
that are twenty years old and older… all that serve as the army of IsraEl.
You
and Aaron must count them and calculate their strength.
4 Also, the rulers of each of the tribes
(the paternal heads of the families) should accompany you as you do this.
5 ‘These are
the names of the men that should help you:
From the Tribe of ReuBen; EliSur the son of SediUr.
6 From the [Tribe of] SymeOn;
SalamiEl the son of SuriSadai.
7 [From the tribe] of Judah;
NaAsson the son of AmiNadab.
8 [From the tribe] of
IshSachar; NathaniEl the son of Sogar.
9 [From the tribe] of ZebuLon;
EliAb the son of ChaElon.
10 [From the tribes] of JoSeph;
EliSama the son of EmiUd for Ephraim, and GamaliEl the son of PhadaSur for
ManasSeh.
11 [From the tribe] of
BenJamin; AbiDan the son of GadeOni.
12 [From the tribe] of Dan;
AchiEzer the son of AmiSadai.
13 [From the tribe] of Asher;
PhagaiEl the son of Echran.
14 [From the tribe] of Gad;
EliSaph the son of RaguEl.
15 [From the tribe] of
NaphTali; AchiRe the son of AiNan.’
16 These
were the most famous men among the gathering. They were the heads of the tribes
by their families, and each one was a leader of thousands in IsraEl.
17 So Moses and Aaron gathered these men
that had been called by name.
18
Then they assembled the entire gathering that day and registered the [men] by
tribes and family lines, recording the names and numbers of all those that were twenty
[years old] and older, 19 as
the Lord had commanded Moses there in the desert of Sinai.
20 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of ReuBen (the first-born of IsraEl), the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 21 was forty-six thousand, four hundred.
22 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of SymeOn, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 23 was fifty-nine thousand, three hundred.
24 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of Judah, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 25 was seventy-four thousand, six hundred.
26 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of IshSachar, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 27 was fifty-four thousand, four hundred.
28 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of ZebuLon, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 29 was fifty-seven thousand, four hundred.
30 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of JoSeph, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 31 was forty thousand, five hundred from the Tribe of Ephraim, 32, 33 and thirty-two thousand, two hundred from the tribe of ManasSeh.
34 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of BenJamin, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 35 was thirty-five thousand, four hundred.
36 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of Gad, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 37 was forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty.
38 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of Dan, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 39 was sixty-two thousand, seven hundred.
40 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of Asher, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl 41 was forty-one thousand, five hundred.
42 Among the families, divisions, and households of the sons of NaphTali, the number of males twenty years old and up that were counted as the strength of IsraEl, 43 was fifty-three thousand, four hundred.
44
This was the census that Moses, Aaron, and the twelve rulers of IsraEl
conducted… a man from each tribe.
45
They counted all the males twenty years old and up among the children of IsraEl
that could [serve in their army], 46
[and there was a total of] six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and
fifty.
47 However, those of the
Tribe of Levi weren’t counted, 48
for the Lord had told Moses:
49
‘You must not gather the Tribe of Levi and count them among the children of
IsraEl. 50 Rather, put the
Levites in charge of the Tent, its furnishings,
and everything in it.
They must serve there and camp around the Tent.
51 And whenever the Tent is moved, the
Levites must take it down and [be in charge of] setting it up again. Anyone
else that goes near it must die.
52 ‘The
[rest of] the children of IsraEl must camp in the order and grouping of their
own armies.
53 But the Levites
must camp around and in front of the Tent of Proofs, so there may be no sins
among the children of IsraEl.
For the Levites must protect the Tent of Proofs.’
54 And the children of IsraEl did everything that Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron.
Chapter 2
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron and said,
2 ‘Each
man of the sons of IsraEl must pitch his tent according to the signals, in his
own order, and according to the house of his father, in a circle around the Tent of Proofs.
3 ‘The first
in the camp, starting on the east side, shall be the [Tribe] of Judah with
their armies.
Their leader is NaShon, the son of AmmiNadab.
4 There are seventy-four thousand, six
hundred in his army.
5 ‘The Tribe
of IshSachar, whose leader is NathanEl the son of Zuar, should camp next to
them.
6 There are fifty-four
thousand, four hundred in his army.
7 ‘The Tribe
of ZebuLon, whose leader is EliAb the son of Helon, should camp next to them.
8 There are fifty-seven thousand, four
hundred in his army.
9 ‘Altogether,
there are one hundred and eighty-six thousand, four hundred under the army of
Judah.
They and their armies must be the first to move.
10 ‘This is
the order for the camp of ReuBen, whose army [will camp] toward the south:
The
leader of the children of ReuBen is EliZur the son of ShedeUr.
11 There are forty-six thousand, five
hundred in his army.
12 ‘The
Tribe of SimeOn, whose leader is ShelumiEl the son of ZuriShadDai, should camp
next to them.
13 There are
fifty-nine thousand, three hundred in his army.
14 ‘The Tribe of Gad, whose leader is EliAsaph the son of DeuEl, will camp next to them. 15 There are forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty in his army.
16 ‘Altogether,
there are a hundred and fifty-one thousand, four hundred and fifty under the
army of ReuBen.
They and their armies will follow second.
17 ‘Then
the Tent of Proofs should follow them, surrounded by the Levites who will
travel between the armies.
In whatever order they camp, that’s the order that
they should follow in their march, each group traveling in the order of their
divisions.
18 ‘The
Tribe of Ephraim and their armies must camp on the west side.
Their leader is
EliShama, the son of AmmiHud.
19
There are forty thousand, five hundred in his army.
20 ‘The
Tribe of ManasSeh should camp next to them.
Their leader is GamaliEl the son of
PedahZur.
21 There are
thirty-two thousand, two hundred in his army.
22 ‘The
Tribe of BenJamin should camp next to them.
Their leader is AbiDan the son of
Gideoni.
23 There are
thirty-five thousand, four hundred in his army.
24 ‘Altogether,
there are one hundred eight thousand, one hundred in the army of Ephraim.
They
and their armies must follow third.
25 ‘The
Tribe of Dan and their armies should camp on the north side.
Their leader is
AhiEzer the son of AmmiShadDai.
26
There are sixty-two thousand, seven hundred in his army.
27 ‘The
Tribe of Asher should camp next to them.
Their leader is PagiEl the son of
OcRan.
28 There are forty-one
thousand, five hundred in his army.
29 ‘The
Tribe of NaphTali should camp next to them.
Their leader is AhiRa the son of
Enan.
30 There are fifty-three
thousand, four hundred in his army.
31 ‘Altogether, there are a hundred and fifty-seven thousand, six hundred in the armies of Dan, and they must be last in the marching order.’
32 This is
how the children of IsraEl were counted (by family lines), and there were six
hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty in their army.
33 However, the Levites weren’t counted
among them, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
34 And the children
of IsraEl did everything that Jehovah told Moses.
They each camped in their
[specified] locations, and they marched in order by family lines.
Chapter 3
1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day in that the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 These are
the names of the sons of Aaron:
Nadab was the firstborn, and then there was AbiUd, EliEzer, and IthaMar.
3 They were the Anointed
Priests that were made perfect for the Priesthood.
4 However, Nadab and AbiUd died before
Jehovah when they offered [incense] to Him in an unauthorized way, while they
were in the Sinai Desert.
And because they had no children, just EliEzer and
IthaMar served as Priests with their father Aaron.
5 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and told him:
6
‘Bring the Tribe of Levi up in front of Aaron the Priest, for they’re all going
to serve him 7 and they must follow
his instructions.
You must explain this to the children of IsraEl in front of
the Tent of Proofs, and show how [the Levites]
will thereafter perform their duties at the Tent.
8 ‘[The Levites] are to take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Proofs and they must teach the children of IsraEl about everything that has to do with the Tent.
9 ‘You are
to give the Levites to Aaron and his sons (the Priests);
For
they’ve been given to Me as a gift from the children of IsraEl.
10 ‘Appoint
Aaron and his sons to be in charge of the Tent of Proofs, and they must give
[the Levites] instructions about the Priesthood, everything that belongs to the
Altar, and everything inside the veil…
Anyone else that touches these things
must die.’
11 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
12
‘Look, I have chosen the Levites from among the children of IsraEl [to take the
place] of [the rest of] the [firstborn] males that
are among the children of IsraEl.
[The Levites] are their ransom, and they are
Mine. 13 For all their
firstborn have been Mine since the day that I struck all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt.
I chose all the firstborn in IsraEl as holy to Myself – both the
men and the animals – and they are Mine!
For I am Jehovah!’
14 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert and said:
15 ‘Take a census of the sons of Levi by family lines and
divisions…
Count every male from a month old and up.’
16 So thereafter, Moses and Aaron counted them all following Jehovah’s instructions.
17 The sons
of Levi were Gedson, CaAth, and MeraRi.
18 Gedson’s sons (and family
lines) were LoBeni and Semei.
19 CaAth’s sons (and family
lines) were AmBram, IsSaAr, Hebron, and OziEl.
20 MeraRi’s sons (and family
lines) were MoOli and Musi.
These were the families of the Levites by family lines.
21 Gedson’s
[sons] were LoBeni and Semei, 22
and the number of males descending from them that were a month old and older was
seven thousand, five hundred…
23
The sons of Gedson were to camp behind the Tent on its west side.
24 The ruler of the family of Gedson was
EliSaph the son of DaEl.
25 The
instructions that were given to the sons of Gedson concerning the Tent of
Proofs included taking care of the tent itself, the veil that covers the
entrance to the Tent of Proofs, 26
the curtains for the courtyard, the veil to the courtyard that was around the
Tent, and such things.
27 The
divisions that were counted [in the family line] of CaAth were those of AmBram,
IsSaAr, Hebron, and OziEl, 28
and they included eight thousand, six hundred males a month old and older, who
were given these instructions regarding the holy things:
29 The families of the sons of CaAth were
to camp next to the Tent, along its south side.
30 The ruler of the family line and divisions of CaAth was
EliShaphan the son of OziEl.
31
They were told that they were to be in charge of the Chest, the Table, the
Sacred Lamp, the Altars, and all the furnishings in the Holy Place that were
used in holy service inside the veil, and all their parts.
32 The head
over the chiefs of the Levites was EliEzer the son of Aaron the Priest.
He was
appointed to give all the instructions regarding the holy things.
33 The family
lines of MeraRi were those of MoOli and Musi.
34
All the males a month old and older among his line were counted at six thousand
and fifty.
35 The head of the
family line and divisions of MeraRi was SuriEl the son of AbiChail.
They were
to camp next to the Tent, along its north side.
36 The sons of MeraRi were told that they were to be in
charge of the Tent’s caps, rafters, posts, sockets, all their fittings and
pieces, 37 the posts for the
courtyard, and their bases, pins, and ropes.
38 Moses,
Aaron, and their sons were to camp in front of the Tent of Proofs on its east
side.
They were to take care of the Holy Place and give instructions about it
to the children of IsraEl. Anyone else that touched it was to die.
39 All the Levites whom Moses and Aaron counted that were a month old and older (by family lines) following Jehovah’s instructions, were twenty-two thousand.
40 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
‘Now, count all the firstborn males among the
children of IsraEl that are a month old and older, and record their names.
41 Thereafter, take the Levites for Me in
place of all the firstborn of the sons of IsraEl.
Also, take all the Levites’ cattle in place of the first-born of the cattle of
the children of IsraEl…
For I am Jehovah!’
42 So Moses
counted all the firstborn of the children of IsraEl, just as the Lord had
commanded him to do.
43 And all
the male firstborn a month old and older that were counted by name were
twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three.
44 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
45
‘Now, take the Levites in place of all the first-born
of the sons of IsraEl, and take the Levite’s cattle in place of their cattle,
for they must be Mine… I am Jehovah!
46
And the ransom [that must be paid] for all the firstborn of the sons of IsraEl
that exceed the number of Levites (the two hundred and seventy-three), 47 [must be paid for] with five
silver-coins per person.
They must be paid for using the holy double-silver
coins at twenty copper coins per silver coin.
48
Then, give the money to Aaron and his sons as the ransom for those that exceed
their number.’
49 So Moses
took the silver as the ransom for those that exceeded the number that were
bought by the Levites.
50 The
amount of holy silver coins that he took from the firstborn of the sons of
IsraEl was one thousand, three hundred and sixty-five.
51 Then Moses gave the ransom for these
extra ones to Aaron and his sons, according to the instructions that the Lord
had given to Moses.
Chapter 4
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron and said:
2 ‘Take
a census of the children of CaAth separate from the sons of Levi, by family
lines.
3 Count those from
twenty-five to fifty years old that work at and serve inside the Tent of Proofs.
4 For, these are the very holy
things that the sons of CaAth must do at the Tent of
Proofs:
5 Whenever the camp
is about to move, Aaron and his sons must enter and take down the [inner] veil,
then use it to cover the Chest of Proofs.
6 It must be covered with a blue skin and
a blue [cloth] over that, and then they must put the staves through [the rings
on the Chest].
7 ‘They must
also put a purple cloth over the table that holds the showbread, along with its
dishes, incense holders, cups, pitchers for drink offerings, and the loaves
(which must always be left on the table).
8
Then they must cover it with a scarlet cloth and cover that with a blue skin,
and mount [the table] on its staves.
9 ‘They must
cover the Sacred Lamp that provides the light, along with its lanterns,
snuffers, funnels, and all the oil jars, with a blue cloth, 10 and put it and all its utensils inside
a blue skin bag, and mount it on its staves.
11
Also, the gold [incense] altar must be wrapped in blue cloth, then covered with
blue skins and mounted on its staves.
12 ‘Thereafter, they must take all the rest of the things that are used in the services at the Holy Place and put them in a blue cloth [bag], then cover them with blue skins and mount them on staves.
13 ‘They must cover the Altar with purple cloth, 14 along with all the utensils that are used with it (the fire pans, flesh-hooks, cups, covers, and all the utensils), wrap it all in a blue covering of skins and mount it all on the staves.
‘They must also cover the basin and its base with blue cloth, then wrap it in blue skins and mount it on staves.
15 ‘Aaron
and his sons must finish covering the holy things and all the holy utensils
before the camp can move.
Thereafter, the sons of CaAth must bear all [the Tent’s]
furnishings… but they must not [actually] touch the holy things, or they will
die.
These [are the things] that just the sons of CaAth are to carry from the
Tent of Proofs.
16 ‘EliEzer,
the son of Aaron (the Priest), is to be their overseer.
He is to give
instructions concerning the oil for the lamp, the incense, the daily food offerings, and the anointing oil.
He is to be in
charge of the whole Tent, everything that’s in it, and everything that’s done
there.’
17 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said:
18
‘You must protect the family of CaAth (this tribe among the Levites) from being
destroyed, 19 and this is what
you must do for them so they can live and not die:
Whenever they approach the
Holy of Holies, Aaron and his sons must take the lead.
They are the ones who
must mount the [sacred items] to be carried on the staves.
20 That way, [the family of CaAth] won’t
[be tempted to] rush in to look at the holy things and die.
21 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
22
‘Now, take a census of the children of Gedson by family lines.
23 Count all those between the ages of
twenty-five and fifty years old that go in to serve and work in the Tent of
Proofs, 24 because the public
service of the family of Gedson is that of serving and carrying.
25 They must carry and attend to the skins
for the Tent, the Tent of Proofs itself, its veil, the blue covering that goes
over its top, the cover for the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, 26 all the curtains for the courtyard, the
mountings, and all the other utensils of service.
27 The sons
of Gedson must take their direction from Aaron and his sons in everything that
they do in their assignments and jobs.
You must count them by names and [show
them] all the things that they must carry…
28
This is the job of the sons of Gedson in the Tent of Proofs, and IthaMar, the son
of Aaron the Priest, is to give them their instructions.
29 ‘Also,
take a census of the sons of MeraRi by family lines.
30 Count all those between the ages of
twenty-five and fifty years old that enter to serve and work inside the Tent of
Proofs.
31 These are the things
you are to tell them about and what they must carry as their job at the Tent of
Proofs:
They must carry the Tent’s caps, rafters, poles, and sockets, as well
as the sockets and poles for the veil and the curtain at the entrance to the
Tent.
32 They must also carry
the poles for the surrounding courtyard and for the veil at the entrance to the
courtyard, along with their sockets, pins, ropes, furnishings, and things for
service.
‘Count them by name, and show what each man is to carry.
33 This is the assignment for the family
of the sons of MeraRi… it is their job at the Tent of Proofs, under the
direction of IthaMar, the son of Aaron the Priest.’
34 So Moses,
Aaron, and the rulers of IsraEl took a census of the sons of CaAth by family
lines, 35 [counting] all those
between the ages of twenty-five and fifty years old that went in to serve and
work inside the Tent of Proofs.
36
And their numbers, by family lines, came to two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
37 This is how many there were
of the family of CaAth that served inside the Tent of Proofs, as Moses and Aaron
counted them, following Jehovah’s instructions to Moses.
38 Then they
counted the sons of Gedson by family lines that were 39 between twenty-five and fifty years old
that enter to serve at the Tent of Proofs.
40
And their number by family lines came to two thousand, six hundred and thirty.
41 This is how many there were of the
family of Gedson that served in the Tent of Proofs, as Moses and Aaron counted
them, following Jehovah’s instructions to Moses.
42 Then they
counted the sons of MeraRi by family lines that were 43 between twenty-five and fifty years old
that enter to serve inside the Tent of Proofs.
44 And their numbers by family lines came to three
thousand, two hundred.
45 This
is how many there were of the family of MeraRi, as Moses and Aaron counted
them, following Jehovah’s instructions to Moses.
46 So Moses,
Aaron, and the rulers of IsraEl counted all these Levites by family lines 47 that were between twenty-five and fifty
years old, and that serve, work at, and carry the things for the Tent of Proofs.
48 Altogether, there were eight
thousand, five hundred and eighty that were counted.
49 Then, after they were counted (following
the words of Jehovah through Moses), they appointed each man to his job,
reviewing his duties and discussing what each man was to carry.
Chapter 5
1 Thereafter, the Lord spoke to
Moses and said,
2 ‘Give these
instructions to the children of IsraEl:
Tell them to drive everyone out of the
camp that has leprosy or gonorrhea, and anyone who
has made himself unclean [by touching a dead] person,
3 whether they are males or
females.
Drive them out of the camp so they don’t dirty the place where I dwell
among them.’
4 And that’s
what the children of IsraEl did;
They drove them out of the camp, just as the
Lord told Moses.
5 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
6
‘Speak to the children of IsraEl and tell them that any man or woman that has
committed any of the sins that are common to mankind, or has in any way
overstepped [My] Commandments and erred, 7
must confess the sin he committed and make restitution for his sin.
He [must
pay] the price to restore [everything] to whomever he has sinned against… and
add a fifth more to it.
8 ‘Now, if a
man isn’t in debt to anyone for his sins against them;
A sin-offering must
still be paid to Jehovah, and he must offer a ram to the Priest as the payment
for his sins.
9 ‘When it
comes to the first fruitage of all the holy things among the children of
IsraEl;
Everything that they offer to Jehovah must be [given to] the Priest for
himself… 10 all the holy things
that men [offer] or choose to donate must be given to the Priest, and it will
be his as a gift.’
11 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
12
‘Speak to the children of IsraEl and tell them:
Whenever a wife rebels against
[her husband] and tries to dominate and rule over him, 13 and then someone goes to bed with her
and has sex with her behind her husband’s back;
If she hides her filth and
there is no proof of it (and [the other man] doesn’t take her), 14 and [her husband] thereafter develops a
jealous spirit and suspects that she has dirtied
herself – or even if he has developed a jealous
spirit when she hasn’t dirtied herself – 15
he must bring his woman to the Priest, along with the gift of a quart of barley
meal.
He must not pour any oil or frankincense on the barley meal, for it is a
sacrifice of jealousy… it is a sacrifice of memory and of recalling sins to
mind.
16 ‘Then the
Priest must take [the woman] to stand before Jehovah, 17 and the Priest must pour clean running
water into a clay pot, then take some of the dirt that is on the floor of the
Tent of Proofs and throw it into the water.
18
Thereafter, the Priest must stand the woman before Jehovah, uncover her head,
and place the sacrifice of memory (the sacrifice of jealousy) into her hands.
‘Next, the Priest must take the water that brings a curse
into his hands, 19 and the
Priest must make the woman swear [in reply to the words],
If you aren’t
guilty and no one has reclined with you, and if you haven’t sinned and dirtied
yourself, and if you haven’t [been disrespectful] to your husband; [then, swear
that you are innocent] before this water that brings the curse.
20 But if you have sinned and dirtied your
marriage, and [if you have allowed] someone to lie with you other than your
husband…
21 Then the Priest
must make the woman swear [to accept] the oaths of this curse.
‘The Priest must say to her:
May Jehovah bring a curse
upon you by the oath [you have sworn] in the midst of your people.
May Jehovah
cause your [sexual parts] to rot away and your belly to swell.
22 May this water that brings the curse
enter your womb and cause your belly to swell and your [sexual parts] to rot
away.
‘And the woman must say,
May it be so; may it be so.
23 ‘Thereafter,
the Priest must write these curses on a scroll, then rinse them away with the
water that brings the curse;
24
And he must make the woman drink the water that brings the curse.
25 ‘Next,
the Priest must take the sacrifice of jealousy from the woman’s hands and carry
it to the Altar to present it before Jehovah.
26
Then the Priest must take a handful of the sacrificial [grain] and offer it on
the Altar as a reminder, and he must make the woman drink the water.
27 For, this is what will happen:
If she
has dirtied herself and her husband hasn’t been able to [prove] it; the water
that brings the curse will enter her and cause her belly to swell and her
[sexual parts] to rot away;
And thereafter, the woman must be cursed among her
people.
28 But if the woman
hasn’t dirtied herself and has remained chaste; she must be declared free of
guilt and thereafter give birth to a [child].
29 ‘This is
the law of jealousy [that covers the cases of
where] a married woman sins and dirties herself, 30 or where a man develops a jealous spirit
and becomes jealous of his woman.
He should take his woman before Jehovah, and
the Priest must make her follow this law.
31
And whereas the man will be cleared from his sin, the woman must be responsible
for hers.
Chapter 6
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
2 ‘Speak to the
children of IsraEl and tell them that whenever a man or woman wishes to make a
great vow to set him or herself aside as holy to Jehovah, 3 he/she may not eat or drink anything
made from grapes, such as wine, brandy, fresh grapes, raisins, or vinegar that
is made from wine or other alcoholic products 4
during the period of his/her vow.
Nor may he or she eat anything that comes
from the vine, not even the seeds or skins 5
during the whole period that he or she is set aside.
Nor may a razor be used to
cut the person’s hair until the period of the vow to Jehovah has been
completed.
Such ones must be holy and cherish the long hair of their heads 6 for as long as this vow to Jehovah
lasts, and they must not go near any dead bodies…
7 Not even [the corpse] of their own father, mother,
brother, or sister.
They must not dirty themselves with dead bodies, because
the vow of God is on them and on their heads;
8
So, they must remain holy to Jehovah during the entire period of their vow.
9 ‘And if
anyone should suddenly die near this person, his or her head will immediately
be considered unclean and it must be cleansed.
The person must shave his or her
head on the seventh day, 10
then bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the Priest at the entrance
to the Tent of meeting on the eighth day.
11
The Priest must offer one as a sin offering and the other as a whole-burnt
offering to pay for the sin [of being close to] a dead body.
Then the person’s
head will [once again] become holy on that day, 12 and he or she will [again] be made perfect to Jehovah
during the rest of [the period of] the vow.
And thereafter, the person must
bring a yearling lamb as an offering for the error;
And because the vow on
his/her head was polluted, the full period of [the vow] must be [restarted].
13 ‘It is
also the law for the person that has made such a vow, that on the day the vow is
completed, he or she must bring gifts to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs.
14
The gifts that they must bring to Jehovah include one perfect
yearling male lamb as a whole-burnt offering, one perfect yearling female lamb
as a sin offering, one perfect male sheep as a peace offering, 15 a basket of fermentation-free bread
made with fine flour kneaded with oil, fermentation-free cakes that have been
anointed with oil, plus a food offering and a drink offering.
16 ‘The
Priest must then lead the person before Jehovah and [sacrifice] the sin
offering and the whole-burnt offering.
17
Then he must sacrifice the male sheep as a peace offering to Jehovah, along
with the basket of fermentation-free bread, followed by the food offering and
the drink offering.
18 Then the
one that made the vow must shave his/her head that was made holy, there at the
entrance to the Tent of Proofs, and put the hair on the fire while it is burning
the peace-offering sacrifice.
19 ‘Then
after the person has shaved off his/her holy hair, the Priest must take the
larger of the ram’s two shoulders, along with one fermentation-free loaf and
one fermentation-free cake from the basket and lay them in the person’s hands.
20 The Priest must then present them as an
offering before Jehovah, and this holy portion will belong to the Priest, along
with the breast and the shoulder of the wave offering.
And after that, the
person that made the oath must drink some wine.
21 ‘This is
the law for any person that makes a vow to Jehovah:
[He must give all] his gifts
that were promised to Jehovah, along with anything else that he may be able to
afford, [in addition to] the things that are [required by] the strong vow of
setting himself aside as holy.’
22 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
23
‘Speak to Aaron and to his sons and tell them to bless the sons of IsraEl who
bear My Name with these words:
24
May Jehovah bless you and watch over you.
25 May Jehovah’s face shine upon you, and
may He have mercy on you.
26
May [Jehovah always keep His eyes] on you and bring you peace.’
Chapter 7
1 Well, the
day came when Moses had finished setting up the Tent.
Then he anointed it and made it and all its furnishings, as
well as the Altar and all of its furnishings, holy…
He made them perfect by anointing them.
2 Then the
leaders of IsraEl (the twelve heads of their family lines and the leaders of their
tribes… those that took the lead in the census) 3 brought their gifts before Jehovah.
There were six
covered wagons pulled by twelve bulls (two per [wagon]) that were contributed
by the leaders, which they brought to the Tent.
4 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
5 ‘Take [these
things] and use them for the services of the two cherubs that are on top of the
Propitiatory that covers the Chest of Proofs, and give the [wagons] to the Levites…
[Distribute] them among the groups by their assigned jobs.’
6 So Moses
took the wagons and bulls, and gave them to the Levites.
7 He gave two wagons and four bulls to the
sons of Gedson for their jobs, 8
and four wagons and eight bulls to the sons of MeraRi for their assignments
under IthaMar, the son of Aaron the Priest.
9
However, he didn’t give any to the sons of CaAth, because the sacred things
that they had to carry were to be borne on their shoulders.
10 [IsraEl’s] leaders brought these things
to the Altar for the dedication of the Altar on the day that it was anointed.
11 Then the
Lord told Moses:
‘One leader must also bring a gift on each day for the
dedication of the Altar.’
12 So on the
first day, NaAsson (the son of AmiNadab), the leader of the Tribe of Judah 13 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of NaAsson, the son of AmiNadab.
18 On the second
day, NathaniEl (the son of Sogar), the leader of the Tribe of IshSachar
brought 19 his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of NathaniEl, the son of Sogar.
24 On the
third day, EliAb (the son of ChaElon), the leader of the Tribe of ZebuLon
brought 25 his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of EliAb, the son of ChaElon.
30 On the
fourth day, EliSur (the son of SediUr), the leader of the Tribe of ReuBen
brought 31 his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of EliSur, the son of SediUr.
36 On the
fifth day, SalamiEl (the son of SuriSadai) the leader of the Tribe of SymeOn
brought 37 his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of SalamiEl, the son of SuriSadai.
42 On the
sixth day, EliSaph (the son of RaguEl), the leader of the Tribe of Gad brought
43 his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of EliSaph, the son of RaguEl.
48 On the
seventh day, EliSama (the son of EmiUd), the leader of the Tribe of Ephraim 49 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of EliSama, the son of EmiUd.
54 On the
eighth day, GamaliEl (the son of PhadasShur), the leader of the Tribe of
ManasSeh 55 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of GamaliEl, the son of PhadasShur.
60 On the
ninth day, AbiDan (the son of GadeOni), the leader of the Tribe of BenJamin 61 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of AbiDan, the son of GadeOni.
66 On the
tenth day, AchiEzer (the son of AmiSadai), the leader of the Tribe of Dan 67 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of AchiEzer, the son of AmiSadai.
72 On the
eleventh day, PhageEl (the son of Echran), the leader of the Tribe of Asher 73 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of PhageEl, the son of Echran.
78 On the
twelfth day, AchiRe (the son of AiNan), the leader of the Tribe of NaphTali 79 brought his gift.
[It included] one
silver platter that weighed the same as a hundred and thirty holy silver coins,
and a silver bowl that weighed the same as seventy holy silver coins.
Both were
filled with fine flour that was kneaded with oil for a food offering.
14 [There was also] a gold incense holder
filled with ten silver coins worth of incense, 15 as well as one calf from the herd, one ram, and one
yearling male lamb (for a whole-burnt offering), 16 one kid goat (for a sin offering), 17 and two heifers, five rams, five billy
goats, and five yearling female lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice.
These
were the gifts of AchiRe, the son of AiNan.
84 These
[were the gifts] that the leaders of the tribes of IsraEl brought during the
time when the Altar was being anointed.
There were twelve silver platters,
twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold incense holders.
85 Each platter weighed the same as a
hundred and thirty silver coins, and each bowl weighed the same as seventy holy
silver coins.
So altogether, their combined weight was two thousand, four
hundred holy silver coins.
86
The twelve gold incense holders were each filled with incense, and the gold
weighed the same as a hundred and twenty silver coins.
87 The
number of cattle for the whole burnt offerings
amounted to twelve calves, twelve rams, and twelve yearling male lambs, plus
food offerings and drink offerings, and twelve kid goats for the sin offerings.
88 So, the number of cattle that
were sacrificed for the peace offering included twenty-four heifers, sixty
rams, sixty yearling billy goats, and sixty perfect
yearling female lambs, which were all offered for the dedication of the Altar.
Then after that, [Moses] made [Aaron] perfect by anointing him.
89 And from that point on,
whenever Moses went into the Tent of Proofs to speak to God, he would hear the
voice of the Lord speaking to him from between the two cherubs that were above
the Propitiatory, which covers the Chest of Proofs.
Chapter 8
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
2 ‘Speak to
Aaron and tell him that when he assembles the [sacred] lamp, the seven lanterns
must be arranged to illuminate the area across from the lamp.’
3 And that’s what Aaron did. He [assembled
and] lit the lamps to illuminate the area directly across from the lamp, just
as the Lord had instructed Moses.
4 The Sacred
Lamp’s base and stem were made of solid gold, as were its lilies.
They were
made following the pattern that Jehovah had shown to Moses.
5 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
6
‘Remove the Levites from among the children of IsraEl and purify them… 7 and this is how you should perform their
purification:
Have them rinse themselves in clean water and shave all the hair
from their bodies, then have them wash their clothes… make sure that they are
clean!
8 Then they must bring two
yearling calves from the herd along with a food offering and some fine flour
mixed with oil.
9 And
thereafter, assemble the entire gathering of the
sons of IsraEl and bring the Levites up before them at the Tent of Proofs.
10 Stand them there in front of Jehovah,
and have the sons of IsraEl lay their hands on the Levites.
11 ‘Aaron
must set the Levites aside as a gift to Jehovah from the children of IsraEl,
and they must be made ready to perform Jehovah’s work.
12 Then have the Levites lay their hands
on the heads of the calves, and you should sacrifice one as a sin offering and
the other as a whole-burnt offering to Jehovah, to pay for their sins.
13 ‘Thereafter,
stand the Levites in front of Jehovah and in front of Aaron and his sons, and
offer them to Jehovah as a gift…
14
Separate the Levites from among the sons of IsraEl as Mine!
15 ‘Then the
Levites must go to the Tent where they are to work, and you must purify them
and present them there before Jehovah, 16
for they will have been given to Me as a gift from the children of IsraEl.
I
have taken them as Mine in place of all the firstborn
sons of IsraEl that open a womb.
17
For, all the firstborn among the children of IsraEl (both the men and the
animals) became Mine on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt… yes, that’s when I made them holy to Myself.
18 But now, I am taking the Levites instead
of the first-born of the children of IsraEl, 19
and I am presenting them as a gift to Aaron and his sons to serve the children of IsraEl at the Tent.
There they must make the payments for the sins
of the children of IsraEl, so none of the sons of IsraEl will have to approach
the holy things.’
20 Well,
Moses, Aaron, and the entire gathering of the children of IsraEl did everything
that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
21 The Levites purified themselves and
washed their clothes.
Then Aaron presented them as a gift before Jehovah, and
[he sacrificed] the payments for their sins in order to purify them.
22 Thereafter, the Levites entered the
Tent to serve before Aaron and his sons, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
23 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
24
‘This is the rule for the Levites:
Those that are twenty-five years old and
older must enter to serve at the Tent of Proofs. 25 But when they reach fifty years old, they may no longer
serve or work there.
26 They
may supervise their brothers that serve at the Tent of Proofs, but they may not
work there anymore.
Give the Levites these instructions.’
Chapter 9
1 It was in
the first month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt that
the Lord spoke to Moses there in the Sinai Desert, and He said:
2 ‘Tell the children of IsraEl to keep the
Passover at the proper time.
3 You must keep it and obey all the laws
and instructions concerning it, starting on the evening of the fourteenth day
of the first month.’
4 So Moses
ordered the children of IsraEl to sacrifice the Passover 5 on the fourteenth day of the first
month, there in the Sinai Desert.
And the children of IsraEl did just as the
Lord told Moses.
6 However,
there were some men that were unclean due to [touching] a dead body, and they
were unable to keep the Passover on that day.
So they went before Moses and
Aaron 7 and said,
‘We are
unclean, because we touched the dead body of a man.
Will we not to be allowed
to offer our gifts to Jehovah at this time along with the rest of the children
of IsraEl?’
8 Then Moses
told them:
‘Stay here, and I will listen to whatever instructions Jehovah gives
to me about this.’
9 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
10
‘Tell the sons of IsraEl that whenever a man among you or your descendants has
become unclean because of touching a dead body, or is far away on a journey, he
must still keep the Passover to Jehovah…
11
But he must do it on the evening of the fourteenth day
of the second month.
[The Passover sacrifice] must be offered then and
eaten with fermentation-free bread and bitter herbs.
12 They must not leave any of it over
until the next day, nor may they break any of its bones.
They must offer the
sacrifice just as they would on the Passover.
13
But if anyone is clean and is not away on a trip, he must be sure to [do this
on] the Passover day.
Any person that doesn’t offer
the gift to Jehovah at the proper time is guilty and must be cut off from his
people!
14 ‘And if
an alien should come into your land and wish to observe the Passover to
Jehovah, he must do so according to the laws and instructions concerning the
Passover.
For there is just one law,
and it applies to both the natives and the aliens.’
15 Well,
from the time that the Tent was [first] assembled, a cloud covered the Tent of Proofs all day long, and what looked like
fire covered the Tent from evening until morning.
16 And that’s how it always was… a cloud cover by day and
the appearance of fire by night.
17
Also, whenever the cloud left the Tent, the children of IsraEl were to leave
that place; and whenever the cloud just stayed there, the children of IsraEl
were to remain encamped.
18 So,
the children of IsraEl camped by the commands of Jehovah and they moved by the
commands of Jehovah… as long as the cloud covered the Tent, the children of
IsraEl were to camp.
19 And
even if the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, the children of IsraEl
were to follow God’s instructions and not move.
20 For whenever the cloud covered the Tent for a number of
days, they were to camp, following the words of Jehovah, and they were to stay
camped there by the commands of the Lord.
21
But whenever the cloud moved up from over the Tent, they were to move, whether
it was day or night.
22 If the
cloud covered the Tent for a full month, the children of IsraEl had to camp and
were not to leave; 23 for they
were only to move by the commands of the Lord…
And this is what they did.
They
followed the instructions and commands that the Lord gave them through Moses.
Chapter 10
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
2 ‘Make two
silver trumpets for yourselves that are to be used to call assemblies and to
move the camp.
Make them of hammered [silver]. 3 There is to be one type of call to assemble the whole
gathering at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, 4 and another type to assemble just the
rulers and leaders there.
5 You
must [also use them to] sound the alarms for the camp to move, starting with
the one in the east.
6 Then
when you sound a second alarm, the camp to the south must move.
When you sound
the third alarm, the camp in the west must move.
When you sound the fourth
alarm, the camp in the north must move…
And they must also sound alarms as they
are leaving.
7 ‘Also, blow
the horns to signal assemblies… but it shouldn’t be the same signal as the
alarms.
8 The Priests (the sons
of Aaron) must blow these trumpets, and this is to be the rule for you through
all your generations and through the ages.
9 ‘And if
you must go to war against your enemies that will oppose you in your land,
you must also blow the trumpets as a reminder to Jehovah…
So that He will save
you from your enemies.
10 ‘In addition,
you must blow the trumpets on joyful days, such as your feasts, New-Moon
festivals, and when you sacrifice your whole burnt
offerings and peace offerings.
11
This must be done as a reminder to you before your God…
For I am Jehovah your
God!’
12 Well
thereafter, the children of IsraEl packed their things in the Sinai Desert, for
the cloud came to rest in the Pharan Desert.
13 So, following the instructions of
Jehovah through Moses, the first group started their march.
14 The first
to leave were the children of Judah with their army, headed by NaAsson, the son
of AmiNadab.
15 They [were
followed by] the sons of IshSachar under NathaniEl, the son of Sogar.
16 Then came the army of the Tribe of the
sons of ZebuLon under EliAb, the son of ChaElon.
17 Thereafter, the Tent was taken down and the sons of Gedson started out, followed by the sons of MeraRi, who carried the Tent.
18 Then came
the camp of ReuBen and their army that was led by EliSur, the son of SediUr.
19 They were followed by the army of the
Tribe of the sons of SymeOn under SalamiEl, the son of SuriSadai.
20 Next came the army of the children from
the Tribe of Gad under EliShaph, the son of RaguEl.
21 Then the sons of CaAth came forward bearing the holy things, because the Tent was to be set up before they arrived.
22 Next the
camp of Ephraim set out with their army under EliSama, the son of SemiUd.
23 They were followed by the armies of the
Tribe of the sons of ManasSeh under GamaliEl, the son of PhadasShur.
24 Then came the army of the Tribe of the
children of BenJamin under AbiDan, the son of GadeOni.
25 Next in the order of the camp came the
sons of Dan and their army under AchiEzer, the son of AmiSadai.
26 Then came the army of the Tribe of the
sons of Asher under PhageEl, the son of Echran.
27 They were followed by the army of the Tribe of the sons
of NaphTali under AchiRe, the son of AiNan.
28 These are the armies of the children of IsraEl, and it’s the way that they started their march.
29 Then
Moses said to Jobab (the son of RaguEl the MidiAnite):
‘We are traveling to the
place about which Jehovah said,
I’m going to give this to you.
So come
with us and we will treat you well, because Jehovah has promised good things
for IsraEl.’
30 But
[Jobab] replied:
‘No, I won’t go. I’m going to return to my family and to my
land.’
31 However,
[Moses insisted], saying,
‘Don’t leave us, for you’ve been with us all through
the desert, and you should be considered an elder among us.
32 If you go with us; when Jehovah does
good things for us, we will do good things for you.’
33 Then they
left the Mountain of Jehovah and traveled for three days. And the Chest of Jehovah’s Sacred Agreement was carried ahead
of them for all three days, as a comfort to them all.
34 Also, the cloud hung over them during
the day, starting from when they left the camp.
35 And when
the Chest was brought forward, Moses said,
‘Arise, O Jehovah!
Let Your enemies
be scattered and may all that hate You flee in terror!’
36 Then when
they reached its resting place, he said,
‘Turn [Your face] again, O Jehovah, to
the thousands and tens of thousands in IsraEl!’
Chapter 11
1 Well after
that, the people started murmuring sinful things against Jehovah,
and He heard them.
This made Him very angry, and Jehovah sent a fire that
started to burn among them, which consumed part of the camp.
2 So the people called for Moses; and
after he prayed to Jehovah, the fire died out.
3 And thereafter, they called that place ‘The Burning,’
because that was where a fire from Jehovah had burned among them.
4
Then the [ethnics] that were mixed among them
started [complaining].
They and some of the children of IsraEl sat down and
started crying and saying,
‘Who is going to give us
meat to eat?
5 We remember
all the fish that we used to eat in Egypt, as well as the cucumbers, melons, leeks,
garlic, and onions.
6 But now
our lives have become [empty], because all we can
see is this manna!’
7 Well, the
manna looked like coriander seeds and it appeared [on the ground] like frost.
8 The people would go out to collect it,
and then they would grind it in a mill or pound it in a mortar and bake it in a
pan to make loaves from it.
It tasted like sweet crackers that had been mixed
with oil.
9 And during the
night, when the dew was settling on the camp, the manna would just come down
upon it.
10 Well,
Moses heard them as they were sitting in front of their [tents] in family
groups, crying.
This made Jehovah very angry, and Moses also viewed these
actions as evil.
11 So Moses
asked Jehovah:
‘Why have You done this to your servant, and why haven’t I found
favor in Your eyes, so that You should lay the burden of these people upon me?
12 Am I the one that carried and gave birth
to all these people so that You should tell me to take them into my arms as a
nursing mother would take her new-born baby, then carry them into the land that
You promised to give to their fathers?
13
Where can I find enough meat to feed all these people? For, here they are
crying before me and saying,
Give us meat to eat.
14 I can’t carry all these people by
myself… they’re just too heavy for me.
15
If You’re going to do this to me and if I’ve found Your favor, just kill me so
I don’t have to [endure] this pain!’
16 Then the Lord
told Moses:
‘Gather seventy men from among the elders of IsraEl to Me… [make
sure that] they are the elders and scribes among the people.
Then bring them to
the Tent of Proofs and have them stand there with
you. 17 For I’m going to come down
and speak with you there.
Then I will take [some] of [My] Breath that is on you and put it on them, so they will
have to share the burden of the people with you, and you won’t have to
handle it all by yourself.
18 ‘After that,
go to the people and tell them this:
‘Now, purify yourselves,
because tomorrow you’re going to eat meat.
Yes, you who have bawled before
Jehovah and asked,
Who will give us meat and the other things that [we used
to enjoy back in Egypt]?
For Jehovah will provide meat, and then you will
have to eat it!
19 You aren’t
going to eat it for one day, or for two, five, ten, or twenty days, 20 you’re going to eat it for a full
month… until it comes out of your noses!
You’re going to be sick of it, because
you disobeyed Jehovah who is here among you.
You bawled before Him and asked,
Why
did we ever leave Egypt?’
21 Then
Moses replied:
‘There are some six-hundred-thousand of just the soldiers among
us, and are You telling me to give everyone enough meat to eat for a whole
month?
22 Must we slaughter all
of our sheep and cattle to feed them all… and would even that be enough?
Or
must we catch all the fish in the sea for them, and would that be enough?’
23 And the
Lord said to Moses:
‘Isn’t the hand of Jehovah large enough?
By now you should
know whether My words will come true!’
24 So Moses
went out and told the people what the Lord had said.
Then he gathered seventy
men from among the people’s elders and stood them around the Tent… 25 and the Lord came down in a cloud to
speak to [Moses].
Thereafter, He took some of the Breath that was in Moses and
put it into the seventy elders.
And when [God’s] Breath came to rest upon them,
they all started prophesying… but then they stopped.
26 However,
two of the men were still back in the camp at the time; one was ElDad and the
other was MoDad.
They were part of the group that [Moses] had chosen, but they
hadn’t made it to the Tent yet.
Nevertheless, [God’s] Breath came to rest upon
them also, and they started prophesying there in the camp.
27 So, a young man ran and told Moses… he
said,
‘ElDad and MoDad are prophesying in the camp!’
28 Well,
JoShua (the son of NaWeh) who was Moses’ assistant and chosen successor, said,
‘Lord
Moses;
Make them stop!’
29 But Moses
replied:
‘Are you jealous for me?
I wish that
Jehovah would put His Breath in all of His people and make them all Prophets!’
30 And with that, Moses and the elders of IsraEl returned to the camp.
31 Then Jehovah
blew His Breath, and [flocks of] quail were blown
over the sea and into their camp… they covered the ground several feet deep for
a day’s journey all around the camp.
32
So the people went out all that day, all that night, and all the next day to
gather quail.
Even those that gathered the least gathered hundreds.
Then all
around the camp, everyone [sat down to feast].
33 Well,
they were still picking the meat that was stuck between their teeth when Jehovah showed them how angry He was with them,
for He then struck them with a great plague.
34
And thereafter, that place was called The Graveyard of the Greedy,
because it’s where they buried all the greedy people.
35 Then the people moved away from the Graveyard of the Greedy [and went to] AsherOth, where they [set up camp].
Chapter 12
1 It was
then that MiriAm and Aaron started condemning Moses because of the Ethiopian whom he had taken as his woman.
2 They asked,
‘Is Moses the only one to
whom the Lord has spoken? Hasn’t He also spoken to us?’
And Jehovah heard them say this.
3 Now, Moses
was the humblest man on the earth; 4 so the Lord immediately spoke to Moses,
Aaron, and MiriAm, and said:
‘All three of you, come to the Tent of Proofs!’
5 So, the three
of them went to the Tent of Proofs, and the Lord descended in a column of
clouds.
He stood there at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs and called Aaron
and MiriAm, and they stepped forward.
6
Then He said to them:
‘Listen to Me; If either of you are Prophets of Jehovah,
I will make things known to you in visions and speak to you as you sleep.
7 However, this isn’t the way [that I
speak] to My servant Moses who has so faithfully [served] in My House.
8 I’m not hidden to him, I appear and
speak to him mouth to mouth… and he has even seen the glory of Jehovah!
So, why
aren’t you afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’
9 Well,
Jehovah was very angry with them.
Then, as He left, 10 the cloud disappeared from the Tent… and {Look!} MiriAm
had leprosy that was [as white] as snow!
Well when Aaron saw that MiriAm had leprosy, 11 he said to Moses:
‘I beg you my lord;
don’t hold this sin against us, because we did this in ignorance!
12 Don’t allow her to be one of the
[walking] dead like a miscarriage from her mother’s womb… and for half of her
flesh to be eaten away.’
13 So Moses
called to Jehovah and said:
‘Oh God, I beg You;
Please heal her!’
14 And the
Lord replied to Moses:
‘If her father had just spit in her face, wouldn’t she
have been shamed for seven days?
Therefore, she may not enter the camp for
seven days… only then may she return.’
15 So MiriAm was driven away from the camp for seven days, and the people didn’t break camp until after MiriAm had been cleansed.
Chapter 13
1 Well after
that, the people left AsherOth and camped in the Pharan Desert.
2 There the Lord spoke to Moses and said,
‘Send
some men as spies into the land of the CanaAnites that I will be giving to the
sons of IsraEl.
Choose men that are leaders from each of the tribes and family
lines.’
3 So,
following Jehovah’s instructions, Moses chose leaders from among the sons of
IsraEl and sent them away from the Pharan Desert.
4 From the Tribe of ReuBen [he sent] SamuEl, the son of
ZachUr.
5 From the Tribe of SymeOn
[he sent] Saphat, the son of Suri.
6
From the Tribe of Judah [he sent] Caleb, the son of JePhonNe.
7 From the Tribe of IshSachar [he sent]
IlaAl, the son of JoSeph.
8
From the Tribe of Ephraim [he sent] Ause, the son of NaWeh.
9 From the Tribe of BenJamin [he sent]
Phalti, the son of Raphu.
10
From the Tribe of ZebuLon [he sent] GadDiEl, the son of Sudi.
11 From the Tribe of JoSeph’s son ManasSeh
[he sent] GadDi, the son of Susi.
12
From the Tribe of Dan [he sent] AmiEl, the son of Gamali.
13 From the Tribe of Asher [he sent]
Sathur, the son of MichaEl.
14
From the Tribe of NaphTali [he sent] Nabi, the son of Sabi.
15 And from the Tribe of Gad [he sent]
GaudiEl, the son of MacKi.
16
These are the men whom Moses sent as spies into the land. However, Moses started
calling Ause (the son of NaWeh), JoShua.
17 As Moses
sent them to spy in the land of CanaAn, he told them this:
‘Travel through this
desert, then climb the mountain and 18
peer into the land to see what it looks like.
Watch the people that live there
to [determine] whether they are strong or weak, many or few.
19 Then, notice whether the land that they
live on is good or bad, what cities are there, and whether or not they have
walls.
20 Also, pay attention
to the ground… see whether it is rich or poor, and if there are any trees.
Then
venture in and take some of the fruitage of the land.’
Well, it was springtime, and the grapes were ready to be
harvested, 21 as they went and
surveyed all the land from the Sin Desert to RhoOb (on the road to AiMath).
22 They traveled through the desert and
got as far as Hebron, where
they found AchiMan, SesSi, and ThelAmi, the descendants of Enach. (Hebron had
been built seven years before Tanis
in Egypt).
23 Well,
when they got to the valley where the grapes were growing; after surveying it,
they cut down a cluster of grapes and carried it on staves.
They also picked
some pomegranates and figs.
24
Then they called that place, The Valley of the Cluster, because of the
cluster of [grapes] that the children of IsraEl had cut down there.
25 Well
after forty days, they returned from their survey of the land 26 and they went before Moses, Aaron, and
the entire gathering of the children of IsraEl
([who were] in the desert at Pharan
KaDesh at the time).
Then they spoke to the whole gathering and showed them
the fruit from the land, 27
giving this report:
‘We went into the land where you sent us and found a land
that is indeed flowing with milk and honey.
Here is some of the fruit from that
place.
28 However, the nation
that lives there is aggressive, and they have large, strong, walled cities.
‘We also saw the children of Enach there.
29 The Amalechites live in the land toward
the south, while the Hittites, Evites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill
country, and the CanaAnites live between the Sea and the Jordan River.’
30 Then
Caleb stopped them from speaking before Moses, and said:
‘We must surely go
there and inherit [that land], because we can conquer them!’
31 But [the
other] men disagreed and said,
‘We must not go there!
There’s no way we can
beat nations like that, for they’re much stronger than we are!’
32 Well,
they really terrified the children of IsraEl when they said,
‘The land that we
walked through and surveyed swallows up the people that live there.
And all the
people that we saw there were huge!
33
We saw giants who [were so large] that we looked like grasshoppers in
comparison!’
Chapter 14
1 Well at
that, the whole gathering started wailing and
crying, and this went on throughout the night.
2 Then all the children of IsraEl started grumbling against
Moses and Aaron, for they came to them and said:
3 ‘We would rather have died in the land of Egypt than in
this desert!
Why is Jehovah bringing us to this land… just to be killed in war
and to have our women and children serve as their prey?
It would be better for
us to return to Egypt!’
4 Then they
started saying to each other:
‘Let’s appoint [someone else] as our ruler who
will take us back to Egypt!’
5 So Moses
and Aaron just fell to their faces before the entire gathering of the children
of IsraEl.
6 But then, JoShua
(the son of NaWeh) and Caleb (the son of JePhonNe), who were among those that
had spied in the land, started ripping their clothes, 7 and they said to the gathering of the
children of IsraEl:
‘The land that we surveyed is really very good!
8 And if Jehovah has chosen us, won’t He
take us into this land and give it to us… into this land that flows with milk
and honey?
9 Don’t leave
Jehovah, and don’t be afraid of the people in that land, because they’re just
meat for us!
Since Jehovah is with us, their time has ended! So, don’t be
afraid!’
10 But at that, all
the people started throwing rocks at them.
[Then suddenly], the glory of Jehovah
appeared in the cloud over the Tent of Proofs
before all the children of IsraEl.
11
And the Lord said to Moses:
‘How much longer will these people continue to
anger Me, and how much longer will they refuse to believe Me after all the
signs that I’ve sent to them?
12
So now, I’m going to strike them and kill them all!
Yes, I’ll destroy them and
then I’ll make a great nation of you and of your father’s house… one that will
be much greater than this!’
13 However,
Moses replied:
‘But then the Egyptians would hear about this!
Because You used
Your power to bring these people out from among them, 14 and the people who live in that land
have heard that You are our Lord, that You are with these people, that You, O
Jehovah have been seen face to face, that Your cloud rests upon them, and You
lead them each day in a column of clouds and by a column of fire all night
long…
15 If You destroy this whole nation, then all the nations
that have heard of Your Name will say,
16
Because Jehovah couldn’t bring His people into the land that He swore to
give them, He [killed] them all in the desert!
17 ‘So, O
Lord, show Your power to them instead… and may this thing that You’ve said
prove to be true:
18 Jehovah
is patient, merciful, and true. He removes mistakes, errors, and sins.
He will
never acquit the guilty, but He will bring the sins of the fathers upon their
children for three or four generations.
19
Therefore, in Your great mercy, forgive these people for their sins and show
them the same favor [that You’ve shown] them [since You led them out of] Egypt!’
20 Then the
Lord replied to Moses:
‘I will be [patient] with them as you’ve requested.
21 For, as I live and as My Name is living;
the glory of Jehovah must fill the whole earth, 22 since everyone has seen My glory through all the signs that
I gave in Egypt and in the desert.
But, this is the tenth time that [IsraEl] has
tested Me and refused to listen to My voice.
23
Therefore, they will not see the land that I promised to their fathers.
Rather,
I will give it to their children who are with Me here… those that are
inexperienced and don’t yet know good from bad.
I’m going to give the land to
them… but, those that angered Me will never see it!
24 My servant Caleb [will see it], because he had a
different spirit and he followed Me.
I will bring
him into the land that he traveled through, and his seed will inherit it. 25 But until then, the Amalechites and
CanaAnites will [continue to] live in this valley.
So tomorrow [you must] turn
around and return to the desert by way of the Red Sea.’
26 And
thereafter, the Lord spoke to both Moses and Aaron and said:
27 ‘How much longer will this gathering
remain wicked?
I’ve heard the grumbling against Me coming from the children of
IsraEl as well as all their complaints about you.
28 So, tell them that Jehovah said this:
As I live;
Whatever I’ve heard you say is exactly what I’m going to do to you.
29 Your bodies will fall in this desert,
and all those that were reviewed and counted from twenty years old and up – all
that grumbled against Me – 30
will never enter the land that I stretched out My hand to give to you, except
for Caleb (the son of JePhonNe), and JoShua (the son of NaWeh).
31 ‘Then
I will bring your little ones (whom you’ve said would serve as prey) into the land,
and they will inherit that which you’ve rejected, 32 while your bodies will fall in this
desert.
33 So your sons
must be fed in this desert for forty years, and they must carry the weight of
your infidelity, as your bodies rot in the desert.
34 For each day that was spent spying in
that land – forty days – you must bear your sins a day
for a year – for forty years – and you will get to know My rage.
35 Now, I Jehovah have spoken, and that’s
what I will do to this evil gathering that has raised itself against Me… you
will be totally destroyed and die here in this desert!’
36 Then, all
the men whom Moses sent to spy in the land and who then returned and grumbled
before the group and said evil things about the land 37 were struck with a plague from Jehovah
and they all died.
38 So, among
the men that served as spies in the land, only JoShua (the son of NaWeh) and
Caleb (the son of JePhonNe) survived.
39 Well after that, Moses explained all these things to the children of IsraEl, and the people became very depressed.
40 Then
early the next morning, [the people] climbed to the top of a hill and said:
‘{Look!}
We have sinned!
So, those of us that are left must travel to the place where
Jehovah told us to go!’
41 But Moses
asked them:
‘Why didn’t you just obey the words of Jehovah and prosper?
42 However, now you can’t [enter the
land], because Jehovah isn’t with you, and you will [be cut down] before your
enemies.
43 The Amalechites and
the CanaAnites that are standing there before you will cut you down with their
swords, because you disobeyed Jehovah and turned aside.
So, the Lord will not be
there among you!’
44 Well,
they went up to the top of the mountain and tried to force their way [into the
land] anyhow… but the Chest of Jehovah’s Sacred
Agreement and Moses never left the camp.
45
As the result, the Amalechites and the CanaAnites that lived on the mountain
attacked them, drove them away, and destroyed them all the way to [Mount] Herman; and they
[had to] run back to their camp.
Chapter 15
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said,
2 ‘Speak to the
children of IsraEl and tell them this:
When you enter the land that I will give
to you (this place where you will live); 3
whenever you offer whole burnt offerings to
Jehovah, or offerings to fulfill a vow, or free-will offerings, or feast
sacrifices from the herd or flock as a sweet odor to Jehovah…
4 The person that offers the gift must also
bring a food offering of a quart of flour mixed
with oil, 5 and a quart [of wine]
as a drink offering with each lamb that you sacrifice as a sweet odor to
Jehovah.
6 ‘And when you offer a ram as a whole-burnt offering or sacrifice, you must also prepare a food offering of two quarts of fine flour mixed with oil, 7 and two quarts of wine as a drink offering, as a sweet odor to Jehovah.
8 ‘And if
you offer a sacrifice from the herd as a whole-burnt offering, or a sacrifice
to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to Jehovah;
9 Along with the calf, you must add a food
offering of three quarts of fine flour mixed with oil, 10 and provide three quarts of wine as a
drink offering, as a sweet odor to Jehovah.
11
You must do this for each calf, ram, lamb, sheep, or kid goat that you offer.
12 You must do the same thing for each
one, no matter how many you may offer.
13
All the natives in the country must do this whenever they offer sacrifices as a
sweet odor to Jehovah… 14
whether the person is an alien in your land or someone that was born among you,
they must offer [the same] sacrifices as a sweet odor to Jehovah.
Yes, everyone
among the gathering must offer sacrifices to
Jehovah!
15 There must be just one law for you and for
the aliens that live among you.
It is a law through the ages and throughout your generations, that the aliens
must act as you do before Jehovah.
16
Both you and the aliens that live among you must follow the same laws and
regulations!’
17 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
18
‘Speak to the sons of IsraEl and tell them this:
When you enter the land where
I am taking you 19 and you
start eating bread from the land, you must set aside a special wave-offering to
Jehovah from the first fruitage of your dough.
20 You must set aside and offer your bread as a wave
offering in the same way that you offer grain 21
as the first fruitage of your dough…
And you must give it to Jehovah as a wave
offering throughout your generations.
22 ‘Now, if
you fail to follow all these commandments that Jehovah has been giving to
Moses, 23 and which Moses has
been telling you about since the day that Jehovah selected you (and on through
your generations), 24 and if
you commit an error or mistake without the knowledge of the gathering;
The
whole gathering must offer a perfect calf from the
herd as a whole-burnt offering and as a sweet odor to Jehovah, along with food
and drink offerings (according to the rules), and one kid goat as a sin
offering.
25 Then the Priest
must make payment for the sins of the entire gathering of the children of
IsraEl, and they will be forgiven, because it was a mistake…
And because
they brought their gift as a burnt-offering to Jehovah for their error and
involuntary sin.
26 If it is a
mistake, everyone must be forgiven, whether they are from the children of
IsraEl or from the aliens that are living among you.
27 ‘So,
whenever a person sins by mistake, he must bring a
yearling nanny goat as a sin offering.
28
Then the Priest must [sacrifice it] to pay for the sin that was committed in
error.
29 This same law applies
to the natives of the children of IsraEl and to the aliens that are living among
them…
To anyone that unwittingly commits an error .
30 ‘And
whenever any person – a native or an alien – does anything so presumptuous as
to anger God, he must be cut off from among his people.
31 For when he disregards the Word of
Jehovah and breaks His Laws, that person must be found
guilty of sin and destroyed.’
32 Well, it
was while the children of IsraEl were still in the desert that they found a man
gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
33
And those that found him doing this brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the
entire gathering of the children of IsraEl.
34
Then he was placed in custody, because they didn’t know what to do with him.
35 But thereafter, the Lord spoke to Moses
and said:
‘The man must absolutely be put to death by the entire gathering… stone
him with rocks!’
36 So the entire gathering dragged him outside of the camp and stoned him with rocks, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
37
Thereafter, the Lord spoke to Moses and said:
38
‘Speak to the children of IsraEl and tell them that they must wear fringes on
the bottoms of their clothing throughout all their generations.
These fringes
are to be made of blue lace.
39
Then, whenever they look at these fringes, they must think of all the
Commandments of Jehovah and remember to obey them, instead of turning back and
following the immoral things of their imaginations.
40 They must remember to obey all My
Commandments, and to be holy before Me;
41
For I am Jehovah, the God that brought them out of the land of Egypt to be their
God…
I am Jehovah, your God!’
Chapter 16
1 But then
KorAh (the son of IsaAr, of CaAth, of Levi), Dathan, and AbiRam (the sons of
EliAb), and Aun (the son of Phaleth of ReuBen) started speaking 2 rebelliously against Moses, along with
two hundred and fifty men from the sons of IsraEl that were chiefs of the
assembly, chosen advisors, and men of fame.
3
They went up to Moses and Aaron and said:
‘That’s enough of you!
Since the
whole gathering of IsraEl is holy, and Jehovah is
among them;
Why have you elevated yourselves over the gathering of Jehovah?’
4 Well when
Moses heard this, he fell to his face.
5
Then he spoke to KorAh and his group and said:
‘God has visited us, and He
knows who are His, who are holy, who are set aside to Him, whom He has chosen, and
whom He has purchased for Himself. 6
So, we will allow Jehovah to choose [the ones that He finds] to be holy.
KorAh and
his entire group should take their incense holders 7 and put fire and incense in them, then go and stand
before Jehovah tomorrow.
May this settle the matter for you, you sons of Levi!’
8 Then Moses
[turned and] addressed KorAh, saying:
‘Listen to me, you son of Levi.
9 Is it so unimportant to you that the God
of IsraEl has separated you from the rest of the gathering of IsraEl and
brought you close to Him to serve His people at His Tent
10 that you and all your
brothers (the sons of Levi) also want to become the Priests?
11 [Understand that] you and your group
have now gathered in opposition to God!
For, who is Aaron that you should be
complaining against him?’
12 Then
later, Moses sent for Dathan and AbiRam (the sons of EliAb), and they told him
that they wouldn’t be coming.
13
They asked,
‘Doesn’t it matter to you that after you brought us to a land
flowing with milk and honey, you chose to just kill us here in this desert? And
now you even want to rule over us!
14
If you’re really our leader; why don’t you just go ahead and carry us into the
land that flows with milk and honey and give us our inheritance of land and our
vineyards.
For, couldn’t you just blind the eyes of the men [in that land]?
No,
we aren’t coming!’
15 Well,
this upset Moses, and he said to Jehovah:
‘Please don’t accept their
sacrifices, because I haven’t taken anything that they desire from them, nor
have I harmed any of them.’
16 Then
Moses told KorAh:
‘You must be sure that your whole group is holy, and then you
must get them ready to stand before Jehovah along with Aaron tomorrow.
17 Each man must bring his incense holder
and put incense in it, then carry it up before Jehovah… all two hundred and
fifty of you.
And of course, you and Aaron must also bring your incense
holders.’
18 So, each
man brought his incense holder and they put fire and incense in them;
Then they
stood themselves next to Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs,
19 and KorAh and his group just
stood there defiantly, as the glory of the Lord appeared before the whole
gathering.
20 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said:
21
‘Move away from the whole gathering [of IsraEl], for I’m going to consume them
all!’
22 But
[Moses and Aaron] fell to their faces, and begged:
‘Oh God… the God of all that breathes and all that is flesh;
If just one man
has sinned, must You bring Your rage against the whole gathering?’
23 And the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
24
‘Then, tell the gathering that they must move away from KorAh and his group!’
25 So Moses got
up and walked over to Dathan and AbiRam (and all the elders of IsraEl went with
him).
26 Then he spoke to the
gathering and said:
‘Now, get away from the tents of these stubborn men and don’t
touch anything that belongs to them, or you’ll be consumed along with them for
their sins!’
27 So
everyone moved away from their tents, as KorAh, Dathan, and AbiRam went over
and stood at the entrances to their tents, along with their women, their
children, and all their belongings.
28
Then Moses said:
‘Now you will know that when Jehovah sent me to do these
things, I wasn’t doing it on my own.
29
For if these men just die a natural death, and if what happens to them is the
same as what happens to all men, then Jehovah hasn’t sent me.
30 But if the Lord brings a miracle and
the ground opens its mouth and swallows them, their households, their tents,
and everything that belongs to them, and they go down into their graves alive;
You must know that these men have angered Jehovah!’
31 And just
as he finished saying those words, the ground rumbled underneath them.
32 Then the ground opened and swallowed
them, their households, all the men that were with KorAh, and all their cattle…
33 they and all that they had went
down into their graves alive, as the ground covered them over.
So, they perished
there in the midst of the gathering.
34 Well at
that, all the IsraElites that were standing nearby fled from the noise,
shouting:
‘[Run], so the earth doesn’t swallow us also!’
35 Then fire came from Jehovah, which consumed the two hundred and fifty men that were offering the incense.
36 And
thereafter, the Lord said to Moses:
37
‘Now, tell EliEzer (the son of Aaron the Priest) to pick up the bronze incense
holders from where those men were burned and then melt them all down, for these
things are holy, 38 [and they
must now serve as a sign against] those sinners and against their lives.
Beat
[the metal] into plates to cover the Altar;
For, since these [censors] were
brought before Jehovah as holy, they must be used as a sign to the children of
IsraEl!’
39 So,
EliEzer (the son of Aaron, the Priest) took the bronze incense holders that the
men who were burned carried, and he had them shaped into a covering for the
Altar, 40 as a reminder to the
children of IsraEl that no one other than the seed of Aaron might approach to
offer the incense before Jehovah, and so that what happened to KorAh and those who
conspired with him wouldn’t happen to them.
[He did just] as Jehovah told
him through Moses.
41 But the
next day, the people again started grumbling against Moses and Aaron, and they
shouted:
‘You’ve killed the people of Jehovah!’
42 So, a mob gathered against Moses and Aaron, and they
foolishly ran into the Tent of Proofs.
And at
that, the cloud immediately covered it and the glory of Jehovah appeared!
43 Then
Moses and Aaron entered through the front of the Tent of Proofs, 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron
there and said:
45 ‘Get away
from the whole gathering, because I’m going to consume them all!’
Well, [Moses and Aaron] dropped to their faces, 46 and Moses said to Aaron:
‘Take an
incense holder, put some incense into it, and light it with some of the fire
from the Altar. Then, quickly carry it into the camp to atone for [the people’s]
sins;
For, Jehovah’s rage has come upon us and He has already started destroying
them!’
47 So Aaron
took it (just as Moses had told him) and he ran around throughout the whole
gathering, since a plague had already started among them;
And he used the
incense to atone for the sins of the people.
48
Then he stood himself between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.
49
Altogether, some fourteen thousand seven hundred died from the plague… in
addition to those that died because of KorAh.
50
And when Aaron returned to Moses (who was at the entrance to the Tent of
Proofs), the plague ended.
Chapter 17
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
2 ‘Tell the
children of IsraEl to have their [tribe] leaders each bring a walking stick
with them, one for each of the family lines – twelve walking sticks – and have
them write their [own] names on their sticks.
3
Also write Aaron’s name on his walking stick [on behalf of the Tribe of] Levi.
Each tribe should provide these sticks for [the heads] of their family lines.
4 Then you must carry them all inside the Tent of Proofs and lay them before the Chest of Proofs, where I [always meet with] you.
5 And whoever owns the walking stick that
blossoms is the man that I have chosen.
This will bring an end to all the
children of IsraEl’s grumbling to Me about you.’
6 So Moses
spoke to the children of IsraEl, and each of their leaders gave him a walking
stick, one for each of the heads of their family lines – twelve walking sticks
– and Aaron’s walking stick was placed among them.
7 Then Moses laid the walking sticks before Jehovah inside
the Tent of Proofs.
8 Well, the
next morning, when Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Proofs, they saw that
the walking stick of Aaron (from the Tribe of Levi) had blossomed, putting out
buds, flowers, and almonds!
9
Then Moses carried all of those walking sticks that had been set in front of
Jehovah out before the sons of IsraEl for them to see;
And each [of the
leaders] took his own stick.
10 So the
Lord told Moses:
‘Now, place Aaron’s walking stick among the Proofs… keep it
there as a sign for these disobedient children.
And then tell them to stop
grumbling to Me, so they don’t die!’
11 Well,
that’s what Moses and Aaron did…
They did just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
12 Then [the
leaders] of the children of IsraEl spoke to Moses and asked:
‘Are we now going
to be cut off, destroyed, and consumed?
13 Since everyone that touches the Tent of Jehovah is to die; are we now going to be
totally destroyed?’
Chapter 18
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Aaron and told him:
‘You, your sons, and your [tribe] will be guilty of any
sins against the holy things, and you and your sons [are responsible for] your
Priesthood.
2 So now, take the
rest of your brothers from the Tribe of Levi (the family line of your
forefather) and accept them as yours.
Have them serve you and your sons there
in front of the Tent of Proofs.
3 They must obey you and follow your
instructions regarding everything that has to do with the Tent.
However, they
must not go near the holy furnishings or the Altar, so that they – and you –
don’t die!
4 ‘They must
be joined to you and follow your instructions regarding the Tent of Proofs and
serve as guards in watches at the Tent… but no outsiders may even approach you.
5 You alone are to give
instructions when it comes to the holy things and the Altar… and there must be
no more anger [about this] among the children of IsraEl.
6 For ,I have also chosen your
brothers the Levites from among the children of IsraEl as a gift to
Jehovah, to officiate at the Tent of Proofs.
7
‘Now, you and your descendants must maintain your assigned positions as
Priests, serving at the Altar and inside the veil, doing the things that are
required.
You must serve in the position of your Priesthood, and any
[unauthorized] person that approaches it must die!’
8 Then the
Lord told Aaron:
‘Look, I have given you all the instructions regarding the
first fruitage of everything that is to be made perfect for Me by the children
of IsraEl.
This is an honor for you and for your descendants, and it is a law
through the ages 9
that all the perfect holy things from among the burnt offerings, gifts,
sacrifices, and all the error and sin offerings – whatever holy things that
they bring to Me – will belong to you and to your sons.
10 These things must be considered holy by
you, and all the males (you and your sons) must eat them inside this very holy
place.
11 ‘I am
also giving all the first fruitage among the gifts – the wave-offerings of the
children of IsraEl – to you and to your sons and daughters.
It is a law through
the ages that all those in your homes that are clean may eat them.
12 All the first offerings of oil, wine,
grain, and whatever else they may offer to Jehovah, is yours.
13 All the first fruitage of the land –
whatever is offered to Jehovah – must belong to you, and everyone in your home
that is clean may eat them.
14 ‘And
anything that the children of IsraEl may choose to dedicate
is also yours.
15 Whatever they
bring to Jehovah, whether a man or an animal – everything that opens a womb –
is yours.
However, the first-born of men and the first-born of unclean animals
must be ransomed.
16 The value
of anything a month old and upwards is five silver coins (twenty copper coins
per holy silver coin).
17 They
cannot buy back their first-born calves, sheep, or goats, because these things
are holy.
You must pour their blood on the Altar, and offer the fat as a burnt
offering and a sweet odor to Jehovah.
18
Then their flesh – the breast and the right shoulder of the wave-offerings – is
to be yours. 19
Also, I have given all the special offerings of holy things – whatever the
children of IsraEl offer as special to Jehovah – to you and to your sons and
daughters that live with you.
This is to be a rule through the ages. It is a Sacred Agreement of Salt through the ages
between Me and you, and with your seed that descends from you.’
20
Then the Lord told Aaron:
‘You aren’t going to receive an inheritance in that
land, nor may you own any part of it, for I am your portion and your
inheritance in the midst of the children of IsraEl.
21 Look! I have also given the sons of
Levi a tenth part of everything in IsraEl as their inheritance for the services
that they are to perform at the Tent of Proofs.
22 ‘Now, the
children of IsraEl must not approach the Tent of Proofs again, or they will [be
found] guilty and die.
23
Just the Levites may work and serve at the Tent of Proofs, and they are to be
responsible for any errors against it.
This is a law through the ages and
throughout all your generations.
They are not to receive an inheritance among
the children of IsraEl, 24
because I have given the Levites the tenth part that the children of IsraEl
must bring to Jehovah as theirs…
And that’s why I’m telling them that they are
to receive no inheritance among the children of IsraEl.’
25 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
26
‘Speak to the Levites and tell them that when they receive the tenth part from
the children of IsraEl that I am giving to them as their inheritance, they must
then set aside a tenth of that tenth as a wave offering to Jehovah.
27 These wave offerings must be treated as
their own grain offerings from the [threshing] floor and wine press.
28 They must set this portion aside from
all tenth-part offerings to Jehovah – along with everything else that they
receive from the children of IsraEl – and give My offerings to Aaron the
Priest.
29 This includes a
[tenth part] of all the gifts that are given as offerings to Jehovah and all
the first fruitage.
30 ‘Tell
them that whenever they offer the first fruitage, the Levites must think of it
as the produce from their own threshing floors or wine presses.
31 Then, they and their families may eat it
wherever they wish, because this is their reward for serving at the Tent of
Proofs.
32 They won’t sin by
doing this, as long as they [set aside] a portion of the first-fruitage [for
Aaron], and as long as they don’t dirty the holy things of the children of IsraEl.
Otherwise, they must be put to death.’
Chapter 19
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron and said,
2 ‘This
is a commandment of the Law that Jehovah has given to you:
Speak to the sons of
IsraEl and tell them to bring you a red heifer that has no blemishes or defects
and which has never worn a yoke, 3
then give her to EliEzer the Priest.
He must thereafter have them take it to a
clean place outside of the camp and slaughter it there before him.
4 Then EliEzer must take some of its blood
and sprinkle it in front of the Tent of Proofs seven times, 5 and they must burn it to ashes before
him, making sure that its skin, flesh, blood, and dung are totally consumed.
6 Afterward, the Priest must take some
cedar wood, some hyssop, and some scarlet-colored wool, and throw it into the
[fire] that is burning the heifer.
7
Then the Priest must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and go into the camp.
However, he must remain unclean until that evening.
8 Also, the person that burns [the heifer]
must wash his clothes, take a bath, and be unclean until that evening.
9 ‘Then a
clean man must gather up the heifer’s ashes and lay them aside in a clean place
outside of the camp for the gathering of the children
of IsraEl, so as to make a water to sprinkle for purification.
10 And this man that gathers up the heifer’s
ashes must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
‘This is a law for the children of IsraEl and for the aliens
that join with them through the ages:
11
Whoever touches a human corpse must be unclean for seven days.
12 He must then be purified both on the
third day and on the seventh day, and he will be clean.
But if he isn’t
purified on the third and seventh days, he won’t be clean.
13 For, anyone that touches the carcass of a
man that has died and doesn’t get purified will defile the Tent of Jehovah.
So,
that person must be cut off from IsraEl…
If the
cleansing water isn’t sprinkled on him, he will be unclean and will remain
unclean!
14 ‘This is
also the law:
Whenever a man dies inside a house, anyone that enters that house
and everything in that house must be unclean for seven days.
15 All jars that are open and don’t have
lids that are tightly sealed, must be unclean.
16 Also, anyone that touches a man that was murdered, or a
cadaver, or a human bone, or even a tomb, must be unclean for seven days.
17 ‘Then
they must take the burnt ashes of purification and pour them into a jar with
running water to make the [water of] purification.
18 Thereafter, a clean man must take some hyssop and dip it into the water,
and sprinkle the house, the furniture, and all the people that are there that
may have touched the human bone, or the murdered man, or the cadaver, or the
tomb.
19 The clean man must
sprinkle it upon the unclean people on the third and seventh days.
Then on the
seventh day, he must purify himself, wash his clothes, take a bath, and be
unclean until the evening.
20
Any man that has become unclean and chooses not to purify himself must be cut
off from among the gathering, because he has dirtied the holy things of
Jehovah…
If the cleansing water hasn’t been sprinkled on him, he will remain
unclean.
21 ‘And it
is the law through the ages that whoever sprinkles the water of purification
must wash his clothes, and whoever even touches the water must be unclean until
evening.
22 Also, everything
that an unclean man touches must be unclean, and anyone that touches [that
thing] must be unclean until the evening.’
Chapter 20
1 It was during the first month that the people (the whole gathering of the children of IsraEl) traveled to the Sin Desert and stayed in KaDesh; and it was there that MiriAm died and was buried.
2 Well,
there was no water in that place, so all the people came to Moses and Aaron 3 and they started shouting at Moses,
saying,
‘We would rather have died when our brothers were destroyed before
Jehovah!
4 Why have you brought
the gathering of Jehovah into this desert… to kill us along with our cattle?
5 Just what kind of a place is this?
You
brought us out of Egypt and took us into this evil place where we can’t plant
grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates…
And there’s no water for us to drink
here!’
6 Then Moses
and Aaron went to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs and stood before the
people, and [they both] fell to their faces.
Thereafter, the glory of Jehovah appeared to them, 7 and [God] spoke to Moses, saying:
8 ‘Call an assembly;
Then take your
walking stick, and you and your brother Aaron must call out to the rock that
stands before them, and it will give you its water!
You must bring the water
out of the rock for them and give it to the gathering and to their cattle to
drink.’
9 So Moses
took his walking stick that was there before Jehovah, just as the Lord had
commanded him.
10 Then Moses
and Aaron assembled the whole gathering in front of the rock, and he said to
them:
‘Listen to me, you rebels; Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’
11 And at that, Moses raised
his hand and hit the rock twice with his rod, and water came gushing out of it
for the gathering and their cattle to drink.
12 But after
that, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and said:
‘Because you didn’t put
enough trust in Me to mention Me before the children of IsraEl, you won’t be allowed to lead this gathering into the land
that I have given to them.
13
This is [to be called] The Water of Rebellion, because this is where the
children of IsraEl spoke rebelliously before Jehovah, as I remained holy among
them.’
14 Then
Moses sent messengers from KaDesh to the king of Edom to tell him,
‘This is
what your brother IsraEl is saying:
You know of all the hard times we’ve
seen, 15 of how our
fathers went down to Egypt and of the many [years] that we spent there, and of
how the Egyptians oppressed us and our fathers.
16 But when we called out to Jehovah, He
heard our voices and sent His messenger who
brought us out of Egypt.
Well, now we are in the city of KaDesh at the edge of
your land, 17 and we
wish to pass through it.
We won’t walk through your fields or through your
vineyards, nor will we drink water from your cisterns.
We will just travel
along the King’s Highway (Via
Nova Traiana), and we won’t turn to the right or left until we have past your
borders.’
18 But the
Edomites replied:
‘You may not pass through [our land]!
And if you try to do
so, we will go to war against you!’
19 So the
children of IsraEl said:
‘Then we’ll go around the mountain.
And if we and our
cattle drink any of your water, we will pay you for it…
It shouldn’t bother you
if we travel around the mountain.’
20 But [the
Edomites] replied:
‘You may not pass through [our land]!’
Well thereafter, the Edomites came out to meet them with a
huge, well-prepared army, 21
and they refused to allow IsraEl to cross their borders;
So IsraEl turned and
went another way… 22 the whole
gathering left KaDesh and traveled on to Mount Hor.
23 It was
while they were at Mount Hor
(on the border of the land of Edom) that the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and
said:
24 ‘Aaron is now going to
be laid [to rest] with his people…
And you may not enter the land that I have
given to the children of IsraEl, because you angered Me at The Water of Rebellion!
25 So, take Aaron and his son
EliEzer up Mount Hor before the whole gathering, 26 then remove Aaron’s [official] garments and put them on
EliEzer.
And thereafter, Aaron will die and be added to [his people].’
27 So Moses
did just as Jehovah had commanded him.
He took them up Mont Hor before the
whole gathering, 28 then he
removed Aaron’s clothes and put them on his son EliEzer…
And Aaron died on top
of the mountain.
Well, when Moses and EliEzer walked down the mountain, 29 the gathering realized that Aaron had
died.
Then the whole house of IsraEl wept for Aaron for thirty days.
Chapter 21
1 After
that, the CanaAnite king of Arad
(who lived near the desert) heard that IsraEl had traveled through Atharin, so he
went to war against IsraEl and carried some of [their people] off as captives.
2 So, IsraEl swore a vow to Jehovah,
saying,
‘If You will hand them over to us, we will
dedicate them and their cities to You.’
3 Well, Jehovah
heard what [the people of] IsraEl said and He gave the CanaAnites into their
hands.
They [destroyed] them and their cities, and they started calling that
place the Cursed.
4
Thereafter, they left Mount
Hor and traveled toward the Red Sea, circling the land of Edom.
But
somewhere along the way, the people lost their courage 5 and started speaking against God and
Moses, saying,
‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt just to kill us here in
the desert?
[We have] no bread or water, and we’ve come to hate the worthless
bread.’
6 So, Jehovah sent
poisonous snakes among them that bit [many] people, and quite a few of the
children of IsraEl died.
7 As
the result, the people went to Moses and said,
‘We have sinned, for we’ve
spoken against Jehovah and against you.
Please pray to Jehovah and [ask] Him to
take these snakes away from us!’
8
Well, Moses prayed to Jehovah for the people, and the Lord told Moses:
‘Make
[the sign of] a snake and [post it high].
Then, whenever someone is bitten by a
snake, they can look at [this sign] and they will live.’
9 So Moses
made a brass snake and raised it as a sign;
And whenever a snake bit a
person, he [or she] could look at the bronze snake and survive.
10
Thereafter, children of IsraEl left that place and started camping in ObOth.
11 And from ObOth, they moved to AchalGai,
which is on the eastern edge of the desert across from Moab.
12 From there they traveled on and camped
in the Zared Valley.
13 Then
they left [Zared] and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the desert
that runs along the border of the Amorites.
The Arnon is the border between the
Moabites and the Amorites, 14
for this is what was written about ZoOb in the book of the Wars of Jehovah:
‘The
dry river beds of Arnon were set on fire, 15
and Moab’s [Capital] Er [was built] along the river beds at their border.’
16 It was
there that they found a well, and Jehovah said:
‘I have given this well to Moses;
So, gather the people and I will give them water to drink.’
17 Then
IsraEl started singing this song at the well:
18 ‘It was there that their
leaders dug it;
The kings of their nation and kingdom.
They, in their kingship, sank it in rock;
This well of ManthaNain.
19 ‘From
ManthaNain to NaAliEl,
And from NaAliEl to BamOth,
Then, on from BamOth to Janen;
And from the plains of Moab,
And the quarry that faces the desert.’
20 Well
after that, Moses sent ambassadors to Seon (the king of the Amorites) with
words of peace.
They [said to him]:
21
‘We [wish to] pass through your land.
We will just travel along the road… we
won’t step into your fields or vineyards, 22
and we won’t drink any water from your wells.
We will just travel along the King’s Highway until we pass
through your borders.’
23 But Seon
wouldn’t allow IsraEl to cross his borders. Rather, he gathered all his people
and set up battle lines against IsraEl from the desert [all the way] to JasSa.
24 However, IsraEl beat them and
slaughtered [many of their people with] swords.
So thereafter, they owned all
the land from the Arnon to the JaBoc as far as the children of AmMon (for,
JaZer borders the [land of] the children of AmMon).
25 IsraEl
also captured all of the Amorite cities in the [district of] Hesh-Eboneh, and they started
living in them.
26 Hesh-Eboneh
had been the city of Seon the king of the Amorites, and he had previously
fought against the king of Moab and captured all the land from AroEr to the
Arnon.
27 That’s why there was
a saying among those that speak of such dark things:
‘Come to Hesh-Eboneh, in order to build,
And prepare the city for Seon.
28 ‘Then a
fire came out of Hesh-Eboneh…
Flames from the City of Seon.
And there they burned and consumed
To the banks of the Arnon in Moab.
29 ‘So, woe
to you, O Moab;
For you’ve lost, O you people of Chemosh.
Your sons that survived have now all been sold,
And your daughters are the captives of Seon,
Who is the Amorite king.
30 ‘From
Hesh-Eboneh to DaEbon
All your seed is now gone,
And their women light the fires that are burning in Moab.’
31 It was
while IsraEl was living in the cities of the Amorites 32 that Moses sent spies to JaZer.
Then he captured it and its
[surrounding] villages, and he drove out the Amorites that lived there.
33 And after their return, they [marched]
up the road that leads to Bashan. And Bashan’s king Og sent his army from EdraIn to meet
them.
34 Then the
Lord told Moses:
‘Don’t be afraid of him, for I’m putting him, his people, and
his land into your hands.
Now, do to him as you did to Seon the king of the
Amorites that lived in Hesh-Eboneh.’
35 So they
attacked and destroyed [Og], his sons, and all his people.
There were no
survivors, and [IsraEl] inherited their land.
Chapter 22
1
Thereafter, the children of IsraEl left that place and camped on the west
side of Moab, by the Jordan River near JeriCho.
2 And when Balak (SepPhor’s son) saw what the IsraElites
had done to the Amorites, 3
[he] and the people of Moab became very concerned and upset, because there were
so many IsraElites.
4 Then the
Moabites said to the elders of MidiAn:
‘This gathering is going lick up
everything around us like a calf swallows down grass in a field!’
Well, Balak (the son of SepPhor) was the king of Moab at the
time. 5 And he sent ambassadors
to call BalaAm
the son of Beor, who was at Phathura (which is beside a river in the land of
his people).
[And he told them] to say,
‘Look! These people that have come from
Egypt are covering the entire land… and now they’re camping close to me!
6 So, come and curse them for me, because
they are stronger than we are.
Then we’ll be able to attack them and drive them
out of the land.
Because, I know that whomever you bless will be blest, and
whomever you curse will be cursed.’
7 So the
elders of Moab and MidiAn went out carrying their charms in their hands, and
they went to see BalaAm.
Then they told him everything that Balak had said, 8 and he replied to them:
‘Spend the night
here, and I’ll tell you whatever the Lord says to me.’
So the leaders of Moab spent the night there with BalaAm.
9 And [during the night], God came to
BalaAm and asked him:
‘Who are these men that are with you?’
10 And BalaAm replied,
‘Balak, the son of
SepPhor and the king of Moab sent them to Me. For he said,
11 Look! These people have come from
Egypt… they [literally] cover the land, and now they are camping close to me.
So, come and curse them for me, then I can cut them down and drive them out of
the land!’
12 But God
told BalaAm:
‘You must not go with them, nor should you curse these people; for
they are blest.’
13 So when
BalaAm got up the next morning, he told Balak’s [ambassadors]:
‘Hurry and
return to your lord, because God won’t allow me to go with you.’
14 As the
result, the Moabites got up and returned to Balak and told him that BalaAm had
refused to come with them.
15
So Balak then sent some [of his] rulers that were even more respected than the
first ones.
16 They went to
BalaAm and said,
‘This is what Balak the son of SepPhor says:
I beg you;
please hurry and come to me, 17
for I will honor you with great [gifts] and do anything you ask.
Come and curse
these people for me!’
18 However,
BalaAm answered Balak’s leaders in these words:
‘If Balak were to give me his
whole house filled with silver and gold, I wouldn’t be able to violate the
words of the God Jehovah and do anything good or bad, for I know [that this is
wrong].
19 However, spend
[another] night here, and I will see what the Lord says.’
20 Then God
came to BalaAm during the night and said to him:
‘When these men that came to
call you [awaken], get up and go with them.
But just do the things that I tell
you to do.’
21 Well when
BalaAm arose the next morning, he saddled his burro and went with the leaders
of Moab.
22 But then God became
very angry and sent His messenger to stop him.
So,
as he was riding along on his burro (accompanied by two of his servants);
23 When the burro saw the messenger of God
standing in her way with a sword in his hand, she turned aside and ran into a
field.
Well, BalaAm started hitting the [animal] with a stick to make her
[behave].
24 Then
Jehovah’s messenger went and stood in the Avenue of Vines, which had walls on
both sides.
25 And when the
burro saw God’s messenger, she pushed up against the wall, squeezing BalaAm’s
foot, and he started beating her again.
26 And after
that, Jehovah’s messenger went ahead and stood in a narrow place where it was
impossible to turn to either the right or to the left.
27 And when the burro saw the messenger of
God, she just sat down under BalaAm.
Well, BalaAm was furious, and he again started beating the
burro with his stick.
28 But
God opened the burro’s mouth, and she asked BalaAm:
‘Just what have I done to
you that you’ve started beating me a third time?’
29 And
BalaAm told the burro:
‘You’re making a fool of me, so if I had a sword in
my hand I would kill you!’
30 Then the
burro said to BalaAm:
‘I’m the burro that you’ve ridden since you were young,
and have I ever disobeyed you?’
And [BalaAm] replied,
‘No.’
31 Then God
opened BalaAm’s eyes so he could see the messenger of Jehovah standing in the
way with his sword in his hand.
So he fell down and bowed with his face to the
ground.
32 And God’s
messenger asked him:
‘Why did you beat your burro this third time?
Look; I came
and stood in front of you three times, because the way that you’re heading is
wrong!
And when this burro saw me, she turned away from me all three times.
33 For if she hadn’t turned away, I would
have killed you and left her alive!’
34 Then
BalaAm said to Jehovah’s messenger:
‘I have sinned! I didn’t realize that it
was you standing in our way.
So, if it’s displeasing to you for me to go on, I’ll
turn back.’
35 But
Jehovah’s messenger told BalaAm:
‘Go on with these men.
However, make sure that
whatever I say to you is what you’ll tell them!’
So, BalaAm traveled on with Balak’s governors.
36 Well, when
Balak heard that BalaAm had arrived [in his land], he traveled to a city at the
border of the Arnon (which is on the edge of Moab) to meet him.
37 Then Balak asked BalaAm:
‘I sent for
you, so why didn’t you come to me?
May I not be allowed to honor you?’
38 And
BalaAm replied:
‘Look, I’m here now. But let me [warn] you;
Whatever God says
to me is what I must say.’
39 So BalaAm
traveled with Balak until they reached the City of Streets.
40 There, Balak offered sheep
and calves [to God], then he called for BalaAm and the governors that came with
him.
41 And since it was
morning, Balak took BalaAm to the sacred column of Baal
and introduced him to some of the people there.
Chapter 23
1 Then BalaAm said to
Balak:
‘Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams
for me.’
2 So Balak
did just as BalaAm told him… he offered up a calf and a ram on each altar.
3 Then he said to Balak:
‘Stand here by
your sacrifices, and I will go to see if God will appear and meet with me.
Then
I will tell you whatever He says.’
So, Balak stood by his sacrifices 4 while BalaAm went to enquire of God… he
went straight ahead, and God appeared to him.
Then BalaAm said:
‘I have
prepared seven altars, and I’ve offered a calf and a ram on each of the altars.’
5 And God
said:
‘Return to Balak and tell him this’ …
Then He put the words into BalaAm’s
mouth.
6 So BalaAm
returned to [Balak], who was standing next to his whole-burnt offerings with
all the leaders of Moab.
Then the Breath of God
came over BalaAm 7 and he spoke
this prophecy:
‘I was summoned by Moab’s King Balak…
To MesoPotamia and the mountains in the east.
He said, Come and curse Jacob for me…
Call a curse on IsraEl for me.
8 ‘But, how
can I curse what the Lord will not curse,
Or dedicate those whom God won’t destroy?
9 For I see them on the tops of
the Mountains…
In the hills, I see and observe them.
{‘Look!} But, these people must live all alone…
They must not be counted as one of the nations.
10 For, who can count Jacob’s seed…
Who can count all the families of IsraEl?
‘May my soul die among the
souls of the righteous,
And may my seed become as their seed.’
11 Then
Balak said to BalaAm:
‘What have you done to me?
I called you to curse my
enemies; but look… you have greatly blessed them!’
12 And
BalaAm replied to Balak:
‘Shouldn’t I say whatever the Lord puts into my mouth?’
13 And Balak
said:
‘Then, come with me to another place where you won’t see these people…
you’ll only see part of them.
Curse them for me there!’
14 So he took him to a high place in a field, to the top of some quarried blocks, where he built seven altars and offered a calf and a ram on each of the altars.
15 Then
BalaAm said to Balak:
‘Now, stand next to your sacrifices, while I will go [and
speak to] God.’
16 Well, God
met with BalaAm and He said:
‘Return to Balak and tell him this’ …
Then He put
the words into his mouth.
17 So BalaAm
returned to Balak, who was standing next to his whole-burnt offerings along
with all the leaders of Moab.
And Balak asked,
‘What did the Lord say?’
18 Then [BalaAm] spoke this prophecy:
‘Arise and listen, O Balak,
Listen to the proofs, O son of SepPhor.
19 ‘God
doesn’t waver like men,
Nor may He be threatened like their sons.
Will He talk and not make it happen;
Must He speak and not keep His Word?
20 ‘{Look!}
I’ve been instructed to bless them,
So I’ll bless and I’ll not turn back.
21 For, there must be no
trouble in Jacob,
Nor may sorrow be seen among IsraEl.
‘For their God Jehovah is with them,
And the glory of kings is among them.
22 It was God that brought them
from Egypt,
And like the rhinoceros is His glory.
23 ‘There
are no sooth-sayers in Jacob,
And in IsraEl, there are no enchanters.
So, Jacob and IsraEl will soon be told
All the things God will do.
24 ‘{Look!}
These people will become like the cubs of a lion,
And they will then grow into lions.
They won’t lie down ‘til they’ve eaten their prey,
And drunk the blood of those they’ve destroyed.’
25 Then
Balak said to BalaAm:
‘If you can’t curse the people for me, don’t bless them!’
26 And
BalaAm replied:
‘Didn’t I tell you that I must say whatever God tells me?’
27 And Balak
said:
‘Then, come and I’ll take you to another place that is more pleasing to
God, and you can curse them for me there.’
28 So Balak
took BalaAm to the top of Mount
Phogor (the part that runs into the desert).
29 And BalaAm said to Balak:
‘Build seven altars for me
here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams for me.’
30 And Balak did just as BalaAm told him, offering a calf and a ram on each altar.
Chapter 24
1 It was
then that BalaAm finally realized that it pleased God to bless IsraEl, so he
didn’t follow his usual custom of looking for omens.
Rather, he just turned his
face toward the desert.
2 Well,
as BalaAm gazed, he saw IsraEl camped by their tribes, and God’s Breath came over him, 3 causing him to speak this
prophecy:
‘BalaAm,
son of Beor;
This man that truly does see…
4 Who hears the prophecies of
the [great] Mighty One…
Whose eyes opened and saw a vision of God…
While he slept, his eyes opened wide.
5 ‘Good are
the places where you live, O Jacob,
And [good] are your tents, O IsraEl.
6 Like shady groves and gardens
by rivers;
Like tents pitched by God and as cedars by water.
7 ‘For a man
will come from your seed
Who will rule many nations.
His kingdom will be raised and he will grow mighty;
8 For, out of Egypt, God
brought him.
‘The glory of the rhinoceros is
his,
And he’ll consume the nations that hate him…
Yes, he will drink all their marrow,
And shoot those that hate him with arrows.
9 ‘He’ll lie down and
rest like a lion,
And as a young lion, who’ll wake him?
So, those that bless him are blest,
And those that curse him are cursed.’
10 Well,
this made Balak very angry with BalaAm, so he clapped his hands and said to
him:
‘I called you to curse my enemy, but look; You’ve blessed him for the
third time!
11 Now, hurry and
go back to your home. For though I said that I would honor you, the Lord has
now deprived you of your glory!’
12 And
BalaAm replied to Balak:
‘Didn’t I tell the messengers
whom you sent to Me 13 that
even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I wouldn’t
oppose the Lord and do either good or bad by myself?
Rather, [I told them that]
I would say whatever The God told me to say.
14 ‘So now,
{Look!} I’ll go back to my home.
But [first], come here and I’ll tell you what
these people will do to your people in the last days.’
15 Then he spoke this prophecy:
‘BalaAm, the son of Beor, says this…
The man that truly sees, tells you this:
16 I heard the prophecies of
God,
Knowledge from the Most High, I have received.
‘I saw a vision from God in my sleep
And it opened my eyes.
17 I’ll point to him,
but not now;
I’ll bless him, though he’s not nearby.
‘A star must arise out of Jacob,
And from IsraEl, a man must then spring
Who will crush the leaders of Moab,
And all sons of Seth, he will plunder.
18 ‘For
his courage, he’ll receive Edom,
And inherit his enemy, Esau.
19 [This man] will come
out of Jacob,
And destroy all those that run from your towns.’
20 Then he
noticed the Amalechites and spoke this prophecy:
‘Amalech is the first among nations,
But their seed will [also soon] die.’
21 Then he
noticed the Kenites, and he spoke this prophecy:>
‘Though the place where you live is very strong,
You should build your nest on a rock.
22 Even if Beor shows you
places to hide;
The Assyrians will take you as captives.’
23 Then he
noticed Og, and he spoke this prophecy:
‘Oh, oh; Who will survive when God does such things?
24 For, ships will come from
Cypriot shores
Who’ll defeat Assyria and Eber…
Together, they’ll all be destroyed.’
25 Then BalaAm got up and left for his [land], and Balak went back home.
Chapter 25
1 Well, it
was while IsraEl was camped at SatTin that [many of] the people made themselves
dirty by engaging in immoral sex with the daughters of Moab.
2 Then they started worshiping their
idols, offering sacrifices to them and eating their sacrifices.
3 So IsraEl had become totally devoted to BeEl Phegor, which made Jehovah very angry with them.
4 And as the result, the Lord told Moses:
‘Take
all their leaders, then lay them out in the sunlight before Jehovah to make
examples of them, and this will turn His anger away from IsraEl!’
5 Then Moses
told the tribes of IsraEl:
‘You must each kill any of your friends that have
devoted themselves to BeEl Phegor.’
6 And just
then, an IsraElite man came and led his brothers over to [have sex with] a
MidiAnite woman… doing this right in front of Moses and the whole gathering of the children of IsraEl that had been weeping
at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs!
7
And when PhineAs (the son of EliEzer and grandson of Aaron the Priest) saw
this, he stood up in the midst of the gathering, took a spear in his hand, 8 and he followed the IsraElite man right
into his bedroom.
There he ran the spear through the IsraElite man and through
the woman’s womb.
Well at that, the plague [that had come] on the children of
IsraEl stopped.
9 But by then,
twenty-four thousand people had died.
10 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
11
‘PhineAs (the son of EliEzer and grandson of Aaron the Priest) has brought an
end to My rage against the children of IsraEl.
And though I had become very jealous, I didn’t consume them all in My zeal.
12 So, tell him that I will now make a
sacred agreement of peace 13
with him and with the seed that descends from him.
They will be Priests through
the ages because of his zeal for his God, and
because he paid for the sins of the children of IsraEl.’
14 Now, the
name of the IsraElite man that was killed with the MidiAnite woman was ZamBri.
He was the son of SalMon and a leader of one of the lines of the Tribe of
SymeOn.
15 The name of the
MidiAnite woman that was killed was ChasBi.
She was the daughter of Sur, who was
a leader of the nation of OmMoth and a chief among the people of MidiAn.
16 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
‘Tell the children of IsraEl 17 that the MidiAnites are to be
considered their enemies!
So from now on, they must be treated as a plague and
destroyed!
18 For the treachery
that they used to trap you (as in the case of PhoGor and ChasBi, who was a
daughter of a leader of MidiAn and that was killed on the day of the plague) has
proven that they are truly your enemies!’
Chapter 26
1 Well,
after the plague had ended, the Lord spoke to
Moses and EliEzer (the Priest) and said:
2
‘Take a census of the gathering of the children of
IsraEl.
Count all those that are twenty years old and upwards that serve as
soldiers for IsraEl, by family lines.’
3 So it was there in the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan and JeriCho, that Moses and EliEzer the Priest [took the census] 4 and counted all [the soldiers] that were twenty years old and older, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
And these are the [family lines] of IsraEl that came out of Egypt:
5 ReuBen
was the firstborn of IsraEl. His descendants were Enoch and his family, PhalLu and
his family of PhalLuites, 6
Asron and his family of Asronites, and Charmi and his family.
7 So the [army of] the descendants of
ReuBen was numbered at forty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty.
8 The
descendants of PhalLu were EliAb 9
and his sons NamuEl, Dathan, and AbiRam.
[Dathan and AbiRam] were the famous
men among the gathering that joined KorAh in opposing Moses and Aaron and in
rebelling against Jehovah.
10
Then the ground opened its mouth and swallowed them along with KorAh, and
thereafter, their followers perished when fire destroyed all two hundred and
fifty as a sign [from God].
11
However, KorAh’s sons weren’t killed.
12 The
descendants of SymeOn were NamuEl and his family of NamuElites, JaMin and
his family of JaMinites, JaChin and his family of JaChinites, 13 Zara and his family of Zaraites, and
Saul and his family of Saulites.
14
So the [army of] the descendants of SymeOn was numbered at twenty-two thousand,
two hundred.
15 The
descendants of Judah were Er and AuNan (who both died in the land of
CanaAn), 16 Selom and his
family of Selomites, Phares and his family of Pharesites, and Zara and his
family of Zaraites.
17 Phares’
sons were Asron and his family of Asronites, and JaMun and his family of
JaMunites.
18 So the [army of]
the descendants of Judah was numbered at seventy-six thousand, five hundred.
19 The
descendants of IshSachar and their family lines were Thola and his family
of Tholaites, Phua and his family of Phuaites, 20 JaShub and his family of JaShubites, and AmBram and his
family of AmBramites.
21 So the
[army of] the descendants of IshSachar was numbered at sixty-four thousand,
four hundred.
22 The
descendants of ZebuLon and their family lines were Sared and his family of
Saredites, AlLon and his family of AlLonites, and AlLel and his family of
AlLelites.
23 So the [army of]
the descendants of ZebuLon was numbered at sixty thousand, five hundred.
24 The
descendants of Gad and their family lines were Saphon and his family of
Saphonites, Angi and his family of Angites, Suni and his family of Sunites, 25 Azeni and his families of Azenites and
Addites, 26 AroAdi and his
family of AroAdites, and AriEl and his family of AriElites.
27 So the [army of] the descendants of Gad
was numbered at forty-four thousand, five hundred.
28 The descendants
of Asher and their family lines were JaMin and his family of JaMinites,
JoShua and his family of JoShuites, BarJa and his family of BarJaites, 29 Chober and his family of Choberites,
and MelchiEl and his family of MelchiElites.
30
(Asher’s daughter’s name was Sara).
31
So the [army of] the descendants of Asher was numbered at forty-three thousand,
four hundred.
32 JoSeph had two sons, ManasSeh and Ephraim, and each had his own family line.
33 The
descendants of ManasSeh and their family lines were MachIr and his family
of MachIrites.
MachIr’s son was GalaAd, and he was the father of the
GalaAdites.
34 The descendants
of GalaAd were AchiEzer and his family of AchiEzerites, Cheleg and his family
of Chelegites, 35 EsriEl and
his family of EsriElites, Sychem and his family of Sychemites, 36 SymaEr and his family of SymaErites,
Opher and his family of Opherites.
37
Opher’s son SalpaAd had no sons, just daughters.
His daughter’s names were
SalpaAd, Mala, Nua, Egla, Melcha, and Thersa.
38
So the [army of] the descendants of ManasSeh was numbered at fifty-two
thousand, seven hundred.
39 The
descendants of Ephraim were SuthaLan and his family of SuthaLanites and
Tanach and his family of Tanachites.
40
SuthaLan was the father of Eden and his family of Edenites.
41 So the [army of] the descendants of
Ephraim was numbered at thirty-two thousand, five hundred.
These were the families of the children of JoSeph and their family lines.
42 The
descendants of BenJamin and their family lines were Bale and his family of Balites,
Asuber and his family of Asuberites, JaChiran and his family of JaChiranites, 43 and Sophan and his family of
Sophanites.
44 Bale’s sons were
Adar and NoEman. Adar started his family of Adarites and NoEman started his
family of NoEmanites.
45 So the
[army of] the descendants of BenJamin and their family lines was numbered at
thirty-five thousand, five hundred.
46 The
descendants of Dan were SaMei and his family of SaMeites.
So the [army of]
the descendants of Dan 47
through SaMei and his family line was numbered at sixty-four thousand, four
hundred.
48 The
descendants of NaphTali and their family lines were AsiEl and his family of
AsiElites, GaUn and his family of GaUnites, 49
Jeser and his family of Jeserites, and SelLem and his family of SelLemites.
50 So the [army of] the descendants of
NaphTali was numbered at forty thousand, three hundred.
51 Altogether, there were six hundred-and-one thousand, seven hundred and thirty that were counted among [the army] of the children of IsraEl.
52 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
53
‘This is how the land must be divided:
The inheritances should be allotted by
[family] names, 54 and the
larger groups should be given larger inheritances, while the smaller groups
should be given smaller inheritances.
So, use this census to divide the
inheritances.
55 The land must
be divided by these names and assigned by lottery,
and each of the family lines and tribes must be given an assignment [of land].
56 So, subdivide [the land] into smaller
and larger portions.
57 Now, the descendants of Levi and their family lines were, Gedson and his family of Gedsonites, CaAth and his family of CaAthites, MeraRi and his family of MeraRites, 58 and Lobi and his families of LoBenites, Hebronites, Coreites, and Musites.
CaAth’s son was AmBram. 59 His woman’s name was JoChabed, and she was a descendant of Levi.
She was born to Levi in
Egypt, and she gave birth to these through AmBram: Aaron, Moses, and their
sister MiriAm.
60 Aaron’s
sons were Nadab, AbiUd, EliEzer, and IthaMar, 61 but Nadab and AbiUd died when they offered unauthorized
fire to Jehovah while they were in the Sinai Desert.
62 There were twenty-three thousand males
among [Aaron’s family line] that were a month old and older.
However, they weren’t
counted among the children of IsraEl, because they were to receive no
inheritance among them.
63 This was
the census that was conducted by Moses and EliEzer (the Priest) in the Plains
of Moab, near the Jordan River and JeriCho.
64
However, none among them had been counted in the [earlier] census of the
children of IsraEl that was taken by Moses and Aaron in the Sinai Desert, 65 for Jehovah told them that they were
going to die in the desert.
So [the only ones left of that generation that
entered the Promised Land] were Caleb (the son of JePhonNe) and JoShua (the son
of NaWeh).
Chapter 27
1 Well, the
daughters of SalpaAd (he was the son of Opher, grandson of GalaAd, and
great-grandson of MachIr of the Tribe of ManasSeh, one of the sons of JoSeph),
MaAla, Nua, Egla, Melcha, and Thersa, 2
came before Moses, EliEzer the Priest, all of the leaders and the whole gathering at the entrance to the Tent
of Proofs, and they said:
3
‘Our father died in the desert, but he wasn’t among those in the gathering who
rebelled against Jehovah by joining with KorAh. Rather, he died for his own
sins… and he had no sons.
[So, please] don’t allow the name of our father to be
blotted out from among his people just because he had no sons.
Give us an
inheritance among our father’s brothers!’
4 So Moses brought their case before Jehovah.
5 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
6
‘The daughters of SalpaAd are right. You should assign them an inheritance
among their father’s brothers as their father’s inheritance.
7 So, speak to the children of IsraEl and
tell them this:
8 If a man
dies without any sons, you must give his inheritance to his daughters.
9 If he has no daughters, you must give
his inheritance to his brother.
10
However, if he has no brothers, you must give his inheritance to his father’s
brother.
11 And if his
father has no brothers, you must give the inheritance to the nearest relative
in his tribe.’
These were the laws concerning the inheritance of possessions among the children of IsraEl that Jehovah gave to Moses.
12 Then the
Lord said to Moses:
‘Go to the Mountain in the country beyond the Jordan, Mount Nabau, and gaze upon
the land CanaAn, which I am giving to the sons of IsraEl.
13 Then you will be added to your people,
just as your brother Aaron was added to them on Mount Hor.
14 For you failed in My commandments while
[you were] in the desert of Sin when the whole gathering opposed Me and refused
to consider Me holy, because you failed to [speak of] Me as being holy when you
brought the water out [of the rock] before them…
From the Waters of Rebellion
at KaDesh in the Sin Desert.’
15 Then
Moses said to the Lord:
16 ‘May
Jehovah, the God of all that is spirit and all that is flesh, provide a man who
will watch over this gathering…
17
Don’t leave the gathering of Jehovah as sheep without a shepherd!
[Assign
someone] to travel before them as their leader, who will lead them in and lead
them back out.’
18 And the
Lord said to Moses:
‘Choose and lay your hands upon JoShua, the son of NaWeh,
for he’s a man that will have [God’s] Breath upon
him.
19 Take him before EliEzer
the Priest and give him all his instructions before the entire gathering…
20 Then put all of your glory upon him, so
that the children of IsraEl will listen to him.
21 Thereafter, he must stand beside EliEzer the Priest; and
whenever they come before Jehovah to ask for the judgments of the Revelation, they must do whatever [JoShua] says…
They
must follow his instructions and the entire gathering of the children of IsraEl
must unite behind him!’
22 So Moses
did just as Jehovah commanded him… he took JoShua and stood him before EliEzer
the Priest and the entire gathering.
23
Then he laid his hands on him and promoted him, just as the Lord had instructed
Moses.
Chapter 28
1 Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and said:
2 ‘Speak to the
children of IsraEl and tell them to be sure to offer their gifts and presents
to Me… the burnt offerings that provide a
sweet-smelling odor during My feasts.
3
Tell them that through the coming ages, they are to
bring two perfect yearling lambs each day as
whole-burnt offerings to Me.
4
They must offer one lamb in the morning and the second in the evening.
5 They must also offer three quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of oil
as a food offering.
6 This
whole-burnt offering is to be sacrificed down through the ages as a sweet-smelling
odor to Jehovah, just as it was offered at Mount Sinai.
7 [They must also bring] a drink offering
– a quart for each lamb – and pour it out in the holy place as an offering to
Jehovah.
8 ‘As for
the second lamb, the one that is to be [sacrificed] in the evening;
It should
also be presented along with a food offering and a drink offering, as a
sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.
9 ‘And on
each Sabbath day, they must offer two perfect yearling lambs with two quarts of
fine flour mixed with oil as a food offering, plus a drink offering.
10 So, a whole-burnt offering [must be
sacrificed] on each Sabbath day, in addition to the regular whole-burnt
offerings and drink offerings.
11 ‘And on
each New Moon, they must bring these whole-burnt offering to Jehovah:
Two calves
from the herd, one ram, and seven perfect yearling lambs, 12 plus three quarts of fine flour mixed
with oil for each calf, two quarts of fine flour mixed with oil with each ram, 13 and a quart of fine flour mixed with
oil with each lamb, as food offerings and as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.
14 Their drink offerings must consist of a
half gallon with each calf, a third of a gallon with each ram, and a quart of
wine with each lamb.
These whole-burnt offerings must be brought in on every
month of the year.
15 Also, one
kid goat must be brought to Jehovah as a sin offering, in addition to the
regular whole-burnt offerings and drink offerings.
16 ‘Then on
the fourteenth day of the first month [they must start celebrating] the
Passover to Jehovah.
17
And on the fifteenth day
of the month, there is to be a feast.
So, they must eat fermentation-free bread
for seven days.
18 That first
day is to be a holy day of rest during which they may not do any physical
labor.
19 Thereafter, these
whole-burnt offerings must also be sacrificed to Jehovah:
Two calves from the
herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, which must all be perfect, 20 as well as a food offering of fine
flour mixed with oil (three quarts per calf, two quarts per ram, 21 and a pint for each of the seven
lambs), 22 plus a kid goat as a
sin offering, to pay for their sins.
23
This is in addition to the whole-burnt offerings that must be brought each
morning as a continuous whole-burnt sacrifice 24
seven days a week as a gift and a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah, along with a
drink offering.
25 Then the
following seventh day must be a holy day of rest, during which they must do no
hard labor.
26 ‘Also,
the day when the new grain is offered to Jehovah must be a holy day of rest,
during which they may do no hard labor.
27
And these whole-burnt offerings must be brought as a sweet-smelling odor to
Jehovah:
Two calves from the herd, one ram, and seven perfect lambs, 28 along with food offerings of fine flour
mixed with oil, three quarts per calf, two quarts per ram, 29 and a pint for each lamb (which is to
be offered separately for each of the seven lambs).
A kid goat must also be
brought 30 as a sin offering to
pay for your sins, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings and 31 the food offerings that you bring to
Me.
They must all be perfect and each must have its own drink offering.’
Chapter 29
1 ‘And the
first day of the seventh month must be a holy day of rest for you, during which
you may not do any manual labor, for that’s when the trumpets are to be blown.
2 At that time, you must offer these whole burnt offerings as a sweet odor to Jehovah:
One
calf from the herd, one ram, and seven perfect yearling lambs.
3 As food offerings, you must bring fine
flour mixed with oil, three quarts per calf, two quarts per ram, 4 and a quart for each of the seven lambs.
5 You must also bring a kid
goat as a sin offering, to pay for your sins.
6
This is in addition to the whole-burnt offerings for the New Moon Festival and
their food and drink offerings, and the regular whole-burnt offerings with
their food and drink offerings (according to their laws), which must be offered
as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.
7 ‘And the
tenth day of that month must also be a holy day of rest for you…
You may do no
work, for you must then closely examine your lives!
8 And you must bring these
whole-burnt offerings as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah:
One calf from the
herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, each of which must be perfect.
9
Their food offerings must be fine flour mixed with oil, three quarts for the
calf, two quarts per ram, 10
and a quart for each of the seven lambs.
11
You must also bring a kid goat as a sin offering, to pay for your sins.
All of
this is in addition to the other sin offerings and the regular whole-burnt
offerings, along with their food and drink offerings (according to their laws),
which must be offered as a sweet odor and as a burnt sacrifice to Jehovah.
12 ‘Then the
fifteenth day of the seventh month must also be a holy day of rest during which
you must do no hard labor;
For you are to hold a feast to Jehovah for the next
seven days.
13 And you must
bring these whole-burnt offerings as a sacrifice and as a sweet odor to
Jehovah:
On the first day, you must bring thirteen calves from the herd, two
rams, and fourteen yearling lambs, which must all be perfect.
14 The food offerings must be fine flour
mixed with oil, three quarts for each of the thirteen calves, two quarts for
each of the two rams, 15 and a
quart for each of the fourteen lambs.
16
Also, one kid goat must be offered as a sin offering, in addition to the
regular whole-burnt offerings, food offerings, and drink offerings.
17 ‘On
the second day, bring twelve calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect yearling
lambs.
18 The amount of food
and drink offerings for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the
Law.
19 And one kid goat must
be brought as a sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings,
food offerings, and drink offerings.
20 ‘On the
third day, bring eleven calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect yearling lambs.
21 The amount of food and drink offerings
for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the Law.
22 And one kid goat must be brought as a
sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings, food offerings,
and drink offerings.
23 ‘On the
fourth day, bring ten calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect yearling lambs.
24 The amount of food and drink offerings
for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the Law.
25 And one kid goat must be brought as a
sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings, food offerings,
and drink offerings.
26 ‘On the
fifth day, bring nine calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect yearling lambs.
27 The amount of food and drink offerings
for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the Law.
28 And one kid goat must be brought as a
sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings, food offerings,
and drink offerings.
29 ‘On the
sixth day, bring eight calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect yearling lambs.
30 The amount of food and drink offerings
for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the Law.
31 And one kid goat must be brought as a
sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings, food offerings,
and drink offerings.
32 ‘On the
seventh day, bring seven calves, two rams, and fourteen perfect, yearling
lambs.
33 The amount of food
and drink offerings for the calves, rams, and lambs must be according to the
Law.
34 And one kid goat must
be brought as a sin offering, in addition to the regular whole-burnt offerings,
food offerings, and drink offerings.
35 ‘The
eighth day is when [IsraElite slaves] are to be set free, so no manual labor
may be done then.
36 You must
also bring one calf, one ram, and seven perfect yearling lambs as
whole-burnt-offering sacrifices to Jehovah.
37
The amount of food and drink offerings for the calves, rams, and lambs must be
according to the Law.
38 And
one kid goat must be brought as a sin offering, in addition to the regular
whole-burnt offerings, food offerings, and drink offerings.
39 ‘These are the things that you must offer to Jehovah during your feasts, in addition to those things that you offer in your vows as free-will offerings and as your whole burnt offerings, food offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings.’
Chapter 30
1 So Moses spoke to the children of IsraEl and told them everything that Jehovah had commanded.
2 Then Moses
spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of IsraEl and said,
‘This is
what Jehovah has commanded:
3
Whenever a man makes a vow to Jehovah, or swears an
oath, or accepts a responsibility, he must not break his word…
He must do
whatever he says!
4 And the
same is true of a woman. She must do whatever she vows to Jehovah.
If she says
that she will do something while she is young and still living in her father’s
house, and her father hears her say it – as long as he doesn’t disagree with
her making [such a vow] – all her vows must be fulfilled, 5 and she is bound to any obligations that
she has taken upon her life.
6 However, if her father forbids [her vow]
(or any other obligation that she agrees to) on the same day that he hears it,
she isn’t bound to it, and Jehovah won’t hold her accountable, because it was
forbidden by her father.
7 ‘And if
she is married and speaks a vow to accept an obligation upon her life, 8 and her husband hears it – as long as he
doesn’t disagree with her making it – all her vows must be fulfilled and she is
bound to any obligations that she has taken upon her life.
9 However, if her husband forbids [her
vow] (or any other obligation that she agrees to) on the same day that he hears
it, she isn’t bound to it and Jehovah won’t hold her accountable, because it
was forbidden by her husband.
10 ‘Also,
whatever a widow or divorced woman vows to do with her life must be done.
11 And if she made the vow when she was
still [living] with her man, 12
and he heard it and didn’t object; then, all her vows must be fulfilled and she
is bound to any obligations that she has taken upon her life.
13 However, if her man cancels [her vow]
(or any other obligation that she agrees to) on the same day that he hears it,
she isn’t bound to it and Jehovah won’t hold her accountable, because her man
forbade it.
14 ‘So, any
vow [that a woman] makes which will affect her life must be heard by her man,
and he must either agree to it or disallow it.
15 And if he chooses to say nothing;
Then she is bound to
it, and he must agree to any obligations that she has accepted, because he didn’t
disagree with it on the day that he heard it.
16
But if her man – for any reason – should choose to cancel a vow after that, he
is guilty of a sin.’
17 These were the laws that Jehovah gave to Moses regarding a man and his woman, and regarding a father and his young daughter that is still living in his home.
Chapter 31
1 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
2
‘I want you to avenge the wrongs that the MidiAnites have committed against the
children of IsraEl.
And after that, you will be added to your people.’
3 So Moses
spoke to the people and said,
‘Arm yourselves, then stand before Jehovah in
battle lines and [prepare yourselves] to bring the Lord’s vengeance upon
MidiAn…
4 Select a thousand from
each of the tribes of the children of IsraEl to go to war.’
5 So they
counted off the thousand from each Tribe of IsraEl – twelve thousand men – and
armed them for war.
6 Then
Moses sent them off, along with PhineAs (the son of EliEzer the Priest and the
grandson of Aaron) carrying the holy instruments and the signal trumpets, 7 and they arranged themselves in battle
lines against MidiAn, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses…
And they went and
destroyed them.
8
Thereafter, they killed the five kings of MidiAn (Evi, Rocon, Sur, Ur, and
Roboc)… and they even killed BalaAm (the son of Beor) with a sword, along with
all the rest.
9 Then ( after
they had destroyed their army) they took all the women of MidiAn as captives,
along with their food, cattle, and all their possessions, 10 and they burned all their cities,
villages, and homes with fire…
11
They plundered everything, including the people and their animals.
12 So they carried all the captives,
spoils, and loot (planning to give them to Moses, EliEzer the Priest, and to
divide them among the children of IsraEl) back to their camp in the plains of
Moab, which was near the Jordan River [across from] JeriCho.
13 Then
Moses, EliEzer (the Priest), and all the leaders of the gathering
went to their camp to meet their army.
14
But Moses was furious with the captains of the army (the leaders of thousands
and of hundreds) that had returned from the battle, 15 for he asked them:
‘Why have you kept these women alive?
16 They were the ones [who
listened to] BalaAm and misled the children of IsraEl by inciting their revolt
and by teaching them to despise the word of Jehovah at Phogor…
And that’s why
Jehovah sent a plague on the gathering!
17 ‘So now,
kill all the men, destroy all their food, and kill all the women whom you know
aren’t virgins…
18 You may
spare any women whom you suspect are virgins.
19
Then, all that have killed or touched dead bodies must stay outside of our camp
for seven days;
And thereafter, you and those whom you have captured must be
purified on the third day and on the seventh day.
20 You must also purify all your clothes, all your leather
utensils, all your goatskin items, and all your wooden bowls.’
21 Then
EliEzer (the Priest) said to the men from the army that had just returned from
battle,
‘This is what the Law that Jehovah gave to Moses says:
22 The items of gold, silver, brass,
iron, lead, and tin 23
must be passed through fire to be cleansed.
And whatever can’t be passed
through a fire must be sprinkled with the purifying water to be made clean.
24 Then on the seventh day, you must be
cleansed and you must wash your clothes.
Only after that, may you enter our
camp.’
25 Well, the
Lord then spoke to Moses again and said:
26
‘I want you and EliEzer the Priest to take an inventory of the captured people
and animals;
27 Then you must
divide them among the soldiers that went out to battle and with the rest of the
gathering.
28 Also, as a
tribute to Jehovah from the warriors that went out to battle; take one out of
every five hundred of the people, oxen, sheep, and
burros, 29 and give them to
EliEzer the Priest as the first fruits of Jehovah.
30 Then from among those things that are given to the
children of IsraEl, you should take one out of fifty of the people, oxen,
sheep, and burros, and give them to the Levites that teach at the Tent of
Jehovah.’
31 So Moses
and EliEzer (the Priest) did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 The plunder that was given to the
soldiers included six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand oxen, 34 and sixty-one thousand burros.
35 There were also thirty-two thousand
virgins that were given to them… 36
half of everything was given to the soldiers that went to war.
And of the three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five
hundred sheep, 37 they offered
six hundred and seventy-five sheep as a tribute to Jehovah.
38 Of their thirty-six thousand oxen, they
gave seventy-two as a tribute to Jehovah.
39
Of their thirty thousand, five hundred burros, they gave sixty-one as a tribute
to Jehovah.
40 And of the
sixteen thousand people, they gave thirty-two of them as a tribute to Jehovah.
41 For Moses presented all the tributes as
a wave offering to Jehovah God, [and they were given] to EliEzer the Priest
(just as the Lord had commanded Moses) 42
from the half that belonged to the children of IsraEl whom Moses had separated
as soldiers.
43
Thereafter, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep were
divided among the gathering as their half, 44
plus thirty-six thousand oxen, 45
thirty thousand five hundred burros, 46
and sixteen thousand people.
47
And from their half, Moses took a fiftieth of the people and the cattle, and gave
them to the Levites that teach at the Tent of Jehovah, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.
48 Well
then, all those that had been appointed as officers over the army (the captains
of thousands and of hundreds) approached Moses and said,
49 ‘Your servants have counted the men of
war among us, and none have been lost.
50
So, those among us that found things that were made of gold, such as armlets,
chains, rings, bracelets, and hair clasps have brought them as our gift to
Jehovah, to pay for our sins.’
51 And when
Moses and EliEzer (the Priest) accepted all the items of gold from them, 52 [they found that] the gold that the
captains of thousands and of hundreds offered to Jehovah was valued at sixteen
thousand, seven hundred and fifty silver coins.
53 However, the soldiers kept the rest of the loot for
themselves.
54 Then Moses and EliEzer (the Priest) took all the gold items that the captains of thousands and hundreds had contributed and placed it all in the Tent of Proofs to serve as a reminder to the children of IsraEl, there in front of Jehovah.
Chapter 32
1 Now, the
[tribes] of ReuBen and Gad both had huge herds of cattle, and when they saw
that the area of JaZer and GalaAd had good grazing land, 2 they went to Moses, EliEzer the Priest,
and the leaders of the gathering, and said to them:
3 ‘The area of AtarOth, DaEbon, JaZer,
NamRa, Hesh-Eboneh, ElAle, Sebama, Nabau, and BaeAn, 4 which Jehovah has delivered into the
hands of the children of IsraEl, is pasture land, and we (your servants) have
many cattle.
5 So, if it pleases
you, may your servants be given this land as our inheritance.
Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.’
6 But Moses
asked:
‘Then when your brothers go to war, are you just going to sit here?
7 Why are you twisting the minds of the children
of IsraEl by encouraging them not to cross into the land that Jehovah is giving
to them?
8 Isn’t this the same
thing that your fathers did when I sent them from KaDesh Barne to spy in the
land?
9 For, after they went
into the Valley of Grape Clusters as spies, they twisted the hearts of the
children of IsraEl so that they didn’t want to enter the land that Jehovah gave
to them, 10 and this made
Jehovah very angry.
So He swore and said,
11
All these men that were twenty years old and older when they left Egypt and
that knew the difference between good and evil will not see the land that I
swore to give to AbraHam, IsaAc, and Jacob, because they have chosen not to
follow Me.
12 The only
exceptions are Caleb (the son of JePhonNe) and JoShua (the son of NaWeh)… they
were the only ones that followed Me closely.
13 And because this made Jehovah so angry with IsraEl, He
forced them to wander in the desert for forty years, until the whole generation
that did this evil thing before Him was gone.
14 ‘Look!
Now you’re following in the same footsteps as your fathers and you’ve allied
yourselves as sinful people so as to make Jehovah even angrier with IsraEl;
15 For you want to turn away from Him and
stay in the desert again.
By choosing to do this, you’re sinning against the
whole gathering!’
16 But they
came to him and said:
‘If we can build pens for our cattle here and have these
cities as our possessions, 17
we will arm ourselves and march ahead of the children of IsraEl to lead them
into their land.
We will leave our possessions inside the walled cities
(because of the people that live in this land), 18 and we won’t return to our homes until after the
children of IsraEl have each been given their own inheritance and are settled
there.
19 Then, we won’t take
any of the land on the other side of the Jordan as our inheritance, because we
will have taken our full inheritance here on the east side.’
20 So Moses
said to them:
‘If you will do everything that you’re saying… if you will arm
yourselves and march in battle before Jehovah, 21 and if you will cross the Jordan and stay there until
our enemies are destroyed 22
and our land has been totally settled before you return home, you will be free
of guilt before Jehovah and this land can be yours.
23 But if you don’t do that, you will be
sinning against Jehovah and you will see the results of your sin when bad
things happen to you.
24 So
now, go on and build the cities in which you can store your things, along with
the pens for your cattle; and thereafter, you must do everything that you’ve
proposed.’
25 And the
[tribes] of ReuBen and Gad replied:
‘Your servants will do as our lord
commands.
26 We will leave all
our possessions, our women, and our cattle in the cities of GalaAd.
27 And after that, we will march ahead [of
IsraEl] all armed and ready for battle before Jehovah, as you said.’
28 Then
Moses gave these instructions to EliEzer the Priest, JoShua (the son of NaWeh),
and all the heads of the families and tribes of IsraEl.
29 He said,
‘If the sons of ReuBen and Gad
cross the Jordan armed and ready for war before Jehovah and they help to
conquer the land before you, you must give them the land of GalaAd as theirs.
30 However, if they don’t cross [the
Jordan] all armed and ready for war, you must make them bring their
possessions, women, and cattle into the land of CanaAn, where they will receive
their inheritance among you.’
31 And the
sons of ReuBen and Gad answered:
‘We will do whatever Jehovah tells his
servants.
32 We will arm
ourselves and march into the land of CanaAn before Jehovah, and you must give
us our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.’
33 So Moses gave the sons of Gad, the sons of ReuBen, and half of the Tribe of ManasSeh (one of the sons of JoSeph) the land of the Amorite king Seon, the land of Og the king of Bashan, and all their cities and borders, as well as the cities and lands around them.
34
Thereafter, the sons of Gad built and fortified DaEbon, AtarOth, AroEr, 35 Sophar, and JaZer;
36 And they also built and fortified NamBran
and BaethAran, where they then made pens for their sheep.
37 The sons
of ReuBen built Hesh-Eboneh, ElAle, KariathAm, 38 and BeElMeon (which they surrounded with walls), and
[the town of] Sebama.
Then they named each of the cities after themselves.
39 Also, the
family of MachIr (of the Tribe of ManasSeh) went to GalaAd and captured it,
destroying all the Amorites that lived there.
40
So Moses gave GalaAd to MachIr, and they started living there.
41 JaIr (of the Tribe of ManasSeh) also captured many villages, which he then called the Villages of JaIr.
42 And NabOth went and captured the villages of CaAth, which he renamed after himself (NabOth).
Chapter 33
1 These
are the places where the children of IsraEl and their army stayed (under the
direction of Moses and Aaron) after they left the land of Egypt.
2 For, following the instructions of
Jehovah, Moses wrote down the places
where they moved and where they had stayed.
So, here are the stages of their journey:
3 They left
RamesSe on the fifteenth day of the first month.
Then after the Passover, the
children of IsraEl proudly walked away from the Egyptians, 4 since the Egyptians were burying all the
dead that Jehovah had struck down – all the firstborn in the land of Egypt –
and He also brought vengeance upon their gods.
5 The
children of IsraEl left RamesSe and camped in SocChoth;
6 Then they left SocChoth and camped in
BuThan, near the desert.
7
After that, they left BuThan and camped at the mouth of the IrOth, which is
across from BeEl SepPhon and opposite MagDol.
8
It was when they left IrOth that they crossed through the middle of the sea and
into the desert.
Thereafter, they traveled through the desert for three days
and camped in PicriAe.
9 When
they left PicriAe, they went to AiLim (where there were twelve springs of water
and seventy palm trees), and they camped next to the water.
10 When they left AiLim, they camped next
to the Red Sea.
11 And when
they left the Red Sea, they camped in the Sin Desert.
12 After
they left the Sin Desert, they camped in RaPhaca.
13 And when they left RaPhaca, they camped in AiLus.
14 When they left AiLus, they camped in
RaphiDin (where there was no water for the people to drink).
15 Then they left RaphiDin and camped in
the Sinai Desert.
16 When they
left the Sinai Desert, they camped at the Graveyard of the Greedy.
17 Then they left the Graveyard of the
Greedy and camped in AsherOth;
18
And after AsherOth, they camped in RathAma.
19 When they
left RathAma, they camped in RemMon Phares.
20
And when they left RemMon Phares, they camped in Lebona.
21 After leaving Lebona, they camped in
ResSan.
22 Then they left
ResSan and camped in MakelLath.
23
After MakelLath, they camped in Saphar.
24
When they left Saphar, they camped in CharaDath.
25 Then they left CharaDath and camped in MakelOth.
26 When they left MakelOth, they camped in
KataAth.
27 Then they left
KataAth and camped in TarAth.
28
After leaving TarAth, they camped in MathecKa.
29 Then they left MathecKa and camped in Selmona.
30 After Selmona, they camped in MasurUth.
31 After camping in MasurUth,
they went to BanaYa.
32 And
after leaving BanaYa, they camped at Mount GadGad.
33 Then after leaving Mount GadGad, they camped in EteBatha.
34 When they left EteBatha,
they camped in Ebrona.
35 After
Ebrona, they camped in Gesion Gaber.
36
Then they left Gesion Gaber and camped in the Sin Desert.
Then they left the
Sin Desert and camped in the Pharan Desert at KaDesh.
37 And when they left KaDesh, they camped
at Mount Hor, near the land of Edom.
38 It was at
Mount Hor that Aaron the Priest climbed the mountain (following Jehovah’s
instructions) and died on the first day of the fifth month, forty years after
they left the land of Egypt.
39
Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 And after
the CanaAnite king Arad heard that the children of IsraEl were in his land, 41 they left Mount Hor and camped in
SelMona.
42 Then from SelMona,
they went to Phino;
43 And
after leaving Phino, they camped in ObOth.
44 When they
left ObOth, they camped in Gai at the border of Moab.
45 Then they left Gai and camped in DaEbon
Gad.
46 When they left DaEbon
Gad, they camped in Gelmon DeblaThaim.
47
After leaving Gelmon DeblaThaim, they camped on the Mountains of Abarim, which
border Nabau.
48 Then when they
left the Mountains of Abarim, they camped on the west side [of the land] of
Moab by the Jordan River near JeriCho.
49
There they stayed camped by the Jordan (from AiSimOth to Belsa, west of Moab).
50 It was
there (west of Moab by the Jordan River, close to JeriCho) that the Lord spoke
to Moses and said:
51 ‘Now
tell the children of IsraEl that they are to cross the Jordan into the land of
CanaAn, 52 where they must
destroy everyone that lives in that land.
They must tear down their altars,
destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their [sacred] columns.
53 All the inhabitants of the land must be
destroyed so they can live there, for I have given them this land as their
inheritance.
54 ‘The land
that each tribe inherits must thereafter be divided in
a lottery.
The more people there are in each tribe, the larger their
inheritance must be; and the smaller the tribe, the smaller its inheritance…
The inheritances must be divided by [the sizes of] their tribes and families.
55 ‘Now, if
you don’t destroy the people that live in that land; those that are left will
eventually become thorns in your eyes and darts in your sides.
They will always
be your enemies in this land, 56
and the things that I had planned to do to them, I’ll do to you.’
Chapter 34
1 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said:
2
‘Tell the children of IsraEl that when they enter the land of CanaAn that they
are going to inherit, 3 their
southern border will run southward from the Sin Desert along the borders of
Edom, then east to the [Dead] Sea.
4
The border will thereafter run from the south to the base of AcraBin and on to
EnNac, and on southward to KaDesh Barne.
It will run to the village of Arad and
on past AseMona.
5 From AseMona
it will run to the [Nile] River, and end at the sea.
6 ‘The western border will be the [Mediterranean] Sea.
7 ‘They will
have to measure their northern border themselves, but it will run from the [Mediterranean]
Sea along the edge of the mountains.
8
They will have to measure from the mountains at the entrance to Emath to where
they end along the border of SaraDac.
9
Then the border must go on to DephRona and end at ArseNain…
This is their
northern border.
10 ‘The
eastern border will run from ArseNain to SepPhamar, 11 then over to the springs east of Bela
and down along the east side of the Sea [of Galilee].
12 From there it will run down the Jordan
River and end at the [Dead] Sea.
This will be their land and their borders.’
13 Then
Moses gave the children of IsraEl these instructions.
He said,
‘This is the
land that you’re going to inherit by lottery, as
Jehovah commanded it to be given to the nine tribes and the half Tribe of
ManasSeh, 14 because the tribes
of ReuBen, Gad, and the half Tribe of ManasSeh have already received their
inheritances.
15 The
inheritance that these two-and-a-half tribes have received is on the other side
of the Jordan, southeast of JeriCho.’
16 And the
Lord told Moses,
17 ‘These are
the men that will divide the inheritances of land:
EliEzer the Priest, JoShua
(the son of NaWeh), 18 and one
ruler from each of the tribes.
19
From the Tribe of Judah, Caleb (the son of JePhonNe).
20 From the Tribe of SymeOn, SalamiEl (the
son of SemiUd).
21 From the
Tribe of BenJamin, ElDad (the son of Chaslon).
22 From the Tribe of Dan, BacChir (the son of Egli).
23 From the sons of JoSeph, the leader of
the Tribe of ManasSeh should be AniEl (the son of Suphi).
24 And from the Tribe of Ephraim, the
leader must be CamuEl (the son of SabaThan).
25
From the Tribe of ZebuLon, EliShaphan (the son of Pharnac).
26 From the Tribe of IshSachar, PhaltiEl
(the son of Oza).
27 From the
tribe of Asher, AchiOr (the son of Selemi).
28
And from the Tribe of NaphTali, PhadaEl (the son of JamiUd).’
29 These were the ones that Jehovah commanded to do the distributing to the children of IsraEl within the land of CanaAn.
Chapter 35
1 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses by the Jordan River near JeriCho (west of Moab) and said,
2 ‘Now, give orders to the children of
IsraEl and tell them that they must allot cities for the Levites to live in and
own.
They must provide them with suburbs around their cities to live in, 3 which have pens for their cattle and all
their animals.
4 These suburbs
that they are to give to the Levites must run out and around their city walls
for three thousand feet.
5 So,
they must measure out three thousand feet on the east side, three thousand feet
on the south side, three thousand feet on the west side, and three thousand
feet on the north side, and their cities must be in the center.
6 ‘They must
also give the Levites six refuge cities, which will become havens for those who
kill someone [accidentally].
In addition, they must provide them forty-two more
cities.
7 So altogether, they
must give the Levites forty-eight cities, in addition to their suburbs.
8 [As to the size and location] of these
cities that the children of IsraEl are to give them; those that have much must
give much, and those that have less may give less.
But all [the tribes] must
give some of the cities that they are going to inherit to the Levites.’
9 Then the
Lord spoke to Moses and said,
10
‘Speak to the children of IsraEl and tell them that when they cross the Jordan
into the land of CanaAn, 11
they must assign refuge cities to which those that kill someone accidentally may
run.
12 These cities must be
havens of refuge from those that would avenge the blood [of the one that was
killed].
And there, no killer may be executed before he stands trial in a
court.
13 ‘There
must be six of these cities that you are to set aside as places of refuge; 14 three on the east side of the Jordan
and three in the land of CanaAn.
15
They must serve as places of refuge for the children of IsraEl, for aliens, and
for those that are just visiting in your land.
These cities must be places of
refuge where anyone may run that has killed a man unintentionally.
16 ‘However,
if [a man] strikes [and kills a person] with something that is made of iron,
the man must die, for he is a murderer and all murderers must be put to death.
17 And if he throws a rock in an attempt
to kill him and the person dies, he’s a murderer and all murderers must be put
to death.
18 And if he hits him
with a wooden instrument that he’s holding in his hands and kills him, he’s a
murderer and all murderers must be put to death.
19 Those that would avenge the blood [of the one that was
killed] must execute the murderer…
When they catch him, they must kill him!
20 ‘If
someone is angry and stabs another, or throws something at him from ambush, 21 or if he beats him in anger and the man
dies;
The one that struck him must be put to death, for he is a murderer.
The
blood avenger must absolutely kill the murderer when he finds him.
22 ‘However,
if someone is accidentally stabbed (where no anger is involved), or something
hits him (other than from ambush), 23
or he is accidentally hit with a rock and he dies when no enemy was looking to
harm him;
24 Then the court
must use these rules to judge between the one that did the striking and the
blood avenger.
25 And [if he is
found innocent], the gathering must save the slayer
from the blood avenger and allow him to stay in the refuge city that he ran to;
And he must live there until the High Priest (the one that was anointed
with the holy oil) dies.
26 ‘But if
the person that did the killing should ever leave the city that he ran to for
refuge, 27 and the blood
avenger should find him outside the refuge-city limits, and the blood-avenger
kills him, he has done no wrong.
28
For the man should have stayed in the refuge city until the High Priest died.
Only after the death of the High Priest may the slayer return to his homeland.
29 ‘These
are the rules of judgment that are to be used throughout all your generations
and wherever you live.
30 You
must execute someone as a murderer whenever there is enough evidence.
But, one
piece of evidence against a person isn’t enough to
have him put to death.
31 ‘Also,
you may not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who has been condemned
to death… he absolutely must die.
32
And you may not accept a ransom to keep a man from having to stay in a refuge
city and live there until the death of the High Priest.
33 ‘So, you
must not pollute the land that you live in with murder, because blood pollutes
the land.
And the only way that the land may be purged of shed blood is with
the blood of the one that shed it.
34
You must not dirty the land where you are living and where I am living among
you, for I am Jehovah who dwells in the midst of the children of IsraEl.’
Chapter 36
1 Then the
heads of the Tribe of the sons of GalaAd (the son of MachIr and the grandson of
ManasSeh of the Tribe of the sons of JoSeph) spoke before Moses, EliEzer the
Priest, and the heads of the houses and families of the children of IsraEl.
2 They said:
‘Jehovah commanded our lord
to assign the land that the children of IsraEl will inherit by lottery.
Then Jehovah told our lord to give our
brother SalpaAd’s inheritance to his daughters.
3 But if they marry into one of the other tribes of IsraEl,
their inheritance must then be taken away from them. Then, that which belongs to
our fathers won’t be inherited by the tribe they marry into, and we won’t lose
any part of our inheritance.
4
For, during [the year of] Releasing of the
children of IsraEl, their inheritance would be considered as being among the
tribe into which the women marry, and it would not be returned to our family’s
tribe.’
5 So,
following Jehovah’s instructions, Moses told the children of IsraEl:
‘In
accordance with [the request of] the Tribe of the children of JoSeph, 6 this is what Jehovah has said concerning
the daughters of SalpaAd:
They may marry whomever they wish, but they may only
marry among their father’s tribe 7
so that the inherited [lands] of the children of IsraEl aren’t moved from one
tribe to another tribe.
For the inherited lands of the children of IsraEl must
remain in the same family’s tribe.
8
And whenever a daughter is heir to a property among the tribes of the children of
IsraEl, she must marry someone in her father’s tribe so that the sons of IsraEl
may each inherit property in their father’s tribe…
9 For, the inheritance must not be passed from one tribe to
another. Rather, the children of IsraEl must each hold onto their own
inheritances.’
10 Well
thereafter, the daughters of SalpaAd did just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
11 Thersa, Egla, Melcha, Nua, and MalaA
(SalpaAd’s daughters) married their cousins, 12
that were from the Tribe of ManasSeh (of the sons of JoSeph), and their
inheritance remained part of their father’s family tribe.
13 These are the commandments, laws, and decisions that Jehovah gave to Moses west of Moab, by the Jordan River, near JeriCho.