1:1 On the first day of the second month, in the second year after the exodus from the land of Egypt, the LORD said to Moses in the tent of meeting in the desert of Sinai,
2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community, clan by clan, family by family, counting the various individuals, that is, all the males, a head at a time; 3 all in Israel from twenty years old and upward who can go out to war, you and Aaron must number, company by company. 4 One man from each tribe is to accompany you, each one the head of his family, 5 and the following are the names of the men who are to stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur, the son of Shedeur ; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon; 10 from the Josephites — from Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ochran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel; 15 from Naphtali, Ahira, the son of Enan."
16 These were the select men of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, who were the heads of the clans of Israel. 17 Moses and Aaron took these men who have been indicated by name, 18 and assem- bled the whole community on the first day of the second month, when they had themselves registered by clans, family by family, with the various individuals counted from twenty years old and upward, a head at a time. 19 Moses numbered them in the desert of Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him.
20 The descendants of Reuben, Israel's first-born, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, a head at a time, that is, all the males from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 21 those of the tribe of Reuben that were numbered by them were forty-six thousand five hundred. 22 Of the descendants of Simeon, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, a head at a time, that is, all the males from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 23 those of the tribe of Simeon that were numbered by them were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 24 Of the descendants of Gad, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 25 those of the tribe of Gad that were numbered by them were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 26 Of the descendants of Judah, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 27 those of the tribe of Judah that were numbered by them were seventy-four thousand six hundred. 28 Of the descendants of Issachar, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 29 those of the tribe of Issachar that were numbered by them were fifty-four thousand four hundred. 30 Of the descendants of Zebulun, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 31 those of the tribe of Zebulun that were numbered by them were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 32 Of the descendants of Joseph — of the descendants of Ephraim, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 33 those of the tribe of Ephraim that were numbered by them were forty thousand five hundred; 34 and of the descendants of Manasseh, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 35 those of the tribe of Manasseh that were numbered by them were thirty-two thousand two hundred. 36 Of the descendants of Benjamin, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 37 those of the tribe of Benjamin that were numbered by them were thirty-five thousand four hundred. 38 Of the descendants of Dan, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 39 those of the tribe of Dan that were numbered by them were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 40 Of the descendants of Asher, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 41 those of the tribe of Asher that were numbered by them were forty-one thousand five hundred. 42 Of the descendants of Naphtali, their registration clan by clan, family by family, as counted by individuals, from twenty years old and upward, all who could go out to war, 43 those of the tribe of Naphtali that were numbered by them were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
44 These were the ones numbered, whom Moses numbered, along with Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, there being one from each tribe, to represent his family. 45 All the Israelites that were numbered family by family, from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who could go out to war, 46 all that were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
47 The Levites, however, were not numbered by their ancestral tribes along with the others, 48 since the LORD had said to Moses,
49 "Under no circumstances must you number the tribe of Levi, nor take a census of it with the other Israelites; 50 but you must put the Levites in charge of the dwelling of the decrees and all its equipment and all its belongings; they are to carry the dwelling and all its equipment, and take care of it, encamping around the dwelling; 51 whenever the dwelling has to move on, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the dwelling has to be pitched, the Levites must put it up; any layman who approaches it must be put to death. 52 The Israelites must encamp by companies, each on his own camping-ground and with his own standard, 53 while the Levites must encamp around the dwelling of the decrees, that there may be no outburst of wrath against the Israelite community; and the Levites must take charge of the dwelling of the decrees."
54 The Israelites did so; they did just as the LORD commanded Moses.
2:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2 "The Israelites must encamp, each by his own standard, marked with the family device, encamping around the tent of meeting facing it. 3 Those who are to encamp on the east side, toward the dawn, are the standard of the camp of Judah, arranged by companies, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab as leader of the Judeans, 4 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to seventy- four thousand six hundred. 5 Those who are to encamp next to him are the tribe of Issachar, with Nethanel, the son of Zuar, as leader of the Issacharites, 6 whose host, that is, those in it that were numbered, amounted to fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, with Eliab, the son of Helon, as leader of the Zebulunites, 8 whose host, that is, those in it that were numbered, amounted to fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 The total number of those belonging to the camp of Judah is one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, arranged by companies; they are always to be the first to set out.
10 "To the south is to be the standard of the camp of Reuben arranged by companies, with Elizur, the son of Shedeur, as leader of the Reubenites, 11 whose host, that is, those in it that were numbered, amounted to forty-six thousand five hundred. 12 Those who are to encamp next to him are the tribe of Simeon, with Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, as leader of the Simeonites, 13 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14 Then the tribe of Gad with Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, as leader of the Gadites, 15 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 The total number of those belonging to the camp of Reuben is one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, arranged by companies; they are always to be the second to set out, 17 after which the tent of meeting is to move forward, with the army of the Levites, in the middle of the other armies; they are to set out exactly as they encamp, each in his place, one standard after another.
18 "To the west is to be the standard of the camp of Ephraim, arranged by companies, with Elishama, the son of Ammihud, as leader of the Ephraimites, 19 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to forty thousand five hundred. 20 Next to him is to be the tribe of Manasseh, with Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, as leader of the Manassites, 21 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, with Abidan, the son of Gideoni, as leader of the Benjaminites, 23 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 The total number of those belonging to the camp of Ephraim is one hundred and eight thousand one hundred, arranged by companies; they are always to be the third to set out.
25 "To the north is to be the standard of the camp of Dan, arranged by companies, with Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, as leader of the Danites, 26 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 Those who are to encamp next to him are the tribe of Asher, with Pagiel, the son of Ochran, as leader of the Asherites, 28 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, with Ahira, the son of Enan, as leader of the Naphtalites, 30 whose host, that is, those of them that were numbered, amounted to fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 The total number of those belonging to the camp of Dan is one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred; they are always to set out in the rear, one standard after another."
(32 Such were the Israelites as numbered by families; the total of the armies as numbered by companies amounted to six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 The Levites, however, were not numbered with the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses.)
34 The Israelites did so: just as the LORD had commanded Moses, they encamped by standards, and they set out clan by clan, family by family.
3:1 The following are the descendants of Aaron and Moses at the time that the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the first-born, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These were the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that were anointed, who were installed to serve as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu met death at the hands of the LORD, because they offered improper fire before the LORD in the desert of Sinai; they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
5 The LORD said to Moses,
6 "Have the tribe of Levi come forward and take their stand before Aaron, the priest, to minister to him; 7 they shall do duty for him and for the whole community before the tent of meeting, to look after the dwelling, 8 taking charge of all the equipment of the tent of meeting, as well as the duties for the Israelites, to look after the dwelling. 9 You must assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are to be assigned to him from the rest of the Israelites as servants. 10 Aaron and his sons you are to appoint to take charge of their priestly duties; any layman who dares to approach must be put to death."
11 The LORD said to Moses,
12 "See, I am taking the Levites from among the Israelites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites, those who first open the womb; 13 the Levites belong to me, because all the first-born belong to me; at the time that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to myself all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast; they belong to me, to myself, the LORD."
14 In the desert of Sinai the LORD said to Moses,
15 "Number the descendants of Levi family by family, clan by clan, numbering every male from a month old and upward."
16 So Moses numbered them by command of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17 The following were the sons of Levi in the order of their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; 18 while these were the names of the sons of Gershon arranged by clans: Libni and Shimei; 19 the sons of Kohath arranged by clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; 20 and the sons of Merari arranged by clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, family by family.
21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Those of them that were numbered in the census of all the males, from a month old and upward, those of them that were numbered amounted to seven thousand five hundred. 23 The clans of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the dwelling to the west, 24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael, as leader of the families belonging to the Gershonites, 25 and in the tent of meeting the sons of Gershon had to take charge of the dwelling, the tent with its covering, the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the doorway into the court inclosing the dwelling and the altar, and the ropes for it, in short all its appurtenances.
27 To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites. 28 Those of them that were numbered in the census of all the males, from a month old and up- ward, amounted to eight thousand six hundred, who had charge of the sacred objects. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the south side of the dwelling, 30 with Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, as leader of the families belonging to the clans of the Kohathites, 31 and they had to take charge of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary that were used for ministering, and the screen, in short all their appurtenances, 32 with Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, as chief leader of the Levites and supervisor of those having charge of the sacred objects.
33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; these were the clans of Merari. 34 Those of them that were numbered in the census of all the males, from a month old and upward, amounted to six thousand two hundred, 35 with Zuriel, the son of Abihail, as leader of the families belonging to the clans of Merari. They were to encamp on the north side of the dwelling, 36 and the sons of Merari were given charge of the frames of the dwelling, its bars, its columns, its pedestals, and all its fittings, in short all its appurtenances, 37 as well as the columns around the court, their pedestals, pegs, and ropes.
38 Those that were to encamp in front of the dwelling, to the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the dawn, were Moses and Aaron with his sons, who had charge of the sanctuary in the matter of duties for the Israelites; any layman who dared to approach was to be put to death.
39 The total of the Levites numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by command of the LORD, clan by clan, all the males from a month old and upward, amounted to twenty-two thousand.
40 The LORD said to Moses,
"Number all the first-born males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take a census of them by individuals. 41 But you are to take the Levites for me, myself, the LORD, instead of all the first-born among the Israelites, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first-born among the cattle of the Israelites."
42 So Moses numbered all the first-born among the Israelites, as the LORD commanded him; 43 and all the first-born males of those that were numbered, as counted by individuals, from a month old and up- ward, amounted to twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy- three.
44 Then the LORD said to Moses,
45 "Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the Israelites, and the cattle of the Levitcs instead of their cattle, and the Levites shall belong to me, to myself, the LORD. 46 As redemption for the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the Israelites that
exceed the number of the Levites, 47 you must take five shekels each per
head, taking it in sacred shekels, the shekel of twenty gerahs, 48 and you must give the money for the redemption of those in excess among them to Aaron and his sons."
49 So Moses took the redemption-money from those that were left over from the number redeemed by the Levites, 50 taking from the first-born of the Israelites the sum of one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels in sacred shekels, 51 and Moses gave the redemption-money to Aaron and his sons at the command of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
4:1 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2 "Take a census of the Kohathite division of the Levites, clan by clan, family by family, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty, all who entered the service to do work in the tent of meeting. 4 The following arc to be the duties of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting with regard to the most sacred object: 5 when the camp is about to break up, Aaron and his sons must go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the decrees with it; 6 they must then place a covering of porpoise skin over it, and on top of that spread a cloth made entirely of violet material, and put its poles in place. 7 Over the table of presence-bread they must spread a cloth of violet material, putting the plates on it, the cups, the flagons, and the libation-bowls, with the ever-present bread remaining on it; 8 they must then spread a cloth of scarlet material over them, and cover this with a covering of porpoise skin, and put its poles in place. 9 Taking a cloth of violet material, they must cover the lampstand for the lights, along with its lamps, snuffers, snuff dishes, and all its oil containers from which it is supplied; 10 they must then put it and all its fittings into a covering of porpoise skin, and place it on a stretcher. 11 Over the gold altar they must spread a cloth of violet material, and then cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and put its poles in place. 12 Taking all the service utensils that were used in the service in the sanctuary, they must put them in a cloth of violet material, and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin, and place them on a stretcher. 13 They must remove the ashes from the other altar, and spread a purple cloth over it, 14 placing on it all its utensils that were used in the service connected with it, the fire-pans, forks, shovels, and basins, all the utensils of the altar; they must then spread a covering of porpoise skin over it, and put its poles in place. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished packing up the sacred objects and all the fittings of the sacred objects when the camp breaks up, after that the Kohathites must come to carry them, but without touching the sacred objects themselves, in which case they would die. These are to be the duties of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting. 16 Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the lights, the fragrant incense, the ever-present cereal-offering, and the anointing oil ; he is to have charge of the whole dwelling and of all that is in it, whether it pertains to the sanctuary itself or its fittings."
17 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
18 "Do not cut the tribe of Kohathite families off from the Levites; 19 but that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most sacred objects, deal with them as follows: Aaron and his sons are to go in, assigning to each of them his task and his load; 20 but they them- selves must not go in to look on while the sacred objects are being packed, in which case they would die."
21 The LORD said to Moses,
22 "Take a census of the Gershonites also, family by family, clan by clan, 23 numbering those from thirty years old up to fifty, all who undertook to engage in service to do work in the tent of meeting. 24 The following are to be the duties of the Gershonite clans in serving and carrying: 25 they must carry the curtains of the dwelling, the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court which incloses the dwelling and the altar, with the ropes for them and all the paraphernalia connected with their service; whatever needs to be done with these things, they must do. 27 All the duties of the Gershonites, in all that they have to carry and in all that they have to do, are to be under the direction of Aaron and his sons, and you are to appoint the latter over them to look out for what they are to carry. 28 These are to be the duties of the Gershonite clans in the tent of meeting, and their work is to be under the supervision of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest."
29 "As for the Merarites, you must number them, clan by clan, family by family, 30 numbering those from thirty years old up to fifty, all who entered the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31 In the course of all their duties in the tent of meeting the following are to be their responsibility for transport: the frames of the dwelling, with its bars, columns, and pedestals, 32 the columns of the surrounding court, with their pedestals, pegs, and ropes, in short all their fittings and all their appurtenances; you must tell them off individually to the objects that are to be their responsibility for transport. 33 These are to be the duties of the Merarite clans in the course of all their duties in the tent of meeting, under the supervision of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest."
34 So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community numbered the Kohathites clan by clan and family by family, 35 from thirty years old up to fifty, all who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting; 36 and those that were numbered by them, clan by clan, amounted to two thousand seven hundred and fifty. 37 These were the Kohathite clans that were numbered, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the command of the LORD through Moses.
38 The Gershonites that were numbered, clan by clan, and family by family, 39 from thirty years old up to fifty, all who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting — 40 those of them that were numbered, clan by clan, family by family, amounted to two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41 These were the Gershonite clans that were numbered, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the LORD.
42 The Merarite clans that were numbered, clan by clan, family by family, 43 from thirty years old up to fifty, all who entered the service for work in the tent of meeting — 44 those of them that were numbered,
clan by clan, amounted to three thousand two hundred. 45 These were the Merarite clans that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the LORD through Moses.-
46 All the Levites that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and
the leaders of Israel numbered, clan by clan, family by family, 47 from thirty years old up to fifty, all who undertook to do the work of serving and the work of transport in the tent of meeting — 48 those of them that were numbered amounted to eight thousand five hundred and
eighty. 49 At the command of the LORD through Moses, they were ap- pointed each to his proper task of serving or carrying, those namely, that were numbered, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
5:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Command the Israelites to drive from the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and everyone unclean through contact
with a corpse; 3 you must drive out both male and female, driving them outside the camp, that they may not defile the camp of those in whose midst I myself dwell."
4 The Israelites did so; they drove them outside the camp; the Israelites did just as the LORD had told Moses.
5 The LORD said to Moses,
6 "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person
feels guilty, 7 he must confess the sin that he has committed, and re- store his ill-gotten gains in its original amount, adding a fifth to it
and giving it to him whom he wronged. 8 But if the man has no next-of-kin to whom the property wrongfully held may be restored, the property wrongfully held that is to be restored must go to the LORD, to the priest, in addition to the atonement ram with which atonement
is to be made for him. 9 And every contribution, indeed all the sacred
gifts that the Israelites present to the priest shall become his property;
10 anyone's sacred offerings shall become his; whatever anyone gives to the priest becomes his.' "
11 The LORD said to Moses,
12 "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, 'If any man's wife goes wrong and proves unfaithful to him, 13 and another man lies with her in sexual intercourse, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there are no witnesses against her, since she was not caught in the act, 14 and a fit of suspicion comes upon him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, seeing that she has defiled herself, or a fit of suspicion comes over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, although she may not have defiled herself, 15 the man must bring his wife to the priest, and bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal, without pouring oil on it or adding frankincense to it, since it is a cereal-offering having to do with suspicion, a memorial cereal-offering, intended to recall iniquity; 16 the priest must then have her come up and take her stand before the LORD, 17 whereupon the priest must take holy water in an earthen jar, and taking some of the dust that is on the floor of the dwelling, the priest must put it in the water; 18 the priest must then have the woman stand before the LORD, loosening the hair of the woman's head, and putting the memorial cereal-offering in her hands (that is, the cereal-offering having to do with suspicion), with the priest himself holding the water that produces pain, that brings a
curse; 19 the priest must then have her take an oath, saying to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to indecent acts while married to your husband, be immune to this water
that produces pain, that brings a curse; 20 but if you have gone wrong while married to your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and
some man besides your husband has lain with you" — 21 then the priest must have the woman take the oath of execration, and the priest must say to the woman — "may the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people by making you have miscarriages, along with
a womb easily fertilized; 22 may this water that brings a curse enter your bowels, causing your womb to be easily fertilized, but making you have miscarriages"; and the woman must say, "So be it; so be it."
23 The priest must write these curses in a book, and then wash them off into the water that produces pain; 24 he must make the woman drink the water that produces pain, that brings a curse, so that the water
that brings a curse enter into her and cause pain. 25 The priest must then take the cereal-offering having to do with suspicion from the woman's hand, and wave the cereal-offering before the LORD, and
bringing it up to the altar, 26 the priest must take a handful of the cereal-offering as the memorial-part of it, and burn it on the altar, after which he must make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse, on entering into her, shall cause pain, her womb shall become easily fertilized, but she shall have miscarriages, so that the woman shall betome an execration
among her people. 28 But if the woman is not defiled, but pure, she shall
be immune, and shall bear children. 29 This is the law in cases of sus- picion, when a woman while married to her husband goes wrong and
defiles herself, 30 or when a fit of suspicion comes over a man and he becomes suspicious of his wife, in which case he shall have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall deal with her in strict accord with this law. 31 The man shall be free from guilt, but that woman must answer for her guilt.' "
6:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, 'If a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to set himself apart to the
LORD, 3 he must abstain from wine and liquor, drinking no fermented wine, nor hard liquor, and drinking no grape-juice at all, nor eating
fresh grapes or dried; 4 as long as he remains a Nazirite, he must cat nothing that is borne by the grape-vine, neither unripe grapes nor tendrils. 5 As long as his vow to be a Nazirite holds, no razor is to be used on his head; until the time is completed for which he set himself apart to the LORD, he is to be consecrated; he must let the locks of
hair on his head go loose. 6 For all the time that he set himself apart
to the LORD he must not come near a dead body; 7 he must not defile himself for his father or mother, for his brother or sister, when they
die; for a crown to his God rests on his head. 8 As long as he remains
a Nazirite, he remains consecrated to the LORD. 9 If someone should die very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his head with its crown, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing, shaving it on the seventh day, 10 and on the eighth day he must bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting; 11 the priest shall offer one as a sin-offering and the other as a burnt-offering, and so make atonement for him, because he incurred sin through the corpse. That same day he must reconsecrate his head, 12 and set apart to the LORD the period that he was to be a Nazirite, bringing a yearling male lamb as a guilt-offering; the previous period becomes void, since his crown was defiled.
13 "The following is the law for the Nazirite when the period is completed for which he was to be a Nazirite: he must be brought to
the doorway of the tent of meeting, 14 and then he must present his offering to the LORD, one perfect yearling male lamb as a burnt-offer- ing, one perfect yearling ewe-lamb as a sin-offering, one perfect ram
as a thank-offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, along with
their cereal -offering and libations. 16 The priest must then bring them into the presence of the LORD, offering his sin-offering and his burnt-offering, 17 and offering the ram as a thanksgiving sacrifice to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened cakes, as well as its cereal-offering and
libation. 18 Then the Nazirite must shave off the crown of his head at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and taking his crown, the hair of his head, lay it on the fire which is under the thanksgiving sacrifice. 19 The priest must take the shoulder of the ram when it is cooked, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved off his
crown; 20 then the priest must wave them as a wave-offering before the LORD, these being consecrated to the priest, along with the waved breast and the thigh of the contribution. Thereafter the Nazirite may
drink wine. 21 This is the law for the Nazirite who takes a vow — his offering to the LORD as a Nazirite, besides anything else that he can afford; he must carry out the terms of the vow that he took in accord with the law pertaining to his position as a Nazirite.' "
22 The LORD said to Moses,
23 "Say to Aaron and his sons, 'This is the way that you are to bless the Israelites; say to them,
24 "The LORD bless you, and guard you;
25 The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you;
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and make you prosper!'"
27 "So shall they invoke my name in behalf of the Israelites, and I will bless them."
7:1 On the day that Moses had finished the erection of the dwelling, and had anointed and consecrated it and all its equipment, along with the altar and all its equipment, having anointed and consecrated them,
2 the leaders of Israel, the heads of their families (that is, the leaders of the tribes, those that were at the head of those numbered), made
offerings, 3 bringing their offerings into the presence of the LORD, six draught-wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each of them; and they presented them in front of the
dwelling. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses,
5 "Take the things from them, that they may be used to do the work of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each in pro- portion to the amount of his work."
6 So Moses took the wagons and oxen, and gave them to the Levites;
7 two wagons and four oxen he gave to the Gershonites in proportion
to the amount of their work, 8 and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the Merarites in proportion to the amount of their work, under the
direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest; 9 but to the Kohathites he gave nothing, because the care of the sacred objects devolved upon them, and they had to carry them on their shoulders.
10 The leaders also presented dedication gifts for the altar on the day
that it was anointed, making their offerings before the altar, 11 whereupon the LORD said to Moses,
"They must present their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar."
12 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, belonging to the tribe of Judah; 13 his offering was one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of
them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 14 one gold
cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 15 one young bullock, one ram, and
one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 16 one male goat as a sin-offering; 17 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
18 On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar, made an offering, 19 presenting as his offering one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 20 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 21 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 22 one male goat as a sin-offering; 23 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
24 On the third day came the leader of the Zebulunites, Eliab, the son of Helon, 25 with his offering, one silver plate weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal- offering; 26 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 27 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 28 one male goat as a sin-offering; 29 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon.
30 On the fourth day came the leader of the Reubenites, Elizur, the son of Shedeur, 31 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 32 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; one male goat as a sin-offering; and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
36 On the fifth day came the leader of the Simeonites, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, 37 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 38 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 39 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 40 one male goat as a sin-offering; and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
42 On the sixth day came the leader of the Gadites, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, 43 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 44 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 45 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 46 one male goat as a sin-offering; 47 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.
48 On the seventh day came the leader of the Ephraimites, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, 49 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 50 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 51 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt- offering; 52 one male goat as a sin-offering; 53 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
54 On the eighth day came the leader of the Manassites, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, 55 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 56 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 57 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt- offering; 58 one male goat as a sin-offering ; and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.
60 On the ninth day came the leader of the Benjaminites, Abidan, the son of Gideoni, 61 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil 62 as a cereal-offering; one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 63 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 64 one male goat as a sin-offering; 65 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Abidan, the son of Gideoni.
66 On the tenth day came the leader of the Danites, Ahiezer, the son 67 of Ammishaddai, with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with
oil as a cereal-offering; 68 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense;
69 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 70 one male goat as a sin-offering; 71 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.
72 On the eleventh day came the leader of the Asherites, Pagiel, the son of Ochran, 73 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 74 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 75 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 76 one male goat as a sin-offering; and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Ochran.
78 On the twelfth day came the leader of the Naphtalites, Ahira, the
son of Enan, 79 with his offering, one silver plate, weighing one hun- dred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering; 80 one gold cup of ten shekels, full of incense; 81 one young bullock, one ram, and one yearling male lamb, as a burnt-offering; 82 one male goat as a sin-offering; 83 and as a thanksgiving sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling male lambs. This was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan.
84 This was the dedication-gift from the leaders of Israel for the altar on the day that it was anointed, twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve gold cups, 85 each silver plate weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, and each basin seventy, the total amount of silver in the vessels being two thousand four hundred shekels, in terms of the sacred shekel; 86 twelve gold cups, full of incense, weighing ten shekels per cup, in terms of the sacred shekel, the total amount of gold in the cups being one hundred and twenty shekels; 87 all the animals for burnt-offerings, twelve bullocks, twelve rams, and twelve yearling male lambs, with their cereal -offerings; twelve male goats as sin-offerings; 88 all the animals for thanksgiving sacrifices, twenty- four bullocks, sixty rams, sixty he-goats, and sixty yearling male lambs. This was the dedication-gift for the altar after it was anointed.
89 When Moses went into the tent of meeting to converse with him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the propitiatory that was on the ark of the decrees, from between the two cherubs; and he spoke to him.
8:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Speak to Aaron, and say to him, 'When you put up the lamps, the seven lamps are to shed light on the space in front of the lampstand.'"
3 Aaron did so; he put up the lamps of the lampstand so as to shed light on the space in front of it, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
4 And this was the material of the lampstand, gold beaten work, being beaten work in both its base and its calyxes; Moses had made the lampstand in strict accord with the pattern that the LORD had shown him.
5 The LORD said to Moses, 6 "Separate the Levites from the Israelites, and cleanse them; 7 and this is what you are to do to them in cleansing them: the water for use in case of sin is to be sprinkled on them; they are to use a razor all over their bodies, and wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves; 8 they must then take a young bullock, with its cereal-offering consisting of fine flour mixed with oil, while you take another young bullock as a sin-offering; 9 you must present the Levites before the tent of meeting; assembling the whole Israelite community, 10 you must present the Levites before the LORD; the Israelites shall lay their hands on the 11 Levites, and Aaron shall present the Levites before the LORD as a wave-offering from the Israelites, that they may be qualified to perform the service of the LORD; 12 the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the Bullocks; then sacrifice the one as a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt-offering, to the LORD, to make atonement for the
"Levites. 13 You must then have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, who shall present them as a wave-offering to the LORD. 14 Thus shall you separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites that the Levites may become mine. 15 Thereafter the Levites may enter upon their duties in the tent of meeting, after you have cleansed them, and presented them as a wave-offering; 16 for they have been assigned to me from the rest of the Israelites as servants; I have taken them for my- self instead of all who first open the womb, the first-born of all of the Israelites; 17 for all the first-born among the Israelites belong to me, both man and beast; it was on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt that I consecrated them to myself; 18 so I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the Israelites, 19 assigning the Levites from among the Israelites as servants to Aaron and his sons to perform the service for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so that there may be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites approach the sanctuary."
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community to the Levites; the Israelites did to the Levites just as the LORD had given Moses command concerning them. 21 The Levites purified themselves, and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them as a wave-offering before the LORD, and Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them, 22 after which the Levites entered upon the performance of their duties in the tent of meeting as assistants to Aaron and his sons; they did to the Levites just as the LORD had given Moses command concerning them.
23 The LORD said to Moses,
24 "This is the law which pertains to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward he shall enter upon the service connected with the care of the tent of meeting, 25 but after fifty years of age he must retire from active service, and not work any more; 26 he may help his fellows in the tent of meeting in the performance of their duties, but he must do no work of his own. This is what you are to do with the Levites in the matter of their duties."
9:1 At the first new moon of the second year after the exodus from the land of Egypt the LORD said to Moses in the desert of Sinai, 2 "The Israelites must observe the passover at its proper time; 3 you must observe it at its proper time, on the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, observing it in conformity with all the statutes and ordinances for it."
4 So Moses told the Israelites to observe the passover; 5 and they accordingly observed,[***?]*** the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the desert of Sinai; the Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
6 There were some, however, who were unclean through contact with a corpse, and so could not observe the passover on that day. So these men presented themselves to Moses and Aaron that day, 7 and said to him,
"We are unclean through contact with a corpse, why should we be prevented from presenting the offering of the LORD at its proper time along with the other Israelites?"
8 Moses said to them,
"Wait until I hear what command the LORD has to give concerning you."
9 So the LORD said to Moses,
10 "Say to the Israelites, 'If anyone of you or your descendants is unclean through contact with a dead body, or is absent on a journey, 11 he may still offer the passover-sacrifice to the LORD. Such persons are to offer it on the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight; 12 they must eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs, without leaving any of it over until morning, nor breaking a bone in it, offering it in strict accord with the statute for the passover. 13 Any man, however, who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet fails to offer the passover-sacrifice, that person must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering to the LORD at its proper time; that per- son must answer for his sin.
14 "'If an alien is residing with you, and would observe the passover to the LORD, he must follow the statute for the passover and its ordinance; you must have the same statute for the resident alien as for the native born of the land.' "
15 On the day that the dwelling was erected the cloud covered the dwelling, that is, the tent of meeting, while at evening it had the form of fire over the dwelling until morning. 16 It was always so; the cloud used to cover it by day, but in the form of fire by night. 17 When- ever the cloud was lifted from the tent, after that the Israelites would set out, and at the place where it stopped, there the Israelites would camp; 18 it was at the bidding of the LORD that the Israelites set out, and it was at the bidding of the LORD that they camped, remaining in camp all the time that the cloud stayed over the dwelling. 19 Even when the cloud stayed over the dwelling for many days, the Israelites 20 would keep the instructions of the LORD, and not set out. Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the dwelling. It was at the bidding of the LORD that they camped, and it was at the bidding of 21 the LORD that they set out. Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning, and then the cloud would be lifted in the morning, and they would set out; 22 or it would remain during the day-time, and then at night the cloud would be lifted, and they would set out; or it would remain two days, or a whole month. As long as the cloud stayed over the dwelling, the Israelites would remain in camp, 23 and not set out; but when it was lifted, they would set out. It was at the bidding of the LORD that they camped, and it was at the bidding of the LORD that they set out; they kept the instructions of the LORD in accordance with the LORD's command through Moses.
10:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Make two silver trumpets, making them of beaten work. You are to use them to summon the community and to start the camps on the march. 3 When both are blown, the whole community shall gather to you at the doorway of the tent of meeting; 4 but if only one is blown, the chieftains, the heads of the clans of Israel, shall gather to you.
5 When you blow an alarm, those encamped on the east side shall set out; 6 when you blow a second alarm, those encamped on the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be blown for them to set out. 7 When convoking the assembly however, you are to blow without sounding an alarm. 8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and your use of them shall be a perpetual statute for you from one generation to another. 9 When you engage in war in your own land against an adversary that is oppressing you, you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies. 10 Also on your days of celebration, on your fixed festivals, and on the first day of the month you must blow the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and thanksgiving sacrifices; they will serve as a reminder for you before your God, since I, the LORD, am your God."
11 On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year the cloud was lifted from the dwelling of the decrees; 12 so the Israelites set out from the desert of Sinai in successive stages, until the cloud stopped at the desert of Paran. 13 It was the first time that they ever set out at the bidding of the LORD through Moses. 14 The standard of the camp of the Judeans, arranged by companies, was the first to set out, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, in charge of their host, 15 while Nethanel, the son of Zuar, was in charge of the host of the tribe of Issacharites, 16 and Eliab, the son of Helon, was in charge of the host
i? of the tribe of Zebulunites. Whenever the dwelling was taken down, the Gcrshonites and Merantes, who carried the dwelling, would set
«8 out; and then the standard of the camp of Reuben, arranged by com- panies, would set out, with Elizur, the son of Shcdeur, in charge of
»9 his host, while Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, was in charge of
20 the host of the tribe of Simeonites, and Eliasaph, the son of Deuel,
21 was in charge of the host of the tribe of Gadites. Then the Koha- thites, who carried the sacred objects, would set out, and the dwelling
22 would be erected in anticipation of their arrival. Then the standard of the camp of the Ephraimites, arranged by companies, would set out, with Elishama, the son of Ammihud, in charge of their host,
2 3 while Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, was in charge of the host of the
24 tribe of Manassites, and Abidan, the son of Gideoni, was in charge of
25 the host of the tribe of Benjaminites. Then the standard of the camp of the Danites, arranged by companies, would set out as the rearguard for all the other camps, with Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, in
2$ charge of their host, while Pagiel, the son of Ochran, was in charge
27 of the host of the tribe of Asherites, and Ahira, the son of Enan,
28 was in charge of the host of the tribe of Naphtalites. This was the
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 10:29-11:8
order of march for the Israelites when they set out, arranged by com- panies.
29 Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel, the Midianite, the father- in-law of Moses,
"We are setting out for the region of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you;' come along with us, and we will do well by you; for the LORD has promised Israel prosperity."
3<> But he said to him,
"I will not go; since I must go to my own land and kindred."
3* "Please do not leave us," he said. "Inasmuch as you know the
32 camping-places for us in the desert, you will serve as eyes for us. And then, if you go with us, when that prosperity comes which the LORD will bring to us, we will do well by you."
33 Leaving the mountain of the LORD, they journeyed for three days, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD journeyed in front of them
34 for the three days, to look for a resting-place for them, and the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.
V> Whenever the ark would start, Moses would say, "Arise, O LORD, that thy foes may be scattered, 36 That those who hate thee may flee before thee."
And whenever it would halt, he would say, "Halt, O LORD, and bless the clans of Israel."
11 Now the people were complaining of misfortune in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, his anger blazed, so that the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some of the best
2 parts of the camp. Then the people cried to Moses; so Moses prayed
3 to the LORD, and the fire abated. Hence the name of that place came to be called Taberah [burning], because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
4 Now the rabble among them had a craving for flesh, and the Israel- ites also wept, and said,
5 "O that we had flesh to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat for nothing in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the
6 onions, and the garlic; but now we are hungry, and there is not a thing, except that we have the manna to look at."
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like that
8 of resinous gum. The people used to go about and gather it, then grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make cakes of it; its taste was like that of a cake baked with oil.
11:9-23 JOURNEY FROM SINAI TO PARAN
9 Whenever the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna used to fall with it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping, family by family, each at" the doorway of his tent; the anger of the LORD blazed exceedingly, and Moses was displeased.
11 "Why hast them been so hard on thy servant?" said Moses to the LORD. "Why have I not found favor with thee, that thou shouldst
12 put the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that thou shouldst say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse would carry a sucking child, to the land which thou didst promise on oath to their fathers'?
'3 Where can I get flesh to give to all this people? For they weep on my
H shoulder, saying, 'Give us flesh to eat.' I am not able to carry all this
'5 people by myself, because they are too heavy for me. If this is the
way thou art going to deal with me, pray kill me out of hand, if I
find any favor with thee, and let me see no more of my trouble."
16 The LORD said to Moses,
"Gather to me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders and officers of the people; and bring them to the tent of
17 meeting that they may take their stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will withdraw some of the spirit that is upon you and put it upon them, that they may share the
18 burden of the people with you, and you not bear it by yourself. Say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, that you may eat flesh ; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "O that we had flesh to eat! For we were prosperous in Egypt." So
'9 the LORD will give you flesh to eat; you shall cat, not one day, nor
20 two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your very nostrils and becomes loathe- some to you — because you have spurned the LORD who is in your midst, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?'""
21 But Moses said,
"The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot, and yet thou sayest, 'I will give tlu-m flesh to eat for a whole
22 month.' Can enough flocks and herds be slaughtered for them to be sufficient for them? Or if all the fish of the sea are caught for them, will it be sufficient for them?"
23 The LORD said to Moses,
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS ii:24~i2:2
"Is the LORD'S power so limited? You shall see now whether my
word will come true for you or not." 24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. He
gathered seventy elders of the people, and had them stand around the 2 5 tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; he
withdrew some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the
seventy elders, and as soon as the spirit came upon them, they prophe-
26 sied, but never again. Now two men had been left in the camp, the name of the one being Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. The spirit rested upon them too (they were among those recorded, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.
27 Whereupon a youth ran and told Moses.
"Eldad and Medad," he said, "are prophesying in the camp."
28 So Joshua, the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth up, spoke up and said,
"My lord Moses, put a stop to them ! "
29 But Moses said to him,
"Are you jealous on my account? O that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD might put his spirit upon them ! " 3° Then Moses withdrew to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.
31 There went forth a wind from the LORD, and bringing quails across from the sea, it dropped them near the camp, about a day's jour- ney on each side all around the camp, and about two cubits thick upon
32 the surface of the ground. All that day and night, and all the next day, the people spent in gathering the quails, the one who got the least gathering ten homers; then they spread them out all around the
33 camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was ex- hausted, the anger of the LORD blazed against the people, and the
34 LORD smote them with a very great plague. Hence the name of that place came to be called Kibroth-hattaavah [the graves of craving], because it was there that they buried the people who had the craving.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and stayed at Hazeroth.
12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cush- ite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 "Is it only through Moses alone that the LORD has spoken?" they said. "Has he not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it.
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12:3-16 JOURNEY FROM SINAI TO PARAN
3 Now the man Moses was very modest, more so than all men upon the face of the earth.
4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Conic out, you three, to the tent of meeting."
5 So the three of them went out, and the LORD came down in a col- umn of cloud, and stood at the doorway of the tent.
"Aaron and Miriam!" he called.
6 Whereupon hoth of them went forward, and then he said,
"Hear my words!
If either of you were a prophet of the LORD, In visions would I make myself known to him, In dream* would I speak through him.
7 Not so with my servant Moses;
With all my house he has been entrusted ;
8 Mouth to mouth do I speak with him, Plainly, and not in riddles,
And the very form of the LORD docs he behold. Why then were you not afraid • To speak against my servant Moses?"
,J And the LORD'S anger blazed against them; he departed, and when the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam leprous, as white as snow! When Aaron turned to look at Miriam, there she was lep- rous!
11 "O my lord!" Aaron said to Moses, "do not punish us for the
12 folly that we have done and the sin that we have committed. Do not let her become like one dead, who when coming forth from his mother's womb has half his flesh consumed."
*3 So Moses cried to the LORD,
"Pray, O God, heal her!" *4 But the LORD said to Moses,
"If her father had but spit in her face, would she not hide in shame
for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp,
and after that she may be taken back."
5 So Miriam was shut up for seven days outside the camp, and the 16 people did not start again until Miriam was taken back. After that,
however, the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the desert
of Paran.
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 13:1-26
THE STORY OF THE SPIES, 13:1—14:45 13 Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the Israelites; you must send a man from each of their ancestral tribes, everyone a chieftain among them."
3 So Moses despatched them from the desert of Paran in accord with the command of the LORD, all of them being head men of the Israel-
4 ites. The following were their names: from the tribe of Reuben,
5 Shammua, the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the
6 son of Hori ; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh ; J from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph; from the tribe of 9 Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti,
10 the son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of
11 Sodi; from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh),
12 Gaddi, the son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of }J Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Scthur, the son of Michael; from is the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi; from the tribe of 16 Gad, Geuel, the son of Machi. These were the names of the men
whom Moses sent to spy out the land, but Moses called Hoshea, the »7 son of Nun, Joshua. When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them,
18 "Go up now into the Negeb; go up into the highlands, and see what the land is like, and whether the people who are living in it are strong
19 or weak, whether they are few or many; and what the land is like in which they are living, whether it is good or bad; and what the cities are like in which they are living, whether it is in camps or in strong-
20 holds; and what the land is like, whether it is rich or poor, whether there is wood in it or not. Do your best to get some of the fruit of the land." (Now the season was that of the first ripe grapes.)
21 So they went up, and spied out the land from the desert of Zin as far
22 as Rehob, toward the approach to Hamath. They went up into the Negeb, and reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, lived. (Now Hebron was built seven years before
23 Zoan in Egypt.) Reaching the valley of Eshcol, they cut a branch from there with a single cluster of grapes, and it took two of them to carry it on a stretcher, along with some pomegranates and some figs.
24 That place came to be called the valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut from there.
25 At the end of forty days they came back from spying out the land.
26 They left and came to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite com-
[232]
13:27-14:9 THE STORY OF THE SPIES
munity in the desert of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back a report to them and the whole community, and showed them the fruit of the land. *7 "We reached the land to which you sent us," they told him, "and
28 it surely does abound in milk and honey, and here is its fruit. The people, however, who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the Anakim [giants]
29 there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negcb, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are living in the highlands, while the Ca- naanites are living along the sea and the banks of the Jordan."
3<> Caleb, however, broke through the people to Moses, and said,
"We ought to go up and sieze it; for we are quite able to do so."
31 But the men who went up with him said,
"We are not able to go up against the people; for they are too strong for us."
32 So they gave the Israelites a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying,
"The land through which we passed in spying it out is a land that destroys its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of
3* great stature. We saw the Nephilim [titans] there (the Anakim be- long to the Nephilim) ; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers, and we must have looked the same to them."
14 Then the whole community lifted up their voices and cried; the
2 people wept that night; the Israelites all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
"Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!" the whole com- munity said to them. "Or would that we had died in this desert!
3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, only to fall by the sword ? Our wives and little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better
4 for us to return to Egypt?" "Let us take our own course and return to Egypt," they said to one another.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the whole assem-
6 bly of the Israelite community, while Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who belonged to those who had spied out
7 the land, tore their clothes, and said to the whole Israelite community,
"The land through which we passed in spying it out is a very, very
8 fine land. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, and give it to us — a land which abounds in milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD ; and do not be afraid of the peo-
[233]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 14:10-27
pie of the land; for they will simply be food for us; their protection has left them, while the LORD is with us; do^not be afraid of them."
10 But the whole community had determined to stone them, when the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
11 "How long are this people going to despise me?" the LORD said to Moses. "How long is it that they are not going to trust me, in spite
12 of all the signs that I performed in their midst? T will smite them with pestilence, and disinherit them, and I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
*3 But Moses said to the LORD,
"When the Egyptians hear of it (for thou didst bring this people
*4 out of their midst by thy might), they will say, — when all the inhab- itants of this land have heard that thou, LORD, art in the midst of this people, thou, LORD, being one who is seen eye to eye, while thy cloud stands over them, and thou thyself goest before them in a column of
"5 cloud by day and a column of fire by night — indeed, if thou slaycst this people to a man, the nations who have heard about thee will say,
16 'It was because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which he promised on oath to them that he slaughtered them in the
17 desert.' But now, pray let the forbearance of the Lord be as great
18 as thou didst declare in saying, £The LORD is slow to anger, rich in grace, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but one who does not leave it completely unpunished, avenging the iniquity of fathers upon their
J9 children down to the third or even the fourth generation/ Pray par- don the sin of this people according to the abundance of thy grace, even as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now."
20 So the LORD said,
21 "I will pardon them in accordance with your request; but as surely
22 as I live and the whole earth is full of the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I performed in Egypt and the desert, and yet have put me to the test for ten times
2 3 now, and have not heeded my injunctions, shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers, and none of those who despised me
24 shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he is of a different spirit, and has corroborated me, I will bring into the land which he entered,
25 and he shall pass it on as a heritage to his descendants. Since, how- ever, the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn to- morrow, and set out for the desert in the direction of the Red Sea."
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
27 "How long is this wicked community going to keep up their grum-
[234]
14:28-45 THE STORY OF THE SPIES
bling against me? I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites which
28 they have been muttering against me. Say to them, 'As I live* — it is the oracle of the LORD — 'I will do to you just as I have heard "you
29 say: your corpses shall fall in this desert, and none" of you that were numbered, none of you that were counted from twenty years old and
30 upward, who have grumbled against me, shall enter the land in which I swore by uplifted hand to settle you, except Caleb, the son of Jeph-
31 unneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. Your little ones, however, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall come to
32 know the land that you have despised. But as for yourselves, your
33 corpses shall fall in this desert, while your children shall be shepherds for forty years in the desert, and shall suffer for your wantonness,
34 until the last of your corpses lies in the desert. According to the num- ber of the days that you took to spy out the land, forty days, one year for each day shall you suffer for your iniquities, that is, forty years,
35 and you shall experience opposition from me. I, the LORD, declare that this is what I will do to all this wicked community that are gath- ered against me: in this desert they shall die to the last man.' "
36 So the men whom Moses had sent to spy out the land, and who on their return made the whole community grumble against him by giv-
37 ing out a bad report concerning the land, the men who gave out a bad
38 report of the land died by a plague at the hands of the LORD; but Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunnch, remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
19 When Moses told these things to all the Israelites, the people 4° mourned greatly. Next morning they rose early, and proceeded up to the mountain headlands, saying,
"Here we are, ready to go up to the place of which the LORD spoke ; for we have indeed sinned." 4' But Moses said,
"Why is it that you go on violating the injunctions of the LORD,
42 when that cannot succeed ? Do not go up, lest you be struck down in front of your enemies; for the LORD will not be in the midst of you.
43 For the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned from following the LORD, so that the LORD will not be with you."
44 But they presumptuously went up to the mountain headlands, al- though neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left
45 the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who were living in
[235]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 15: 1-21
those highlands came down and attacked them, and harassed them all the way to Hormah.
MISCELLANEOUS LAWS AND NARRATIVES, 15:1—19:22
15 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, 'When you come into your
3 homeland which I am giving you, and would make an offering to the LORD, a burnt-offering, or a sacrifice as a special votive offering or as a voluntary offering, or an offering at your stated festivals, to make
4 a soothing odor to the LORD with an ox or a sheep, the person making the offering must present as a cereal-offering to the LORD a tenth of
5 an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil, and as wine for the libation, you must supply a fourth of a hin with the burnt-
6 offering or sacrifice for each lamb. Or in the case of a ram, you must supply as a cereal-offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed
7 with a third of a hin of oil, and as wine for the libation you must pre-
8 sent a third of a hin as a soothing odor to the LORD. When you pro- vide a bullock as a burnt-offering, or as a sacrifice as a special votive
9 offering, or as a thank-offering to the LORD, there must be presented as a cereal-offering with the bullock three-tenths of an ephah of fine
"> flour mixed with half a hin of oil, and as wine for the libation you must present half a hin as a sacrifice, a soothing odor to the LORD.
1 1 This is what is to be done in the case of each bullock or ram or lamb
12 or kid; according to the number that you provide, this is what you are '3 to do in the case of each, whatever their number. Every native-born
is to do these things in this way, in presenting a sacrifice as a soothing H odor to the LORD; and if there is an alien residing with you, or one
living permanently in your midst, and he wishes to make a sacrifice as *5 a soothing odor to the LORD, he must do just as you do. As for the
community, there shall be one statute for you and the resident alien, a
perpetual statute throughout your generations; the resident alien and
16 you shall be alike before the LORD; there shall be one law and one ordinance for you and the alien residing with you.' "
»7 The LORD said to Moses,
18 "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, When you come into the
!9 land to which I am bringing you, then, when you cat of the food of
20 the land, you must set aside a portion for the LORD; in the case of the first batch of baking you must set aside a cake as a contribution, setting
21 it aside as a contribution from the threshing-floor; out of your first
[236]
15:22-38 VARIOUS LAWS AND NARRATIVES
batch of baking you must give a portion to the LORD throughout your generations.
22 " 'If you should make a mistake and not carry out all these com-
23 mands that the LORD has communicated to Moses, all that the LORD commanded you through Moses, from the day that the LORD first gave
24 you a command, down through your various generations, then, if it was done inadvertently, through lack of knowledge on the part of the community, the whole community must offer one bullock as a burnt- offering, as a soothing odor to the LORD, along with the cereal-offering and libation as prescribed for it, and one he-goat as a sin-offering.
25 Then the priest shall make atonement for the whole Israelite com- munity, and they shall be forgiven; for it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering as a sacrifice to the LORD, and their sin-
26 offering into the presence of the LORD for their mistake. So the whole Israelite community shall be forgiven, as well as the alien residing in their midst; for in the case of a mistake he is included in the sum total of the people.
27 " 'If an individual sins inadvertently, he must offer a yearling she-
28 goat as a sin-offering, and the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person that made a mistake, in sinning inadvertently,
29 making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. In the case of either the native-born among the Israelites or the alien residing in their midst, you must have only one law for him who does anything
3° inadvertently. But the person who sins wilfully, whether he belongs to the native-born or the aliens, is reviling the LORD; so that person
3" must be cut off from his people. Because it is the word of the LORD that he has despised, and his command that he has broken, that person must be completly cut off, his iniquity being on his own head.' "
32 When the Israelites were in the desert, they found a man gathering
33 wood on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood
34 brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community, and they put him in custody, because it had not been clearly explained what
3* should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses,
"The man must be put to death by having the whole community stone him outside the camp."
36 So the whole community took him outside the camp, and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
37 The LORD said to Moses,
38 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them that from one generation to
1237]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 15:39-16:14
another they must make tassels for themselves on the corners of their
garments, fastening the tassel of each corner with a violet string. 39 They shall serve you as tassels to look at and by which to be reminded
to carry out all the commands of the LORD and not to follow your 4° own desires and fancies, which you used to follow so wantonly, in
order that you may remember to carry out all my commands, and be 41 consecrated to your God, .since I the LORD, am your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt to become your God, I, the LORD, your
God." 16 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,
along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son
2 of Peleth, the son of Reuben, selected two hundred and fifty of the Israelites, leaders of the community, picked men of the assembly,
3 men of note, and took tljeir stand before Moses. They gathered in a body against Moses and Aaron, and said to them,
"Enough of you; for all the community are holy, every one of them, since the LORD is in their midst; why then do you exalt your- selves above the LORD'S assembly?"
"In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, that he may have him come near him; and whomsoever he
6 chooses he will have come near him. Do this: take fire-pans (that is,
7 Korah and all his company), and putting fire in them, place incense upon them in the presence of the LORD tomorrow ; and then the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. Enough of you, you Levites!"
| "Listen, you Levites," said Moses to Korah, "is it too little for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the community of Israel to have you come near him to look after the LORD'S dwelling,
10 and to stand before the community to serve them, and that he has had you come near him, and all your fellow-Levites with you, that you
1 1 should seek the priesthood as well ? It is accordingly against the LORD that you and all your company are gathered; for what is there about Aaron that you should grumble against him?"
12 Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said,
n "We will not go up. Is it such a trifle that you have brought us up
from a land abounding in milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that
'4 you should also play the prince over us? Moreover, you have not
1*38]
16:15-30 FURIOUS LAWS AND NARRATIVES
brought us into a land abounding in milk and honey, nor given us a
. heritage of fields and vineyards. Are you trying to blind the eyes of these men? We will not go up."
is Then Moses became very angry, and said to the LORD,
"Pay no attention to an offering from them. Not a single ass have I taken from them, nor done any harm to any of them."
j6 Moses said to Korah,
"Tomorrow you and all your company are to appear before the
17 LORD — you, and they, and Aaron; each of you take his fire-pan, and putting incense on it, each of you is to bring his fire-pan before the LORD, that is, two hundred and fifty fire-pans; you also, and Aaron, each with his fire-pan."
"8 So each of them took his fire-pan, and putting fire on them, they placed incense on them, and then took their stand at the doorway of
'9 the tent of meeting, along with Moses and Aaron. Korah had gath- ered the whole community against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting, whereupon the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole
20 community. Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
21 "Separate yourselves from this community that I may consume them instantly."
22 But they fell on their faces, and said,
"O God, the God of the spirits of all mankind, when only one man sins, shouldst thou become angry with the whole community?" *3 So the LORD said to Moses, 24- "Say to the community, 'Withdraw from the neighborhood of the
dwelling where Korah, Dathan and Abiram are.' " 25 Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of -6 Israel followed him. Then he said to the community,
"Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything at all that belongs to them, lest you be swept away with all their sins."
2 7 So they withdrew from the neighborhood of the dwelling where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were.
As Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorways of
28 their tents, with their wives and sons and little ones, Moses said,
"Hereby shall you know that the LORD has sent me to do all these
29 deeds, and that it has not been of my own choice: if these men die as all men die, and suffer the fate of all men, it is not the LORD who has
3° sent me; but if the LORD does something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 16: 31-47
they descend into Shcol alive, then you shall know that these men
have despised the LORD."
31 And then, just as he finished saying these words, the ground under 3* them split open; the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up,
with all their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah and
33 all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them descended into Sheol alive; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from
34 the community. Then all the Israelites that were in their neighbor- hood fled at their cries; "Lest," said they, "the earth swallow us up."
35 Fire having come forth from the LORD, it consumed the two hun- dred and fifty men offering the incense.
36 Then the LORD said to Moses,
37 "Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, to pick up the fire-pans out of the conflagration, and then you must scatter the fire far and
38 wide; for these sinners have made the fire-pans taboo at the cost of their lives. So they must be made into beaten plates as a covering for the altar, that they may become a sign to the Israelites; for they were presented before the LORD, and so have become taboo."
39 So Eleazar, the priest, took the bronze fire-pans which those who had been burned had presented, and they were beaten out as a cover-
40 ing for the altar, a reminder to the Israelites, so that no layman, who was not one of the descendants of Aaron, might draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he fare like Korah and his company — just as the LORD had directed him through Moses.
41 But next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Mo- ses and Aaron, saying,
"It is you who have slain the LORD'S people."
42 But when the community gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting, and there was the cloud covering
43 it and the glory of the LORD visible! Then Moses and Aaron came
44 to the front of the tent of meeting, whereupon the LORD said to Moses,
45 "Withdraw from this community, that I may instantly consume them."
46 But they fell on their faces, and Moses said to Aaron,
"Take your fire-pan, put fire from the altar on it, place incense on it, and then carry it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the LORD; the plague has begun."
47 So Aaron took it, as Moses had said, and ran into the midst of the
[240]
16:48-18:2 VARIOUS LAWS AND NARRATIVES
community, but the plague had already begun among the people; he
48 put on the incense, and making atonement for the people, he stood be-
49 tween the living and the dead, so that the plague was checked. But those who died from the plague amounted to fourteen thousand seven
50 hundred, in addition to those who died in the affair of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, now that the plague had been checked.
17 The LORD said to Moses,
3 of each upon his staff, and Aaron's name upon the staff of Levi (for
4 there is to be a special staff for the head of their clan) ; you must then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the decrees, where I
5 am accustomed to meet you; and then the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus will I rid myself of the grumbling of the Israelites, which they have been muttering against you."
<> So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they gave him one staff for everyone of the leaders of their clans, twelve staffs in all, with
7 Aaron's staff among theirs. Then Moses deposited the staffs before
8 the LORD in the tent of the decrees; and next day, when Moses entered the tent of the decrees, he found that the staff of Aaron, representing the clan of Levi, had sprouted, it had put forth sprouts, it had pro-
9 duced blossoms and borne ripe almonds. Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the LORD to all the Israelites, and after inspecting them, each of them took his staff.
!<> Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Put Aaron's staff back in front of the decrees, to be kept as a sign for the rebels; and you must rid me of their grumbling, that they die not."
11 Moses did so; he did just as the LORD commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses,
*3 "We perish! We are lost, we are all lost! If everyone who dares to approach the dwelling of the LORD is to die, shall we ever stop dy- ing?"
18 So the LORD said to Aaron,
"You and your sons, along with your clan, shall answer for any
guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with
you shall answer for any guilt in connection with your priesthood.
2 Have your fellows too, the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, present
themselves with you, that they may be associated with you, and minis-
1 241]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 18:3-17
ter to you, while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent
3 of the decrees; they shall attend to you and all the tent; only they must not come near the sacred vessels or the altar, that neither they
4 nor you die. They shall be associated with you, and take charge of the tent of meeting in all the work connected with the tent, since -no lay-
5 man may come near you. You are to take charge of the sanctuary and
6 the altar, that wrath may never again fall on the Israelites. For my part, see, I have selected your fellow-Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, made over to the LORD to look after the tent of meet-
7 ing, while you and your sons with you must reserve your priestly func- tions for everything connected with the altar and inside the veil, and look after them. It is a lucrative office that I am making your priest- hood, while any layman who draws near shall be put to death."
8 Then the LORD said to Aaron,
"For my part, see, I give you the office connected with the contri- butions to me; in the case of all the sacred gifts of the Israelites, I give them to you as your share, and to your sons as their perpetual due.
9 The following is to go to you from the most sacred offerings, from the sacrifices: in the case of every offering of theirs, that is, every cereal-offering of theirs, in the case of every sin-offering of theirs, and every guilt-offering of theirs with which they make restitution to
10 me, it shall be most sacred to you and your sons; as a most sacred thing shall you eat it, that is, every male eating it, since it is sacred to you.
11 This also shall be yours, the contributions from their gift in the case of every wave-offering of the Israelites; I give it to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as your perpetual due, to be eaten by ev-
12 eryone in your family who is clean. All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and grain, the first-fruits which they give to the
! LORD, I give to you. The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours, to be eaten by everyone
H in your family who is clean. Every devoted thing in Israel is to go to
is you. Everything that first opens the womb, in the case of every crea- ture that they offer to the LORD, whether man or beast, shall be yours ; only you must be sure to have the first-born of man redeemed, and the
16 first-born of unclean animals you must have redeemed. The redemp- tion-price of the former (you must have them redeemed at a month old) shall be fixed by you at five shekels of silver in terms of the
J7 sacred shekel, which is twenty gerahs. The firstling of an ox, how- ever, or the firstling of a sheep, or that of a goat, you must not have redeemed, since they are sacred; you must dash their blood upon the
[242]
I8:i&~i9;2 VARIOUS LAWS AND NARRATIVES
altar, and burn their fat in sacrifice as a soothing odor to the LORD;
1 8 but their flesh shall be yours, becoming yours like the waved breast and J9 the right thigh. All the contributions from the sacred gifts which the
Israelites contribute to the LORD, I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as your perpetual due, to be an inviolable cove- nant forever before the LORD for you and your family with you."
20 The LORD said to Aaron,
"You are to have no heritage in their land, nor own any property among them ; I am to be your property and heritage among the Israel-
21 ites. To the Levites, however, I give all the dues in Israel as their heritage, in return for the service that they perform in connection
22 with the tent of meeting. The Israelites must never again come near 2 3 the tent of meeting, to answer for their sin by death, but the Levites
alone shall look after the tent of meeting, while the rest shall answer for their iniquity. It is to be a statute forever throughout your genera-
24- tions that they are to have no heritage among the Israelites; for the dues which the Israelites contribute to the LORD I give to the Levites as a heritage ; that is why I have told them that they are not to have any heritage among the Israelites."
2? The LORD said to Moses,
26 "You must speak to the Levites, and say to them, 'When you take from the Israelites the dues that I have given you from them as your heritage, you must set apart some of it as a contribution to the LORD,
27 a due from the dues. The contribution made to you is to be credited to you like the grain from the threshing-floor, or the produce of the
28 winepress; in the same way you, too, must set apart some of all the dues that you receive from the Israelites as a contribution to the LORD,
29 and give the LORB'S contribution from it to Aaron, the priest. From all the gifts made to you, from the best of them, you must set apart
?° the LORD'S full contribution, the most sacred of them.' Also say to them, When you have contributed the best of them, the rest is to be credited to the Levites as in the case of the produce of the threshing-
31 floor and that of the winepress; you may eat it anywhere, you and your households; for it is your reward in return for your services at
32 the tent of meeting. You will not have to answer for any sin through it when you set apart the best of it; but you must not profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites, that you die not.' "
19 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2 "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: 'Tell the Israelites to bring you a red cow, sound, in which there is
[243]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 19:3-19
3 no defect, and upon which a yoke has never come ; you must then give it to Eleazar, the priest, to be taken outside the camp, and slain in his
4 presence. Eleazar, the priest, shall take some of its blood with his fin- ger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of
5 meeting seven times. The cow is then to be burned in his sight; its
6 hide, flesh, and blood, as well as its offal, are to be burned, and the priest is to take cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet string, and throw them
7 into the burning body of the cow. Then the priest is to wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, after which he may re-enter the
8 camp, but the priest shall remain unclean until evening. He who burns it must also wash his clothes in water, and bathe his body in
9 water, and shall remain unclean until evening. A man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow, and deposit them in a clean place outside the camp, to do duty for the Israelite community as water for
10 impurity, to be used in the case of sin. He who gathers the ashes of the cow must wash his clothes, and shall remain unclean until eve- ning. This is to be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and the aliens
11 residing in their midst. Anyone who touches a dead body, that is, any
12 human body, shall remain unclean for seven days; on the third day and the seventh day he must cleanse himself from sin with it, and so become clean; .if he does not cleanse himself from sin on the third day
"3 and the seventh day, he will not become clean. Whoever touches a dead body, the corpse of a man who may have died, and does not cleanse himself from sin, since he has polluted the dwelling of the LORD, that person must be cut off from Israel ; because the water used for impurity was not thrown over him, he remains unclean, his un- cleanness being still with him.
H " 'This is to be the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone enter- ing the tent and everyone in the tent shall be unclean for seven days;
l$ and every open vessel which has no cover tied down on it shall be un-
16 clean. Also, whoever in the open fields touches a person slain by the sword, or one who has died a natural death, or a human bone, or a
17 grave, shall be unclean for seven days. Then some of the ashes pre- pared for use in case of sin are to be taken, and fresh water is to be
1 8 added to them in a vessel; a man that is clean must then take hyssop, dip it into the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, upon all the furni- ture, and upon the persons that were present, and him who touched the bone, or the person slain, or the person dead from natural causes,
»9 or the grave; the clean person must sprinkle it upon the unclean per- son on the third day and the seventh day, thus cleansing him from sin
[244]
19:20^-20:11 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
on the seventh day; he must then wash his clothes, and bathe himself *° in water, and at evening he shall be clean. But the man who becomes unclean and does not cleanse himself from sin, that person shall be cut off from the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the LORD; since the water for use in case of impurity was not thrown
21 over him, he remains unclean. This shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water for use in case of impurity must wash his clothes, while he who touches the water for use in case of
22 impurity shall remain unclean until evening; whatever the unclean person touches shall become unclean, and the person who touches it shall remain unclean until evening.' "
THE LATER YEARS OF THE DESERT JOURNEY, 20:1—27:23
20 In the first month the Israelites, the whole community of them, arrived at the desert of Zin, and the people established themselves at
2 Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. Since there was no water for the community, they gathered in a body against Moses
3 and. Aaron ; and the people found fault with Moses.
"Would that we had perished when our fellows perished at the
4 hands of the LORD!" they said. "Why have you brought the LORD'S
5 community into this desert, to die there, both we and our cattle? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place, since it is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink?"
6 Then Moses and Aaron came away from the presence of the as- sembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces,
7 whereupon the glory of the LORD appeared to them, and the LORD said to Moses,
8 "Take the staff, and assemble the community, you and your broth- er Aaron; and then in their presence tell the rock to yield its waters; you shall produce water from the rock for them, and thus give the community and their cattle a drink."
9 So Moses took the staff from its place before the LORD, as he had 10 commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in
front of the rock, and he said to them,
"Listen, you rebels; is it from this rock that we have to produce water for you ? " *
" And raising his hand, Moses struck the rock with his staff twice, whereupon water in abundance gushed out, and the community and their cattle drank.
[245]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 20:12-28
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
"Because you did not trust me by paying me due honor in the pres- ence of the Israelites, that is why you shall not bring this community into the land which I have given them."
'3 These are the waters of Meribah [finding fault], where the Israel- ites found fault with the LORD, but where he vindicated himself among them.
H From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom :
"Thus says your brother Israel: 'You know all the hardships that
!5 have befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, how we re- mained a long time in Egypt, how badly the Egyptians treated us and
16 our fathers, and how, when we cried to the LORD, he heeded our cry, and sent an angel to bring us out of Egypt. So here we are at Kadesh,
'7 a city on the edge of yQur territory. Pray let us pass through your land; -we will not pass through field or vineyard, nor drink the water of the wells; we will go only by the royal road, turning neither to the right nor to the left, until we cross your territory.' "
18 But Edom said to him,
"You must not pass through my territory, lest I come out with the sword against you."
*9 "We will go up only by the road," the Israelites said to him; "and if we drink any of your water, we and our live stock, we will pay for it; let us just walk through, a matter of no consequence."
20 But he said,
"You shall not pass through."
So Edom came out against them with a large army and a strong
21 force. Thus Edom refused to grant Israel passage through his ter- ritory; so Israel turned aside from him.
22 The Israelites then set out from Kadesh, the whole community of them, and came to Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, near the frontier of
23 the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
24 "Aaron is to be gathered to his fathers; for he is not to enter the land which I have given the Israelites, because you rebelled against my
25 instructions in connection with the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron
26 and his son Eleazar, and bring them up Mount Hor; then strip Aaron of his robes, and put them on his son Eleazar, whereupon Aaron shall be gathered in death there."
2 7 Moses did as the LORD commanded; they ascended Mount Hor in 28 view of the whole community, and when Moses had stripped Aaron
[246]
20:2»~2i:i5 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
of his robes, and put them on his son Elcazar, Aaron died there on the
top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar descended the moun- 29 tain, and when the whole community saw that Aaron was dead, the
whole house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days. 21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard
that Israel was coming toward Atharim, he fought against Israel, and
2 took some of them captive. Then Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said,
"If thou wilt but deliver this people into my power, I will annihi- late their cities."
3 The LORD acceded to Israel's request, and delivered up the Canaan- ites; so they annihilated them and their cities. Hence the name of the place came to be called Hormah [annihilation J.
4 From Mount Hor they set out in the direction of the Red Sea to make a circuit of the land of Edom, and the people grew impatient
5 over the journey; so the people reproached God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water, and we loathe this wretched food."
6 Then the LORD sent stinging serpents among the people, and they
7 bit the people, so that many of Israel died. So the people came to Moses, and said,
"We have sinned, m that we have reproached the LORD and you; pray to the LORD that he remove the serpents from us."
8 So Moses prayed for the people, whereupon the LORD said to Moses,
"Make a serpent, and mount it on a pole, and then everyone that is bitten shall live if he looks at it."
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and mounted it on a pole; accord- ingly, if a serpent bit anyone, he looked at the bronze serpent, and lived.
JJ The Israelites set out, and then camped at Oboth. Setting out from
Oboth, they camped at Ije-abarim, in the desert opposite Moab, to the 12 east. Setting out from there, they camped in the valley of Zered. *3 Setting out from there, they camped on the other side of the Arnon,
which is in the desert extending from the frontier of the Amorites;
for the Arnon constitutes the frontier of Moab between Moab and H the Amorites. That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the
LORD, *5 " . . . . Waheb in Suphah, and the Arnon valleys; the slope of
[247]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 21=16-30
the valleys, which extends to the site of Ar, and leans toward the frontier of Moab . . . ."
16 From there they proceeded to Beer [well] , which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Collect the people, and I will give them '7 water." It was then that Israel sang this song:
"Spring up, O well ! Sing to it; '8 The well which the princes dug,
Which the nobles of the people sunk, With the scepters, with their staffs."
19 <• From the desert they proceeded to Mattanah, from Mattanah to
20 Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley which is in the country of Moab, at the headland of Pisgah, which overlooks Jeshimon.
21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,
22 "Let us pass through your land; we will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water from the wells; we will go only by the royal road, until we pass through your territory."
23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory; Sihon collected all his forces, and sallied forth against Israel in the desert.
24 Arriving at Jahaz, he fought against Israel, but Israel put him to the sword, and siezed his land from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, that is, as far as the Ammonites; for Jazer was the frontier of the Am-
25 monites. Israel captured all the cities here, and Israel settled in all
26 the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies. For Heshbon was the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had wrested from him
27 all his land as far as the Arnon. That is how the bards came to say,
"Come to Heshbon! Let it be built! Let the capital of Sihon be established!
28 For fire issued from Heshbon, Flame from Sihon's city;
It consumed Ar of Moab,
It extended up to the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of Chemoshl He has made his sons fugitives, And his daughters captives, To an Amorite king, Sihon;
30 So their children perished from Heshbon as far as Dibon, And their wives as far as Nophah, which is near Medeba."
[248]
21:31-22:12 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
£ So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. After Moses had sent the men to spy out Jazer, they captured its dependencies, and
33 evicted the Amorites that were there. Then they moved on, and pro- ceeded up the road to Bashan, whereupon Og, king of Bashan, to- gether with all his people, sallied forth for battle against them at
34 Edrei, but the LORD said to Moses,
"Do not be afraid of him; for I am delivering him, all his people, and his land into your power, so that you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Hcshbon."
35 So they harried him and his sons and all his people until not a sur- 22 vivor was left to him, and took possession of his land. The Israelites
then moved on, and camped in the steppes of Moab on the other side of the Jordan at Jericho.
2 Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel did to the Amor-
3 itcs, so that Moab stood in great fear of the people, because they were so many; Moab stood in dread of the Israelites.
4 "Now this horde will lick up all the pasture around us, as an ox licks up the grass of a field," said Moab to the elders of Midian.
5 Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moah at that time; so he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the Euphrates, to the land of the Ammonites, to summon him, saying,
"Here is a people come out of Egypt! They cover the whole face
6 of the earth, and are settled opposite me. Now then, come and curse this people for me; for they are too strong for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."
7 So the elders of Moab and of Midian departed, they themselves being skilled in enchantment, and coming to Balaam, they gave Ba- lak's message to him.
8 "Stay here to-night," he said to them, "and I will bring you back such word as the LORD delivers to me."
9 So the chieftains of Moab stayed with Balaam. Then God came to Balaam, and said,
"What business have these men with you?"
10 Balaam said to God,
"Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me,
11 'Here is the people that came out of Egypt covering the face of the earth! Come now, and curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.' "
i* God said to Balaam,
[249]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 22:13-28
"You must not go with them; you must not curse the people; for they are to be blessed."
X3 So, when Balaam rose next morning, he said to Balak's chieftains, "Go home to your own land; for the LORD has refused to let me go with you." '4- So the chieftains of Moab started off, and coming to Balak, said,
"Balaam refused to leave with us."
'5 Then Balak again sent chieftains, more in number and more dis- 16 tingtiished than the others, and coming to Balaam, they said to him, "Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor: Tray let nothing hinder you «7 from coming to me; for I will reward you handsomely, and do for you whatever you indicate to me; pray come then and curse this people for me.' " 18 But Balaam in reply said to Balak's ministers,
"Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not violate the instructions of the LORD my God to do any- J9 thing, either small or great. But do you also remain here tonight, and I will ascertain what else the LORD may have to say to me."
20 Then God came to Balaam in the night, and said to him,
"If it is to summon you that the men have come, be off and go with them; but it is only the message that I give you that you are to give."
21 So, when Balaam rose next morning, he harnessed his ass, and went off with the chieftains of Moab.
22 The anger of God blazed at his going, and the angel of the LORD stationed himself on the road to obstruct him, as he rode on his ass,
23 accompanied by his two slaves. When the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with his drawn sword in his hand, the ass turned out of the road, and went into the fields; but Balaam struck
24 the ass to turn her back into the road. Then the angel of the LORD took his stand on a lane between vineyards, with a wall on either side;
25 and when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall, so that
26 he struck her again. Then the angel of the LORD passed on further, and took his stand at a narrow place where there was no room to turn
27 either to the right or to the left; and when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, so that Balaam's anger blazed,
28 and he struck the ass with his staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam,
"What have I done to you that you should have struck me three times now."
[250]
22:29-23:2 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
29 "Because you have made a toy of me," said Balaam to the ass. "Would that I had a sword in my hand; for then I would kill you." 3° The ass said to Balaam,
"Am I not your own ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to deal thus with you?"
"No," he said.
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of th'e LORD standing on the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, where- upon he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
32 "Why have you struck your ass these three times? " the angel of the LORD said to him. "See, it was I who came forth to obstruct you; for
33 your errand is displeasing to me. The ass saw me, and swerved from me these three times; unless she had swerved from me, I would surely have slain you just now, but would have spared her."
34 "I have sinned," said Balaam to the angel of the LORD; "for I did not know that it was you who stationed yourself on the road against
. me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will go back."
35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam,
"Go with the men; but it is only the message that I give you that you are to give."
So Balaam went along with Balak's chieftains.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ir-Moab, which is on the Arnon frontier, at the end of the frontier.
37 "Did I not send urgently for you?" Balak said to Balaam. "Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?"
38 Whereupon Balaam said to Balak,
"See, I have come to you! Have I now any power of myself to say anything at all to you? It is only the message that God puts in my mouth that I can speak."
39 Then Balaam went along with Balak, and when they came to Kir- 4° jath-huzoth, Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam
and the chieftains who were with him. 41 Next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-
baal, from which he could see the nearest of the people. 23 Then Balaam said to Balak,
"Build seven altars for me here, and offer seven bullocks and seven rams for me here." 2 Balak did as Balaam had indicated, and offered a bullock and a ram
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 23:3-is
3 on each altar. Then Balaam said to Balalc,
"Stay beside your burnt-offering, while I go aside; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me ; whatever message he reveals to me I will tell you."
4- So he went off by himself. Then God came to meet Balaam, whereupon he said to him,
"I have arranged the seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on each altar."
"Return to Balak," he said, "and thus shall you speak."
6 So he returned to him, and found him standing beside his burnt-
7 offering, together with all the chieftains of Moab. Then he gave utterance to his oracle, saying,
"From Aram has Balak brought me, The king of Moab, from the mountains of the east: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, Come, execrate Israel.'
8 How can I curse one whom God has not cursed?
How can I execrate one whom the LORD has not execrated?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see them, From the hills I behold them —
Lo, a people living by themselves, Not accounting themselves as one of the nations. *<> Who can count Jacob's masses, Or number Israel's myriads? Let me die the death of the righteous, Let my end be like theirs!"
ii "How have you treated me?" Balak said to Balaam. "It was to curse my enemies that I took you, and here you have actually blessed them." i* "Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I must be careful
to speak?" he answered. 1 3 Then Balak said to him,
"Pray come with me to another place, from which you may see them, although it will be only the nearest of them that you shall see, and not all of them; curse them for me from there." !4 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar. 15 "Stay here beside your burnt-offering," he said to Balak, "while I go to meet him yonder."
[252]
23:16-28 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
16 Then the LORD came to meet Balaam, and putting a message in his mouth, said,
"Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."
17 So he came back to him, and found him standing beside his burnt- offering, together with the chieftains of Moab.
"What has the LORD said," Balak said to him.
18 Whereupon he gave utterance to his oracle, saying,
"Come, Balak, and hear;
Give ear unto me, son of Zippnr! '9 God is not a man that he should break his word,
Nor a human being that he should change his mind.
When he has said something, will he not do it?
When he has asserted something, will he not make it good?
20 See, it is a blessing that I have received;
He has given a blessing, so I cannot change it.
21 No misfortune is to be observed in Jacob, No trouble is to be seen in Israel ;
The LORD their God is with them, The King is pleased with them.
22 God who brought them out of Egypt
Is like the horns of a wild-ox for them;
23 For there can be no enchantment against Jacob, And no divination against Israel,
Since the times are declared to Jacob, And what God shall do, to Israel.
24 Here is a people that rises like an old lion, That rears itself like a lion;
It never lies down until it devours prey, And drinks slain creatures' blood."
25 "Then," said Balak to Balaam, "neither curse nor bless them at all!"
26 But Balaam in reply said to Balak,
"Did I not say to you, Whatsoever the LORD declares, that I must do?'" 2? Then Balak said to Balaam,
"Come, let me take you to another place; perhaps God will see fit to have you curse them for me from there."
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pcor, which overlooks Jcsh- imon.
[253]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 23:2^-24:12
29 "Build seven altars for me here," said Balaam to Balak, "and offer
seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."
3<> Balak did as Balaam said; he offered up a bullock and a ram on 24 each altar. When Balaam saw that the LORD saw fit to bless Israel,
he did not go in search of oracles as usual, but directed his gaze toward
2 the desert. Raising his eyes, Balaam saw Israel grouped into their sev-
3 eral tribes, whereupon the spirit of God came upon him, and he gave utterance to his oracle, saying,
[006]
"The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, The oracle of the man who had evil designs,
4 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who has a vision of the Almighty, Prostrate, but with eyes opened :
5 How fine your tents are, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!
6 Like far-stretching valleys, Like gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside a stream.
7 Water shall flow from their buckets, And their seed shall have abundant water; Their king shall be taller than A gag, And their kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God who brought them out of Egypt Is like the horns of a wild-ox for them.
They shall devour nations that are their adversaries, And break their bones in pieces, And shatter their loins;
9 They crouch, they lurk like a lion, like an old lion, Who dare disturb them?
Blessed are they who bless you, And cursed are they who curse you."
10 Then Balak's anger blazed against Balaam, and he struck his fists together.
"It was to curse my enemies that I summoned you," said Balak to Balaam; "and here you have actually blessed them three times now.
11 So then, hurry back to your home] I intended to honor you greatly, but, as it is, the LORD has held you back from honor."
iz But Balaam said to Balak,
"Was it not indeed to the messengers whom you sent to me that I
24:13-25 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
'3 said, 'If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I
could not violate the instructions of the LORD to do either good or bad
of my own accord'? It is only what the LORD tells me that I can say.
»4 Now then, I leave at once for my own people ; come, let me advise you
what this people will do to your people in days to come." *5 Whereupon he gave utterance to his oracle, saying, "The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor,
The oracle of the man who had evil designs, 16 The oracle of him who hears the words of God,
And is acquainted with the knowledge .of the Most High,
Who has a vision of the Almighty,
Prostrate, but with eyes opened : '7 I see them, but not as they are now,
I behold them, but not as they are at present;
A star has come forth from Jacob,
A comet has risen from Israel,
He has shattered the temples of Moab,
And the skulls of all the sons of Seth; 18 Edom has become a possession,
Seir has become a possession ;
Israel has performed valiantly, J9 Jacob has conquered his enemies,
And has exterminated any survivors from Ar."
20 Then he looked at Amalek, and gave utterance to his oracle, say- ing,
"The first of the nations was Amalek, But in the end he shall perish forever."
21 Then he looked at the Kenites, and gave utterance to his oracle, saying,
"Though your dwelling-place is enduring, And your nest set on a rock,
22 Nevertheless it shall be annihilated, O Kain; How long will Ashur make captives of you?"
2? Then he gave utterance to his oracle, saying,
"Alas, who can live longer than God has appointed him?
24 Ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, They shall harass Ashur, they shall harass Eber, So that he in turn shall perish forever."
25 Then Balaam rose, and departing, returned home; while Balak also went his way.
[255]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 25:1-18
25 When Israel settled down at Shittim, the people began to have il-
2 licit relations with the women of Moab, who invited the people to the sacrifices to their gods, so that the people ate them, and paid homage
3 to their gods. Israel paired themselves off in honor of the Baal of Peor, so that the anger of the LORD blazed against Israel.
4 "Take all the ringleaders of the people," said the LORD to Moses, "and execute them for the LORD in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may be averted from Israel."
5 So Moses said to the tribes of Israel,
"Slay each of you those of your members who paired themselves off in honor of the Baal of Peor."
6 Now one of the Israelites came and introduced a Midianite woman into his family in plain sight of Moses and the whole assembly of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of
7 meeting. When Phinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he withdrew from the assembly, and taking a spear in
8 his hand, followed the Israelite into the room, and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman in her abdomen. Thus the plague
9 was stopped in its attack on the Israelites, but those who died from the plague amounted to twenty- four thousand.
10 Then the LORD said to Moses,
n "Phinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has averted my wrath from the Israelites by showing the same jealousy among them as I would, and so I did not put an end to the Israelites
12 in my jealousy. Announce therefore, CI hereby give him my pledge
f3 of friendship, which shall serve him and his descendants as the pledge of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the Israelites.' "
H Now the name of the slain Israelite, who was killed with the Midi- anite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite
'5 clan, while the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, who was the head of a clan division in Midian.
16 The LORD said to Moses,
\l "Open hostilities with the Midianites, and attack them; for they have been showing hostility toward you by their tricks which they have played against you in the affair of Peor and that of their country- woman Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite chieftain, who was killed on the day of the plague, in the affair of Peor."
[256]
25:19-26:22 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
26i9 After the plague the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest,
2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community from twenty years old and upward, clan by clan, all who can go out to war in Israel."
3 So Moses and Eleazar, the priest, had them pass in review on the
4 steppes of Moah, beside the Jordan at Jericho, those from twenty years old and upward, as the LORD had commanded Moses — that is,
5 the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt: Reuben, Israel's first-born, and the descendants of Reuben, Hanoch of the Hanochitc
6 family, the Palluite family of Pallu, the Hezronite family of Hez-
7 ron, and the Carmitc family of Carmi. These constituted the fami- lies of the Reubenites, whose numbers amounted to forty-three thou- sand seven hundred and thirty.
J The son of Pallu, Eliab, and the sons of Eliab, Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram, the latter being the Dathan and Abiram, the select men of the community, who took their stand with Koran's company against
10 Moses and Aaron when they ranged themselves against the LORD, and whom the earth, opening its mouth, swallowed up, along with Korah, when his company died, when the fire consumed two hundred and
11 fifty men, so that they became a warning. (The sons of Korah, how- ever, did not die.)
12 The descendants of Simeon, arranged by families: the Nemuelite family of Nemuel, the Jaminite family of Jam in, the Jachinite fam-
13 ily of Jachin, the Zerahite family of Zerah, and the Shaulite family *4 of Shaul. These constituted the families of the Simeonites, twenty- two thousand two hundred.
!5 The descendants of Gad, arranged by families: the Zephonite family of Zephon, the Ha«gite family of Haggi, the Sh unite family
16 of Shuni, the Oznite family of Ozni, the Ente family of Eri,
IJ the Arodite family of Arod, and the Arelite family of Areli. These constituted the families of the descendants of Gad that were num- bered, forty thousand five hundred.
'9 The sons of Judah, Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the
20 land of Canaan, so the descendants of Judah as arranged by families were the Shelanite- family of Shelah, the Perezite family of Perez,
21 and the Zerahite family of Zerah, while the descendants of Perez were the Hezronite family of Hezron and the Hamulite family of
22 Hamul. These constituted the families of Judah that were num* bered, seventy-six thousand five hundred.
[257]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 26:23-44
2 3 The descendants of Issachar, arranged by families: the Tolaite
24 family of Tola, the Punite family of Puvah, the Jashubite family of
25 Jashub, and the Shimronite family of Shimron. These constituted the families of Issachar that were numbered, sixty-four thousand three hundred.
26 The descendants of Zebulun, arranged by families: the Seredite family of Sered, the Elonite family of Elon, and the Jahleelite fam-
27 ily of Jahleel. These constituted the families of the Zebu! unites that were numbered, sixty thousand five hundred.
28 The descendants of Joseph, arranged by families: Manasseh and
29 Ephraim; the descendants of Manasseh: the Machirite family of Machir and the Gileadite family of Gilead, Machir having also been
30 the father of Gilead. The following arc the descendants of Gilead :
31 the Iczcrite family of lezer, the Helekite family of Helck, the Asriel-
32 ite family of Asriel, the Shechemite family of Shcchem, the Shemi-
33 daite family of Shemida, and the Hepherite family of Hepher. Zel- ophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, but only daughters, the names of the daughters of Zelophehad being Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah,
H Milcah, and Tirzah. These constituted the families of Manasseh, whose numbers amounted to fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
35 The following arc the descendants of Ephraim, arranged by fam- ilies: the Shuthelnhite family of Shuthclah, the Becherite family of
36 Bechcr, and the Tahaiute family of Tahan, while the following are
37 the descendants of Shuthelah: the Eranite family of Eran. These constituted the families of the descendants of Ephraim that were numbered, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These constituted the descendants of Joseph as arranged by families.
38 The descendants of Benjamin, arranged by families: the Belaitc family of Bela, the Ashbelite family of Ashbel, the Ahiramite family
39 of Ahiram, the Shuphamite family of Shephupham, and the Hupham-
40 ite family of Hupham, while the descendants of Bela were Ard and Naaman, the Ardite family and the Naamite family of Naaman.
4» These constituted the descendants of Benjamin as arranged by fam- ilies, whose numbers amounted to forty-five thousand six hundred.
42 The following are the descendants of Dan, arranged by families: the Shuhamite family of Shuham. This constituted the families of
43 Dan as arranged by families. The total of the Shuhamite families that were numbered was sixty- four thousand four hundred.
44 The descendants of Asher, arranged by families: the Imnite fam- ily of Imnah, the Ishvite family of Ishvi, and the Beriite family of
[258]
26:45-65 LATER YEARS OF DESERT JOURNEY
45 Beriah, while to the descendants of Beriah belong the Hebcrite fam-
46 ily of Hebcr and the Malchielite family of Malchiel, and the name
47 of Asher's daughter was Serah. These constituted the families of the descendants of Asher that were numbered, fifty-three thousand four hundred.
48 The descendants of Naphtali, arranged by families: the Jahzeclite
49 family of Jahzeel, the Gunite family of Guni, the Jezerite family of 5° Jezer, and the Shillcmite family of Shillem. These constituted the
families of Naphtali as arranged by families, whose numbers amount- ed to forty-five thousand four hundred.
51 These constituted the Israelites that were numbered, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.
52 Then the LORD said to Moses, *
53 "Among these the land is to be apportioned as a heritage, according
54 to their respective numbers; for the large group you must make the heritage large, and for the small group you must make the heritage small, to each being given a heritage proportionate to its numbers.
55 However, the land is to be divided by lot; they are to receive their heritage according to the numbers in their respective ancestral tribes;
56 as determined by lot their heritage is to be divided proportionately be- tween the larger groups and the smaller groups."
57 The following are the Levites that were numbered, arranged by families: the Gershonite family of Gershon, the Kohathite family
58 of Kohath, and the Merarite family of Merari. The following are the families of Levi: the Libnite family, the Hebronite family, the Mahlite family, the Mushite family, and the Korathite family. Ko-
59 hath was the father of Amram, while the name of Amram's wife was Jochebcd, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; she
60 bore Aaron and Moses to Amram, as well as their sister Miriam. To
61 Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, but Nadab
62 and Abihu died when they offered improper fire before the LORD. Those of them that were numbered amounted to twenty-three thou- sand, all the males from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the other Israelites, because no heritage was given them among the Israelites.
6 3 These constituted those that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar, the priest, who numbered the Israelites on the steppes of Moab, be-
64 side the Jordan at Jericho, and among these there was no one belong- ing to those who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron, the priest,
65 who numbered the Israelites in the desert of Sinai ; for the LORD had
1259]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 27:1-17
said of them that they would be sure to die in the desert, and so not one of them was left except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.
27 Then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, members of the families of Manasseh, the son of Joseph; the follow- ing were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah,
2 and Tirzah. They took their stand before Moses, and Eleazar, the priest, and before the chieftains and the whole assembly, at the door- way of the tent of meeting, saying,
3 "Our father died in 'the desert, though he did not participate with those who gathered against the LORD in Korah's company, but he died
4 simply for his own sin, leaving no sons. Why should our father's name be lost to his family, just because he had no son? Give us prop- erty along with our father's kinsmen."
| So Moses laid their case before the LORD, and the LORD said to Moses,
7 "The daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements; you must certainly give them the possession of a heritage along with their
8 father's kinsmen, transferring their father's heritage to them. Fur- ther, you must say to the Israelites, clf a man dies, leaving no son, you
9 must transfer his heritage to his daughter. If he has no daughter, you
10 must give his heritage to his brothers. If he has no brothers, you must
11 give his heritage to his father's brothers. If his father has no brothers, you must give his heritage to the nearest relative in his family, and he shall take it over.' This is to be a fixed ordinance for the Israelites, as the LORD has commanded Moses."
*i Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, and view the land which I *3 am giving the Israelites. When you have viewed it, you, too, shall be H gathered to your fathers, as your brother Aaron was, since you re- belled against my instructions when the community rebelled in the desert of Zin, in the matter of paying me due honor in their presence at the waters" (these being the waters of Meribath-Kadesh in the desert of Zin).
»5 Then Moses said to the LORD,
16 "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint »7 someone over the community, who shall come and go before them, and lead them out and bring them in, so that the LORD'S community may not be like sheep without a shepherd."
[260]
27:18-28:13 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
18 So the LORD said to Moses,
"Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man of spirit, and lay your hand !9 upon him; have him stand before Eleazar, the priest, and the whole
20 community, and commission him in their sight. Invest him with some of your own majesty, that the whole Israelite community may heed
21 him. He is to take his stand before Eleazar, the priest, who shall make enquiry before the LORD for him by decision of the Urim, and at whose bidding both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community, are to come and go."
22 Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar, the priest, and the whole community;
23 he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him, as the LORD had indicated through Moses.
VARIOUS REGULATIONS, 28:1—36:13
28 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Command the Israelites, and say to them, 'The offering of food made to me as a sacrifice, a soothing odor to me, you must be careful
3 to offer to me at the proper time for it.' You must also say to them, 'This is the sacrifice that you are to offer to the LORD: two perfect
4 yearling male lambs as a regular burnt-offering each day, offering the
5 one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb at twilight, together with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin
6 of oil from crushed olives, as a cereal-offering — a regular burnt-offer- ing, such as was instituted at Mount Sinai, as a soothing odor, a sncri-
7 fice to the LORD. Its libation is to be a fourth of a hin for the one lamb, a libation of liquor to the LORD, to be poured out in the sanctu-
8 ary; the other lamb you must offer at twilight as a sacrifice, a soothing odor to the LORD, offering it with the same cereal -offering and liba- tion as in the morning.
9 " 'On the sabbath day, two perfect yearling male lambs and two- tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering,
10 along with its libation, as the sabbath burnt-offering each sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt-offering and its libation.
11 " 'On your new moons you must offer as a burnt-offering to the LORD two young bullocks, one ram, and seven perfect yearling male
12 lambs, along with three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with !3 oil as a cereal -offering for each bullock, and two-tenths of fine flour
mixed with oil as a cereal -offering for die one ram, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal-offering for each lamb
1261]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 28:14-29:6
!4- — a burnt-offering, a soothing odor, a sacrifice to the LORP. Their libations are to be half a hin of wine per bullock, a third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth of a hin per lamb. This is to be the burnt-offer- ing of the new moon, each new moon throughout the new moons of
JS the year. Moreover, one he-goat is to be offered as a sin-offering to the LORD, in addition to the regular burnt-offering and its libation.
1 6 " 'On the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover to the
*7 LORD, and on the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival.
18 For seven days unleavened cakes are to be eaten. On the first day there is to be a religious assembly; you must do no hard work at all,
"9 but offer as a sacrifice, a burnt-offering to the LORD, two young bul- locks, one ram, and seven yearling male lambs, having them perfect ;
20 and for their cereal-offerings you must offer fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah per bullock and two-tenths for the ram,
H offering a tenth for each of the seven lambs, together with one he-
23 goat as a sin-offering, to make atonement for you. You are to offer these in addition to the morning burnt-offering which is the regular
24- burnt-offering. Offerings like these you must make daily for the seven days, as food, as a sacrifice, a soothing odor to the LORD, to be
2 5 made in addition to the regular burnt-offering and its libation; and on the seventh day you must hold a religious assembly, doing no hard work at all.
26 " <On the day of first-fruits, when you offer a cereal -offering of new grain to the LORD in your festival of weeks, you must hold a
27 religious assembly; you must do no hard work at all, but offer as a burnt-offering, as a soothing odor to the LORD, two young bullocks,
28 one ram, and seven yearling male lambs, together with their cereal- offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah per bul-
29 lock, two-tenths for the one ram, and a tenth for each of the seven 3° lambs, as well as one he-goat to make atonement for you. In addition
to the regular burnt-offering and its cereal-offering you are to offer these and their libations, having them perfect.
29 " 'On the first day of the seventh month you must hold a religious assembly, doing no hard work at all, but observing it as a day of fes-
2 tivity; you must offer as a burnt-offering, a soothing odor to the LORD, one young bullock, one ram, and seven perfect yearling male
3 lambs, together with their cereal-offering, fine flour mixed with oil, 4- three-tenths of an ephah per bullock, two-tenths for the ram, and
5 one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, as well as one he-goat as a sin-
6 offering to make atonement for you — in addition to the burnt-offer-
[262]
29:7-26 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
ing of the new moon with its cereal -offering, and the regular burnt- offering with its cereal-offering, and the libations as prescribed for them, as a soothing odor, a sacrifice to the LORD.
7 " 'On the tenth day of this same seventh month, you must hold a religious assembly, and mortify yourselves; you must do no work at
8 all, but offer as a burnt-offering to the LORD, a soothing odor, one young bullock, one ram, and seven yearling male lambs, having them
9 perfect, together with their cereal-offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah per bullock, two-tenths for the one ram,
jj and a tenth for each of the seven lambs, as well as one he-goat as a
sin-offering, in addition to the atonement sin-offering and the regular
burnt-offering and its cereal -offering, along with their libations. 12 " 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you must hold a
religious assembly, doing no hard work at all, but holding a festival '3 for the LORD for seven days; you must offer as a burnt-offering, a
sacrifice, a soothing odor to the LORD, thirteen young bullocks, two H rams, and fourteen yearling male lambs that are perfect, together with
their cereal -offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an
cphah for each of the thirteen bullocks, two-tenths for each of the J| two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs, as well as one
he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering,
its cereal-offering and libation.
*7 " 'On the second day, twelve young bullocks, two rams, and four- lj< teen perfect yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings
and libations for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their *9 numbers, as prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in
addition to the regular burnt-offering and its cereal -offering, along
with their libations.
20 " c()n the third day, eleven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen per-
21 fuct yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offering and liba- tions for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their num-
22 bers, as prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering with its cereal -offering and libation.
•*3 " 'On the fourth day, ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen perfect
*4 yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings and libations
for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their numbers, as
2 5 prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering, its cereal-offering and libation.
26 " 'On the fifth day, nine bullocks, two rams, and fourteen perfect
[263]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS > 29:27-30:7
27 yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings and libations for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their numbers, as
28 prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offermg, its cereal-offering and libation.
29 " cOn the sixth day, eight bullocks, two rams, and fourteen perfect 3«> yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings and libations
for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in accordance with their numbers,
31 as prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering, its cereal-offering and libation.
32 " 'On the seventh day, seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen per-
33 feet yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings and liba- tions for the bullocks, rams, and lambs, in accordance with their num-
34 bers, as prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering, its cereal-offering and libation.
35 " 'On the eighth day you must hold a sacred assembly; you must
36 do no hard work at all, but offer as a burnt-offering, a sacrifice, a soothing odor to the LORD, one bullock, one ram, and seven perfect
37 yearling male lambs, together with the cereal-offerings and libations for the bullock, ram, and lambs, in accordance with their numbers,
38 as prescribed, as well as one he-goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the regular burnt-offering with its cereal-offering and libation.
39 " 'These you must offer to the LORD at your fixed festivals, in addition to your votive offerings and voluntary offerings, as your burnt-offerings, cereal -offerings, libations, and thank-offerings.5 "
40 So Moses instructed the Israelites just as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 Then Moses said to the heads of the Israelite tribes,
2 "This is the command that the LORD has given: 'When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or on oath binds himself with a pledge, he
3 must not break his word; he must do just as he declared. Also, when a woman makes a vow to the LORD, or binds herself with a pledge,
4 while she is still in her youth in her father's house, if her father should hear of her vow and her pledge with which she bound herself, and her father gives her his tacit approval, all her vows shall stand,
5 and every pledge with which she bound herself shall stand. But if her father does raise objections with her, when he hears of it, none of her vows or her pledges with which she bound herself shall stand, and the LORD will absolve her, because her father raised objections with her.
6 If she should ever marry while bound by her vows or some rash utter-
7 ance with which she bound herself, and her husband should hear of it,
30:^-31:8 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
but gives her his tacit approval when he does hear of it, her vows shall
8 stand, and her pledges with which she bound herself shall stand. But if her husband raises objections with her when he hears of it, he shall nullify the vow by which she is bound and the rash utterance with
9 which she bound herself, and the LORD will absolve her. In the case of the vow of a widow, however, or a divorced woman, everything
10 with which she has bound herself shall he binding on her. If a woman has made a vow or bound herself with a pledge by an oath
11 while in the house of her husband, and her husband should hear of it, but gives hef his tacit approval, by not raising objections with her, all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she bound herself
12 shall stand. But if her husband should make them null and void when he hears of them, nothing to which she gave utterance by way of vow or pledge shall stand; since her husband nullified them, the
J3 LORD will absolve her. Any vow and any oath as a pledge to self- *4 mortification, her husband can validate or nullify. But if her husband
from day to day docs give her his tacit approval, he shall validate all
her vows or pledges by which she is bound ; he has validated them, be- "5 cause he gave her his tacit approval when he heard of them. But if
he should attempt to nullify them after he has heard of them, he shall
answer for her iniquity himself.' " 16 These were the statutes with which the LORD charged Moses, in a
situation involving a man and his wife, and a father and his daughter
while she is still in her youth in her father's house. 31 Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 "Avenge the Israelites on the Midianitcs, after which you shall be gathered to your fathers."
3 So Moses commanded the people,
"Choose the best of your number as an army to serve against Mid- 4- ian, to execute the LORD'S vengeance on Midian, selecting for the army a thousand from each of all the tribes of Israel."
5 So a thousand per tribe were furnished from the clans of Israel,
6 twelve thousand picked troops. Then Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, as priest for the army, with the sacred objects and the alarm trumpets
7 in his hand. They made war on Midian, as the LORD had commanded
8 Moses, and slew every male; they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of them that were slain, namely, Evi, Rckcm, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and they also slew Balaam, the son
[265]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 3i:9-»
9 of Beor, with the sword. The Israelites took the women and children of Midian captive, while all their cattle, and flocks, and goods they
10 took as booty, and burned up all the cities where they lived and all
11 their encampments. Then they took all the spoil and all the booty of
12 man and benst, and brought the captives, booty, and spoil to Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and the Israelite community at the camp in the steppes of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho.
»3 When Moses with Eleazar, the priest, and all the leaders of the H community went outside the camp to meet them, Moses became angry
with the officers of the army, the captains of divisions" of a thousand
and those of a hundred, who had come from service in the war. *5 "And so you have let all the women live?" Moses said to them. 16 "Why, it was these who led the Israelites through the counsel of
Balaam to forsake the LORD in the affair of Peor, so that the plague
7 appeared among the LORD'S community. Now then, slay every male
among the little ones, and slay every woman who has had intercourse
18 with a man by lying with a male; but all the girls who have not had intercourse with a man by lying with a male, keep alive for your-
19 selves. Now as for yourselves, remain outside the camp for seven days; all of you who have slain anyone and all of you who have touched a slain person, purify yourselves on the third day and the
20 seventh, you and your captives. Also, every garment, every article made of skin, everything made of goat's hair, and every wooden article, you must purify."
21 Eleazar, the priest, said to the warriors who engaged in the battle, "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded
22 Moses: 'However, the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead —
23 everything that can stand fire, you must put through fire, that it may become clean, being purified, however, by the water used for im- purity; whatever cannot stand fire you must pass through the water.
24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and so become clean, after which you may re-enter the camp.' "
2 5 Then the LORD said to Moses,
26 "Take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and beast, you, Eleazar, the priest, and the heads of families in the com-
27 munity, and then divide the booty in two between the warriors who
28 went out to the battle and all the rest of the community, levying a tax for the LORD on the warriors who went out to the battle, one in five
29 hundred, of the men, the cattle, the. asses, and the flocks, taking it from their half, and giving it to Eleazar, the priest, as a contribution
1266]
31:30-54 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
3° to the LORD. From the Israelites' half you must take one drawn from every fifty, of the men, the cattle, the asses, and the flocks, of all the live stock, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the dwell- ing of the LORD."
3* Moses and Eleazar, the priest, did as the LORD commanded Moses.
32 Now the plunder, what was left of the booty that the warriors took,
33 consisted of six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two 3J thousand oxen, sixty-one thousand asses, and a total of thirty-two thou- sand girls, who had never had intercourse with a man by lying with a
36 male. The half which constituted the share of those who went out to the battle amounted to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand
37 five hundred sheep, the LORD'S tax from the sheep being six hundred
38 and seventy-five, thirty-six thousand oxen, from which the LORD'S
39 tax was seventy-two, thirty thousand five hundred asses, from which
40 the LORD'S tax was sixty-one, and sixteen thousand persons, from
41 whom the LORD'S tax was thirty-two persons. Moses 'gave the tax to Eleazar, the priest, as a contribution to the LORD, as the LORD had
42 commanded Moses. From the Israelites' half which Moses divided
43 from that of the warriors (now the community's half was three hun-
44 dred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, thirty-six thou- Jfsand oxen, thirty thousand five hundred asses, and sixteen thousand
47 persons), from the Israelites' half Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and beast, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the LORD'S dwelling, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers who were attached to the divisions of a thousand in the* army, the captains of divisions of a thousand and those of a
49 hundred, came up to Moses, and said to Moses,
"Your servants have taken a census of the warriors who have been
50 in our charge, and not one of us is missing. So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each had acquired, articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."
5* So Moses and Eleazar, the priest, took the gold from them, all
52 serviceable articles, and the total amount of the gold in the contribu- tion which they made to the LORD from the captains of divisions of a thousand and those of a hundred was sixteen thousand seven hun-
53 dred and fifty shekels. (The warriors, too, had taken booty, each
54 keeping it for himself.) When Moses and Eleazar, the priest, -took the gold from the captains of divisions of a thousand and those of a
[267]
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 32:1-19
hundred, they brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites he fore the LORD.
32 Now the Reubenites and Gadites had much live stock, a very great amount. So, when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of
2 Gilead was a district suitable for live stock, the Gadites and Reuben- ites came and said to Moses, and Elcazar, the priest, and the leaders of the community,
3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon,-Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, 4- and Beon, the land which the LORD laid low before the community of
Israel, is a land suitable for live stock, and your servants have live
5 stock." "If we have found favor with you," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as their property. Do not take us across the Jordan."
6 But Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites,
"Ought your fellow- tribesmen to engage in war while you remain
7 here? Wfiy should you discourage the Israelites from crossing to the
8 land which the LORD has given them? That is what your fathers did
9 when I sent them from Kadesh-barnca to view the land. When they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land which the LORD had given them,
J " so that the LORD'S anger blazed that day, and he swore, saying, 'None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall ever see the land which I promised on oath to Abraham,
12 Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not corroborated me, with the exception of Caleb, the son of Jephunnch, the Kenizzite, and Joshua,
»3 the son of Nun, because they have corroborated the LORD.** So the LORD'S anger blazed against Israel, and he made them wander up and down the desert for forty years, until all the generation that had
»4 done evil in the sight of the LORD had perished. And here you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinners, to augment still more
'5 the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! If you turn from fol- lowing him, he will again abandon them in the desert, and you will bring harm to this whole people."
16 Then they came up to him, and said,
"We will but build folds here for our live stock and cities for our
l? dependants, while we ourselves will form the picked troops to go as special troops ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their home, and our dependants shall live in the fortified cities because
18 of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our own houses
19 until the Israelites have each come into possession of his heritage; for
[268]
32:20-38 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
we will not seek any heritage with them across and beyond the Jordan, because our heritage has fallen to us on the other side of the Jordan, to the east."
20 So Moses said to them,
"If you will do this, if you will form the picked troops to go before
21 the LORD into battle, and all your picked troops cross the Jordan in
22 sight of the LORD until he drives his enemies out of his way, and the land is subdued before the LORD, after that you may return, quit of all obligation to the LORD and Israel, and this land shall be yours to
2 3 hold before the LORD. But if you will not do so, then you will have sinned against the LORD, and be assured that your sin will find you
24 out. Build cities for your dependants and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised."
25 The Gacfites and Reubenitcs said to Moses,
26 "Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, wives, flocks, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of
27 Gilead; but your servants, all picked troops, will cross over to battle in sight of the LORD, as my lord indicates."
28 So Moses gave instructions concerning them to Eleazar, the priest, to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families in the Israel- ite tribes.
29 "If the Gaditcs and Reubenites, all picked troops," Moses said to them, "cross the Jordan with you for battle in sight of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you must give them the lajid of
3<> Gilead as their property; but if they do not cross over as picked troops with you, they shall receive property with you in the land of Canaan."
31 Whereupon the Gadites and Reubenites responded,
32 "We will do just what the LORD has told your servants. We will cross over as picked troops in sight of the LORD to the land of Canaan, but the property constituting our heritage shall fall to us on the other side of the Jordan."
33 So Moses gave them, the Gadites, Reubenites, and half -tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, the land with its
34 cities in the various districts, the cities throughout the land. The
35 Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbc-
36 hah, Beth-nimrah, and Bcth-haran, as fortified cities, as well as sheep- -]l folds. The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elcaleh, Kirjathaim, Nebo,
Baal-meon (names to be changed), and Sibmah, and renamed the cities that they rebuilt.
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 32:39^-33:26
39 The descendants of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead,
40 and capturing it, evicted the Amorites who were in it. So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.
4* Then Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and captured their villages, 42 calling them Havvoth-jair [the villages of Jair], while Nobah went
and captured Kenath and its dependencies, calling it Nobah after his
own name. 33 The following are the stages by which the Israelites came from
2 Egypt m companies, under the direction of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down the starting-places as commanded by the LORD for them on their several stages, and the following are the stages as arranged by
3 their starting-places. On the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, they set out from Ramescs; on the day after the passover the Israelites went triumphantly out in sight of all the Egyptians,
4 while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born whom the LORD had struck down among them. The LORD had also executed judg-
5 ment upon their gods. The Israelites set out from Rameses, and
6 camped at Succoth. Setting out from Succoth, they camped at Etham,
7 which is on the edge of the desert. Setting out from Etham, they turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and camped
8 to the east of Migdol. Setting out from Pi-hahiroth, they passed through the sea into the desert, and marching for three days in the
9 desert of Etham, they camped at Marah. Setting out from Marah, they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and
10 seventy palm trees, so they camped there. Setting out from Elim,
1 1 they camped beside the Red Sea. Setting out from the Red Sea, they
12 camped in the desert of Sin. Setting out from the desert of Sin, they 3 camped at Dophkah. Setting out from Dophkah, they camped at H Alush. Setting out from Alush, they camped at Rephidim, where 5 there was no water for the people to drink. Setting out from Rephi-
16 dim, they camped in the desert of Sinai. Setting out from the desert
17 of Sinai, they camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. Setting out from Kib-
18 roth-hattaavah, they camped at Hazeroth. Setting put from Hazcr-
9 oth, they camped at Rithmah. Setting out from Rithmah, they
20 camped at Rimmon-perez. Setting out from Rimmon-perez, they
21 camped at Libnah. Setting out from Libnah, they camped at Rissah. JJ Setting out from Rissah, they camped at Kehelah. Setting out from 24 Kehelah, they camped at Mount Shepher. Setting out Jrom Mount 2$ Shepher, they camped at Haradah. Setting out from Haradah, they 26 camped at Makheloth. Setting out from Makheloth, they camped at
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33:27-55 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
ll Tahath. Setting out from Tahath, they camped at Terah. Setting 29 out from Terah, they camped at Mithkah. Setting out from Mith- 3° kah, they camped at Hashmonah. Setting out from Hashmonah, they ^ camped at Moseroth. Setting out from Moseroth, they camped at
32 Bene-jaakan. Setting out from Bene-jaakan, they camped at Hor-
33 haggidgad. Setting out from Hor-haggidgad, they camped at Jotbah. 3J Setting out from Jotbah, they camped at Abronah. Setting out from
36 Abronah, they camped at Ezion-geber. Setting out from Ezion-geber,
37 they camped in the desert of Zin, that is, at Kadesh. Setting out from Kadesh, they camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of
38 Edom. (By command of the LORD, Aaron, the priest, ascended Mount Hor, and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month,
39 Aaron being one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died
40 on Mount Hor. The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb
41 in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the Israelites.) Sct-
42 ting out from Mount Hor, they camped at Zalmonah. Setting out
43 from Zalmonah, they camped at Punon. Setting out from Punon,
44 they camped at Oboth. Setting out from Oboth, they camped at Ijc-
45 abarim, on the frontier of Moab. Setting out from Ijim, they camped
46 at Dibon-gad. Setting out from Dibon-gad, they camped at Almon-
47 diblathaim. Setting out from Almon-diblathaim, they camped at the Abarim mountains, east of Ncbo.
48 Setting out from the Abarim mountains, they camped on the steppes
49 of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho; their camp lay along the Jor- dan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim, on the steppes of Moab.
50 On the steppes of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho the LORD said to Moses,
5 "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, When you cross the Jor- 5 dan into the land of Canaan, you must drive all the inhabitants of the
land out of your way, destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their *3 molten images, and demolish all their high places. When you have
conquered the land, you are to settle in it; for it is to you that I have
54 given the land, to take possession of it. You are to apportion the land as a heritage among yourselves by lot, clan by clan, making the heri- tage large for the large group, and making the heritage small for the small group; to whomsoever the lot gives it, his shall it be; you are to
55 make the apportionments among you by ancestral tribes. But if you do not drive the inhabitants of the land out of your way, those of them
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 33:56-34:21
whom you allow to remain shall become pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the land in which you live,
56 and so I will treat you as I intended to treat them.' "
34 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Command the Israelites, and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that is to fall to you as a heritage,
3 the land of Canaan throughout its extent), your southern boundary shall run from the desert of Zin along the side of Edom; your south- ern frontier shall run from the lower end of the Salt Sea eastward;
4 your frontier shall then turn south of the slope of Akrabbim, pass along to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea ; it shall proceed to
5 Hazar-addar, and continue to Azmon; at Azmon the frontier shall
6 turn to the River of Egypt, and end at the Sea. As a western frontier you shall have the Great Sea with its coastland; this shall be your
7 western frontier. The following shall be your northern frontier:
8 from the Great Sea you shall draw your line to Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall draw your line to the approach to Hamath, and
9 the frontier shall end at Zedad; the frontier shall then proceed to Ziphron, and end at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern fron-
10 tier. For the eastern frontier you shall draw your line from Hazar-
11 enan to Shepham; fom Shcpham the frontier shall run down to Rib- lah, east of Ainj the frontier shall then go down and strike the spur
12 at the sea of Chinnereth to the east; the frontier shall run down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This is the land that you are to have, as bounded by its various frontiers.' "
'3 So Moses instructed the Israelites as follows:
"This is the land which you are to apportion among yourselves by
lot, which the LORD has commanded to be given to the nine and a H half tribes; for the Reubenite tribe, family by family, the Gadite
tribe, family by family, and the half -tribe of Manasseh have received '5 their heritages; the two and a half tribes have received their heritages
on the other side of the Jordan at Jericho to the east, toward the
dawn."
16 Then the LORD said to Moses,
*7 "The following are the names of the men who are to apportion the 18 land for you: Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun. You
must also take one chieftain from each tribe to apportion the land, '9 and the following are the names of the men: from the tribe of
20 Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh ; from the Simeonite tribe,
21 Shemuel, the son of Ammihud; from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad,
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34:22-35:14 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
22 the son of Chislon; from the Danite tribe, a chieftain, Bukki, the son
23 of Jogli; from the Josephites: from the Manassite tribe, a chieftain,
24 Hanniel, the son of Ephod, and from the Ephraimite tribe, a chief-
25 tain, Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan; from the Zebulunitc tribe, a
26 chieftain, Elizaphan, the son of Parnach; from the Issacharite tribe,
27 a chieftain, Paltiel, the son of Azzan; from the Asherite tribe, a
28 chieftain, Ahihud, the son of Shelomi; and from the Naphtalite tribe, a chieftain, Pedahel, the son of Ammihud."
29 These were those whom the LORD commanded to apportion the heritages to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
35 On the steppes of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho the LORD said to Moses,
2 "Command the Israelites that they give the Levites cities to live in out of the heritages that they hold; you must also give the Levites the
3 pasture-lands adjacent to the cities. The cities shall serve them to live in, while the pasture-lands shall serve their cattle and live stock, all
4 their animals. The pasture-lands of the cities that you give the Le- vites are to extend for a radius of one thousand cubits outside the wall
5 of the city ; you must make the measurements of the east side outside the city two thousand cubits, those of the south side two thousand cubits, those of the west side two thousand cubits, and those of the north side two thousand cubits, with the city lying in the center. This shall be
6 the pasture-lands of their cities. The cities that you give the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge to which you must let the homicide flee, and in addition to them you must designate forty-two other cit-
7 ies. The total number of cities that you give the Levites is to be
8 forty-eight, together with their pasture-lands. In the case of the cities that you give them from the holdings of the Israelites, you shall take many from the large group, and few from the small group; each in proportion to the heritage that it receives shall give of its cities to the Levites."
9 The LORD said tp Moses,
i° "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, When you cross the Jor- " dan into the land of Canaan, you must select suitable cities to serve
as cities of refuge for you, that the homicide who kills anyone inad- 12 vertently may flee there. The cities shall serve you as places of refuge
from the avenger, that the homicide may not die until he has taken »3 his stand before the community for trial. As for the cities that you H are to designate, you must have six cities of refuge, designating three
cities on the other side of the Jordan and three cities in the land of
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 35:15-33
*5 Canaan, to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall serve the Israel- ites, as well as the resident aliens and the serfs among them, as places of refuge, so that anyone who kills another inadvertently may flee
16 there. But if he struck him with an iron tool, so that he died, he is a
«7 murderer; the murderer must be put to death. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, from which death may result, so that he died, he
18 is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. Or, if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, from which death may result, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.
'9 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death, put-
20 ting him to death when he encounters him. Also, if he gives him a push through hatred, or threw something at him intentionally, so that
21 he died, or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died, the one who struck the blow must be put to death; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the*murdcrer to death when he encounters
22 him. But if he pushed him inadvertently and not out of enmity, or 2 3 threw anything at all at him unintentionally, or without seeing him
let a stone of any kind fall on him from which death might result, 2+ so that he died, when he was not his enemy, nor sought his harm, then the community must decide between the one who struck the blow and 2 5 the avenger of blood in accordance with these regulations, the com- munity shall release the homicide from the power of the avenger of blood, and the community shall return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, to live there until the death of the high priest who was
26 anointed with the sacred oil. But if the homicide ever goes outside
27 the bounds of the city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, the avenger
28 of blood may slay the homicide without incurring any guilt, because he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the death of the high priest the homicide may return to his
29 own land. These, then, are to serve as a fixed ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your places of abode.
30 " 'In every case of murder the murderer is to be put to death only on the evidence of witnesses, the evidence of one witness being insuffi-
31 cient to condemn anyone to death. You must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he must be put to
32 death. You must not accept a ransom in place of having the person flee to his city of refuge, that he may live in the land again before the
33 death of the high priest. Thus you shall not pollute the land in which you are living; for it is blood that pollutes a land, and no atonement
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35:34-36:13 VARIOUS REGULATIONS
can be made for the blood that has been shed in a land, except by the H blood of him who shed it. So you must not defile the land in which
you are living, in the midst of which I dwell; for I, the LORD, am
dwelling in the midst of the Israelites.' " 36 Then the heads of families in the clan constituting the descendants
of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, part of the Jo-
sephite clan, came up and addressed Moses and the chieftains, the
heads of families among the Israelites.
2 "The LORD," they said, "commanded my lord to give the land to the Israelites as a heritage by lot, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the heritage of our kinsman Zelophehad to his
3 daughters. Now if they are married into one of the other Israelite tribes, their heritage will be lost to our ancestral heritage, and will be added to the heritage of the tribe which they join, and thus be lost to
4 our allotted heritage; when the Israelites hold the jubilee, their heri- tage will be added to the heritage of the tribe which they join, and thus their heritage will be lost to the heritage of our ancestral tribe."
5 So Moses at the bidding of the LORD gave this command:
6 "The Joscphite tribe speaks the truth. This is the command that the LORD has given concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: 'Let them be married to whom they like; only it must be into a family of
7 their own ancestral tribe that they are married, so that no heritage of the Israelites may pass from one tribe to another; for the Israelites
8 must keep each the heritage of his ancestral tribe. Any girl belonging to the- Israelite tribes who comes into possession of a heritage must be married to someone in a family belonging to her ancestral tribe, so
9 that the Israelites may hold each his own ancestral heritage. No heri- tage may pass from one tribe to another; for the Israelite tribes must keep each its own heritage.' "
*° The daughters of Zelophehad did just as the LORD commanded
11 Moses; Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters
12 of Zelophehad, were married to their kinsmcns' sons, being married into families of the descendants of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, so that their heritage remained in the tribe of their ancestral family.
J3 These were the commands and ordinances which the LORD through Moses enjoined on 'the Israelites on the steppes of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho.
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