Numbers

Chapter 1

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai. This happened on the first day of the second month during the second year after the people of Israel had come out from the land of Egypt. Yahweh said, ² "Conduct a census of all the men of Israel in each clan, in their fathers' families. Count them by name. Count every male, each man ³ who is twenty years old or older. Count all who can fight as soldiers for Israel. You and Aaron must record the number of men in their armed groups. ⁴ A man from each tribe, a clan head, must serve with you as his tribe's leader. Each leader must lead the men who will fight for his tribe. ⁵ These are the names of the leaders who must fight with you:

     From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

     ⁶ from the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

     ⁷ from the tribe of Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

     ⁸ from the tribe of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

     ⁹ from the tribe of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

     ¹⁰ from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph, Elishama son of Ammihud;

     from the tribe of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

     ¹¹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

     ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

     ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Pagiel son of Okran;

     ¹⁴ from the tribe of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

     ¹⁵ and from the tribe of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan."

¹⁶ These were the men appointed from the people. They led their ancestors' tribes. They were the leaders of the clans in Israel. ¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men, who were recorded by name, ¹⁸ and along with these men they assembled all the men of Israel on the first day of the second month. Then each man twenty years old and older identified his ancestry. He had to name the clans and families descended from his ancestors. ¹⁹ Then Moses recorded their numbers in the wilderness of Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

²⁰ From the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ²¹ They counted 46,500 men from the tribe of Reuben.

²² From the descendants of Simeon were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ²³ They counted 59,300 men from the tribe of Simeon.

²⁴ From the descendants of Gad were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ²⁵ They counted 45,650 men from the tribe of Gad.

²⁶ From the descendants of Judah were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ²⁷ They counted 74,600 men from the tribe of Judah.

²⁸ From the descendants of Issachar were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ²⁹ They counted 54,400 men from the tribe of Issachar.

³⁰ From the descendants of Zebulun were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ³¹ They counted 57,400 men from the tribe of Zebulun.

³² From the descendants of Ephraim son of Joseph were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ³³ They counted 40,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim.

³⁴ From the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ³⁵ They counted 32,200 men from the tribe of Manasseh.

³⁶ From the descendants of Benjamin were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ³⁷ They counted 35,400 men from the tribe of Benjamin.

³⁸ From the descendants of Dan were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ³⁹ They counted 62,700 from the tribe of Dan.

⁴⁰ From the descendants of Asher were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ⁴¹ They counted 41,500 men from the tribe of Asher.

⁴² From the descendants of Naphtali were counted all the names of each and every man twenty years old or older able to go to war, from the records of their ancestor's clans and families. ⁴³ They counted 53,400 from the tribe of Naphtali.

⁴⁴ Moses and Aaron counted all these men, together with the twelve men who were leading the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁴⁵ So all the men of Israel from twenty years old and older, all who could fight in war, were counted in each of their families. ⁴⁶ They counted 603,550 men.

⁴⁷ But the men who were descended from Levi were not counted, ⁴⁸ because Yahweh had said to Moses, ⁴⁹ "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the total of the people of Israel. ⁵⁰ Instead, assign the Levites to care for the tabernacle of the covenant decrees, and to care for all the furnishings in the tabernacle and for everything in it. The Levites must carry the tabernacle, and they must carry the tabernacle's furnishings. They must care for the tabernacle and make their camp around it. ⁵¹ When the tabernacle is to move to another place, the Levites must take it down. When the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites must set it up. Any stranger who comes near the tabernacle must be killed. ⁵² When the people of Israel set up their tents, each man must do so near the banner that belongs to his armed group. ⁵³ However, the Levites must set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant decrees so that my anger does not come upon the people of Israel. The Levites must care for the tabernacle of the covenant decrees." ⁵⁴ The people of Israel did all these things. They did everything that Yahweh commanded through Moses.

Chapter 2

¹ Yahweh spoke again to Moses and Aaron. He said, ² "Each one of the Israelites must camp around his standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They will camp around the tent of meeting on every side. ³ Those will be camping on the east of the tent of meeting, where the sun rises, they are the camp of Judah and they are camping under their standard. Nahshon son of Amminadab is the leader of the people of Judah. ⁴ The number of the people of Judah is 74,600. ⁵ The tribe of Issachar must camp next to Judah. Nethanel son of Zuar must lead the army of Issachar. ⁶ The number in his division is 54,400 men. ⁷ The tribe of Zebulun must camp next to Issachar. Eliab son of Helon must lead the army of Zebulun. ⁸ The number in his division is 57,400. ⁹ All the number of the camp of Judah is 186,400. They will set out first.

¹⁰ On the south side will be the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of the camp of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. ¹¹ The number in his division is 46,500. ¹² Simeon is camping next to Reuben. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. ¹³ The number in his division is 59,300. ¹⁴ The tribe of Gad is next. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel. ¹⁵ The number in his division is 45,650. ¹⁶ The number of all the men assigned to the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, is 151,450. They will set out second.

¹⁷ Next, the tent of meeting must go out from the camp with the Levites in the middle of all the camps. They must go out from the camp in the same order as they come into the camp. Every man must be in his place, by his banner.

¹⁸ The divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. ¹⁹ The number in his division is 40,500. ²⁰ Next to them is the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. ²¹ The number in his division is 32,200. ²² Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. ²³ The number in his division is 35,400. ²⁴ All those numbered in the camp of Ephraim is 108,100. They will set out third.

²⁵ On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ The number in his division is 62,700. ²⁷ The people of the tribe of Asher camp next to Dan. The leader of Asher is Pagiel son of Okran. ²⁸ The number in his division is 41,500. ²⁹ The tribe of Naphtali is next. The leader of Naphthali is Ahira son of Enan. ³⁰ The mnumber in his division is 53,400. ³¹ All those numbered in the camp with Dan is 157,600. They will go out from the camp last, under their banner."

³² These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. All those counted in their camps, by their divisions, are 603,550. ³³ But Moses and Aaron did not count the Levites among the people of Israel. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁴ The people of Israel did everything that Yahweh commanded Moses. They camped by their banners. They went out from the camp by their clans, in the order of their ancestor's families.

Chapter 3

¹ Now this is the history of the descendants of Aaron and Moses when Yahweh spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² The names of Aaron's sons were Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed and who were ordained to serve as priests. ⁴ But Nadab and Abihu fell dead before Yahweh when they offered to him unacceptable fire in the wilderness of Sinai. Nadab and Abihu had no children, so just Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests with Aaron their father.

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶ "Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest for them to help him. ⁷ They must perform the duties on behalf of Aaron and the whole community before the tent of meeting. They must serve in the tabernacle. ⁸ They must care for all the furnishings in the tent of meeting, and they must help the tribes of Israel to carry out the tabernacle service. ⁹ You must give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are wholly given to help him serve the people of Israel. ¹⁰ You must appoint Aaron and his sons as priests, but any foreigner who comes near must be put to death."

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ¹² "Look, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel. I have done this instead of taking each firstborn male who is born among the people of Israel. The Levites belong to me. ¹³ All the firstborn belong to me. On the day that I attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both people and animals. They belong to me. I am Yahweh."

¹⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. He said, ¹⁵ "Count the descendants of Levi in each family, in their clans. Count every male who is one month old and older." ¹⁶ Moses counted them, following the word of Yahweh, just as he was commanded to do. ¹⁷ The names of Levi's sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁸ The clans coming from Gershon's sons were Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ The clans coming from Kohath's sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ The clans coming from Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, listed clan by clan.

²¹ The clans of the Libnites and the Shimeites come from Gershon. These are the clans of the Gershonites. ²² All the males from a month old and older were counted, totaling 7,500. ²³ The clans of the Gershonites must camp on the west side of the tabernacle. ²⁴ Eliasaph son of Lael must lead the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites. ²⁵ The family of Gershon must care for the tent of meeting including the tabernacle. They must care for the tent, its covering, and the curtain used as the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²⁶ They must care for the courtyard hangings, the curtain at the courtyard entrance—the courtyard that surrounds the sanctuary and the altar. They must care for the ropes of the tent of meeting and for everything in it.

²⁷ These clans come from Kohath: the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites. These clans belong to the Kohathites. ²⁸ 8,600 males have been counted aged one month old and older to take care of the things that belong to Yahweh. ²⁹ The Kohath clans must camp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰ Elizaphan son of Uzziel must lead the clans of the Kohathites. ³¹ They must care for the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the holy things that are used in their service, the curtain, and all the work around it. ³² Eleazar son of Aaron the priest must lead the men who lead the Levites. He must supervise the men who care for the holy place.

³³ Two clans have come from Merari: the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites. These clans have come from Merari. ³⁴ 6,200 males have been counted aged one month old and older. ³⁵ Zuriel son of Abihail must lead the clans of Merari. They must camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ The descendants of Merari must care for the framing of the tabernacle, the crossbars, posts, bases, all the hardware, and everything related to them, including ³⁷ the pillars and posts of the courtyard that surround the tabernacle, with their sockets, pegs, and ropes.

³⁸ Moses and Aaron and his sons must camp on the east side of the tabernacle, in front of the tent of meeting, toward the sunrise. They are responsible for the fulfillment of the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the people of Israel. Any foreigner who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death. ³⁹ Moses and Aaron counted all the males in the clans of Levi who were aged one month old and older, just as Yahweh commanded. They counted twenty-two thousand men.

⁴⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, "Count all the firstborn males of the people of Israel who are aged one month old and older. List their names. ⁴¹ You must take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn of the people of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of the firstborn of the livestock of the descendants of Israel." ⁴² Moses counted all the firstborn people of Israel as Yahweh had commanded him to do. ⁴³ He counted all the firstborn males by name, aged one month old and older. He counted 22,273 men.

⁴⁴ Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁴⁵ "Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and take the Levites' livestock instead of the people's livestock. The Levites belong to me—I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶ You must collect five shekels for the redemption of each of the 273 firstborn people of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites. ⁴⁷ You must use the shekel of the sanctuary as your standard weight. The shekel equals twenty gerahs. ⁴⁸ You must give the price of redemption that you paid to Aaron and his sons." ⁴⁹ So Moses collected the payment of redemption from those who exceeded the number of those redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰ Moses collected the money from the firstborn of the people of Israel. He collected 1,365 shekels, weighing with the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁵¹ Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons. Moses did everything he was told to do by Yahweh's word, as Yahweh had commanded him.

Chapter 4

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said, ² "Conduct a census of the male descendants of Kohath from among the Levites, by their clans and families. ³ Count all the men who are thirty to fifty years old. These men must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ⁴ The descendants of Kohath must take care of the most holy things reserved for me in the tent of meeting. ⁵ When the camp prepares to move forward, Aaron and his sons must go into the tent, take down the curtain that separates the most holy place from the holy place and cover the ark of the testimony with it. ⁶ They must cover the ark with sea cow skins. They must spread a blue cloth over it. They must insert the poles to carry it. ⁷ They are to spread a blue cloth on the table of the bread of the presence. On it they must put the dishes, spoons, bowls, and jars for pouring. Bread must always continue to be on the table. ⁸ They must cover them with a scarlet cloth and again with sea cow skins. They must insert poles to carry the table. ⁹ They must take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, along with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the jars of oil for the lamps. ¹⁰ They must put the lampstand and all its accessories into a covering of sea cow skins, and they must put it on a carrying frame. ¹¹ They must spread a cloth of blue on the gold altar. They must cover it with a covering of sea cow skins, and then insert the carrying poles. ¹² They must take all the equipment for the work in the holy place and wrap it in a blue cloth. They must cover it with sea cow skins and put the equipment on the carrying frame. ¹³ They must remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth on the altar. ¹⁴ They must put on the carrying frame all the equipment that they use in the work of the altar. These objects are the firepans, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the other equipment for the altar. They must cover the altar with sea cow skins and then insert the carrying poles. ¹⁵ When Aaron and his sons have completely covered the holy place and all its equipment, and when the camp moves forward, then the descendants of Kohath must come to carry the holy place. If they touch the holy instruments, they must die. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath, to carry the furnishings in the tent of meeting. ¹⁶ Eleazar son of Aaron the priest oversees the care of the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil. He oversees the care of the entire tabernacle and all that is in it, the holy place and its equipment."

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said, ¹⁸ "Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be removed from among the Levites. ¹⁹ Protect them, that they may live and not die, by doing this. When they approach the most holy things ²⁰ they must not go in to see the holy place even for a moment, or they must die. Aaron and his sons must go in, and then Aaron and his sons must assign each of the Kohathites to his work, to his special tasks."

²¹ Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said, ²² "Conduct a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by their ancestor's families and by their clans. ²³ Count those who are thirty years old to fifty years old. Count all of them who will join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ²⁴ This is the work of the clans of the Gershonites, when they serve and what they carry. ²⁵ They must carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of sea cow skin that is on it, and the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²⁶ They must carry the curtains of the court, the curtain for the doorway of the court's gate, which is near the tabernacle and near the altar, their ropes, and all the instruments for their service. Whatever should be done with these things, they must do it. ²⁷ Aaron and his sons must direct all the service of the descendants of the Gershonites, in everything that they transport, and in all their service. You must assign them to all their responsibilities. ²⁸ This is the service of the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites for the tent of meeting. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest must lead them in their service.

²⁹ You must count the descendants of Merari by their clans, and order them by their ancestor's families, ³⁰ from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. Count everyone who is going to join the company and serve in the tent of meeting. ³¹ This is their responsibility and their work in all their service for the tent of meeting. They must care for the framing of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, and sockets, ³² along with the posts of the courtyard around the tabernacle, their sockets, pegs, and their ropes, with all their hardware. List by name the articles they must carry. ³³ This is the service of the clans of the descendants of Merari, what they are to do for the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest."

³⁴ Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the descendants of the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestor's families. ³⁵ They counted them from thirty years old and older up to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ³⁶ They counted 2,750 men by their clans. ³⁷ Moses and Aaron counted all the men in the clans and families of the Kohathites who serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

³⁸ The descendants of Gershon were counted in their clans, by their ancestor's families, ³⁹ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ⁴⁰ All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 2,630. ⁴¹ Moses and Aaron counted the clans of the descendants of Gershon who would serve in the tent of meeting. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

⁴² The descendants of Merari were counted in their clans by their ancestor's families, ⁴³ from thirty to fifty years old, everyone who would join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴ All the men, counted by their clans and their ancestor's families, numbered 3,200. ⁴⁵ Moses and Aaron counted all these men, the descendants of Merari. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

⁴⁶ So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans in their ancestral families ⁴⁷ from thirty to fifty years old. They counted everyone who would do work in the tabernacle, and who would carry and care for the items in the tent of meeting. ⁴⁸ They counted 8,580 men. ⁴⁹ At Yahweh's command, Moses counted each man, keeping count of each by the type of work he was assigned to do. He counted each man by the kind of responsibility he would bear. In doing this, they obeyed what Yahweh had commanded them to do through Moses.

Chapter 5

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Command the people of Israel to send away from the camp everyone with an infectious skin disease, and everyone who has an oozing sore, and whoever is unclean through touching a dead body. ³ Whether male or female, you must send them out of the camp. They must not defile the camp, because I live in it." ⁴ The people of Israel did so. They sent them out of the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. The people of Israel obeyed Yahweh.

⁵ Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶ "Speak to the people of Israel. When a man or woman commits any sin such as people do to one another, and is unfaithful to me, that person is guilty. ⁷ Then he must confess the sin that he has done. He must completely pay back the price of his guilt and add to the price one-fifth more. He must give this to the one he has wronged. ⁸ But if the wronged person has no close relative to receive the payment, he must pay the price for his guilt to me through a priest, along with a ram to atone for himself. ⁹ Every offering of the people of Israel, the things that are set aside and brought to the priest by the people of Israel, will belong to him. ¹⁰ The offerings of every person will be for the priest; if anyone gives anything to the priest, it will belong to him."

¹¹ Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ¹² "Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose that a man's wife turns away and sins against her husband. ¹³ Then suppose that another man sleeps with her. In that case, she is defiled. Even if her husband does not see it or know about it, and even if no one catches her in the act and there is no one to testify against her, ¹⁴ nevertheless, a spirit of jealousy might still inform the husband that his wife is defiled. However, a spirit of jealousy might falsely come on a man when his wife is not defiled. ¹⁵ In such cases, the man must bring his wife to the priest. The husband must take an offering required on her behalf, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He must pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, as a reminder of the iniquity.

¹⁶ The priest must bring her near and place her before Yahweh. ¹⁷ The priest must take a jar of holy water and take dust from the floor of the tabernacle. He must put the dust into the water. ¹⁸ The priest will set the woman before Yahweh and he will untie the hair on the woman's head. He will put into her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that can bring a curse. ¹⁹ The priest will put the woman under an oath and say to her, 'If no other man had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and committed impurity, then you will be free from this bitter water that can bring a curse. ²⁰ But if you, a woman under her husband, have gone astray, if you are defiled, and if some other man has slept with you, ²¹ then, (the priest must cause the woman to swear an oath that can bring down a curse on her, and then he must continue speaking to the woman) 'Yahweh will make you into a curse that will be shown to your people to be such. This will happen if Yahweh causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. ²² This water that brings the curse will go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thighs waste away.' The woman is to reply, 'Yes, let that happen if I am guilty.'

²³ The priest must write these curses on a scroll, and then he must wash away the written curses into the bitter water. ²⁴ The priest must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse. The water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter. ²⁵ The priest must take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand. He must hold up the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The priest must take a handful of the grain offering as a representative offering, and burn it on the altar. Then he must give the woman the bitter water to drink. ²⁷ When he gives her the water to drink, if she is defiled because she has committed a sin against her husband, then the water that brings the curse will enter her and become bitter. Her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away. The woman will be cursed among her people. ²⁸ But if the woman is not defiled and if she is clean, then she must be free. She will be able to conceive children.

²⁹ This is the law of jealousy. It is the law for a woman who strays away from her husband and is defiled. ³⁰ It is the law for a man with a spirit of jealousy when he is jealous of his wife. He must bring the woman before Yahweh, and the priest must do to her everything that this law of jealousy describes. ³¹ The man will be free from guilt for bringing his wife to the priest. The woman must bear any guilt she might have."

Chapter 6

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'When a man or a woman separates himself to Yahweh with a special vow of a Nazirite, ³ he must keep himself from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from strong drink. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ In all the days that he is separate to me, he must eat nothing that is made from grapes, including everything made from the seeds to their skins.

⁵ During all the time of his vow of separation, no razor is to be used on his head until the days of his separation to Yahweh are fulfilled. He must be set apart to Yahweh. He must let the hair grow long on his head.

⁶ During all the time that he separates himself to Yahweh, he must not come near a dead body. ⁷ He must not make himself unclean even for his father, mother, brother, or sister, if they die. This is because he is separated to God, as everyone can see by his long hair. ⁸ During all the time of his separation he is holy, reserved for Yahweh.

⁹ If someone very suddenly dies beside him and defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification—on the seventh day he must shave it. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹¹ The priest must offer one bird as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. These will atone for him because he sinned by being near the dead body. He must consecrate his head again on that day. ¹² He must set himself apart to Yahweh for the days of his consecration. He must bring a male lamb one year old as a guilt offering. The days before he defiled himself must not be counted, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³ This is the law about the Nazirite for when the time of his separation is complete. He must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ He must present his offering to Yahweh. He must offer as a burnt offering a male lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring as a sin offering a female lamb one year old and without blemish. He must bring a ram as a fellowship offering that is without blemish. ¹⁵ He must also bring a basket of bread made without yeast, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, wafers without yeast rubbed with oil, together with their grain offering and drink offerings. ¹⁶ The priest must present them before Yahweh. He must offer his sin offering and burnt offering. ¹⁷ With the basket of unleavened bread, he must present the ram as a sacrifice, the fellowship offering to Yahweh. The priest must present also the grain offering and the drink offering. ¹⁸ The Nazirite must shave his head indicating his separation to God at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He must take the hair from his head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. ¹⁹ The priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one loaf of bread without yeast out of the basket, and one wafer without yeast. He must place them into the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his head indicating separation. ²⁰ The priest must wave them as an offering before Yahweh, a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented for the priest. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh for his separation. Whatever else he may give, he must keep the obligations of the vow he has taken, to keep the promise indicated by the law for the Nazirite.'"

²² Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ²³ "Speak to Aaron and to his sons. Say, 'You must bless the people of Israel in this way. You must say to them,

²⁴ "May Yahweh bless you and keep you.

²⁵ May Yahweh make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

²⁶ May Yahweh look on you with favor and give you peace."'

²⁷ It is in this way that they must give my name to the people of Israel. Then I will bless them."

Chapter 7

¹ On the day that Moses completed the tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart to Yahweh, together with all of its furnishings. He did the same for the altar and all its utensils. He anointed them and set them apart to Yahweh. ² On that day, the leaders of Israel, the heads of their ancestor's families, offered sacrifices. These men were leading the tribes. They had overseen the counting of the men in the census. ³ They brought their offerings before Yahweh. They brought six covered carts and twelve oxen. They brought one cart for every two leaders, and each leader brought one ox. They presented these things in front of the tabernacle. ⁴ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁵ "Accept the offerings from them and use the offerings for the work in the tent of meeting. Give the offerings to the Levites, to each one as his work needs them." ⁶ Moses took the carts and the oxen, and he gave them to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two carts and four oxen to the descendants of Gershon, because of what their work needed. ⁸ He gave four carts and eight oxen to the descendants of Merari, in the care of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. He did this because of what their work required. ⁹ But he gave none of those things to the descendants of Kohath, because theirs would be the work related to the things that belong to Yahweh that they would carry on their own shoulders. ¹⁰ The leaders offered their goods for the dedication of the altar on the day that Moses anointed the altar. The leaders offered their sacrifices in front of the altar. ¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Each leader must offer on his own day his sacrifice for the dedication of the altar."

¹² On the first day, Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, offered his sacrifice. ¹³ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ¹⁴ He gave one gold dish that weighed ten shekels and was full of incense. ¹⁵ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ¹⁶ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ¹⁷ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day, Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, offered his sacrifice. ¹⁹ He offered as his sacrifice one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ²⁰ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ²¹ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ²² He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ²³ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day, Eliab son of Helon, leader of the descendants of Zebulun, offered his sacrifice. ²⁵ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ²⁶ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ²⁷ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ²⁸ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁹ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day, Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the descendants of Reuben, offered his sacrifice. ³¹ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ³² He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ³³ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ³⁴ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ³⁵ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the descendants of Simeon, offered his sacrifice. ³⁷ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ³⁸ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ³⁹ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁴⁰ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁴¹ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day, Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the descendants of Gad, offered his sacrifice. ⁴³ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ⁴⁴ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁴⁵ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁴⁶ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁴⁷ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day, Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the descendants of Ephraim, offered his sacrifice. ⁴⁹ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ⁵⁰ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁵¹ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁵² He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁵³ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the descendants of Manasseh, offered his sacrifice. ⁵⁵ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ⁵⁶ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁵⁷ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁵⁸ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁵⁹ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day, Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the descendants of Benjamin, offered his sacrifice. ⁶¹ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain offering. ⁶² He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁶³ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁶⁴ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁶⁵ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the descendants of Dan, offered his sacrifice. ⁶⁷ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ⁶⁸ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁶⁹ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb.. ⁷⁰ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁷¹ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day, Pagiel son of Okran, leader of the descendants of Asher, offered his sacrifice. ⁷³ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain offering. ⁷⁴ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁷⁵ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁷⁶ He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁷⁷ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Pagiel son of Okran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day, Ahira son of Enan, leader of the descendants of Naphtali, offered his sacrifice. ⁷⁹ His sacrifice was one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Both of these objects were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. ⁸⁰ He also gave one gold dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense. ⁸¹ He gave as a burnt offering one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old male lamb. ⁸² He gave one male goat as a sin offering. ⁸³ He gave two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs that were a year old, as the sacrifice for a fellowship offering. This was the sacrifice of Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴ The leaders of Israel set all these apart on the day that Moses anointed the altar. They set apart the twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold dishes. ⁸⁵ Each silver platter weighed 130 shekels and each bowl weighed seventy shekels. All the silver vessels weighed 2,400 shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. ⁸⁶ Each of the twelve gold dishes, full of incense, weighed ten shekels by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. All the gold dishes weighed 120 shekels. ⁸⁷ They set apart all the animals for the burnt offerings, twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve year-old male lambs. They gave their grain offering. They gave twelve male goats as a sin offering. ⁸⁸ From all their cattle, they gave twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old, as the sacrifice for the fellowship offering. This was for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him. Yahweh spoke to him from above the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him.

Chapter 8

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Speak to Aaron. Say to him, 'The seven lamps must give light in front of the lampstand when you light them.'" ³ Aaron did this. He lit the lamps on the lampstand to give light toward the front of it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁴ The lampstand was made in this way and Yahweh showed Moses the pattern for it. It was to be hammered gold from its base to its top, with hammered cups like blossoms.

⁵ Again, Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁶ "Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and purify them. ⁷ Do this to them to purify them: Sprinkle the water of atonement on them. Make them shave their entire body, wash their clothes, and in this way purify themselves. ⁸ Then have them take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mingled with oil. Let them take another young bull as a sin offering. ⁹ You will bring the Levites in front of the tent of meeting and assemble the whole community of the people of Israel. ¹⁰ When you bring the Levites before Yahweh, the people of Israel must lay their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ Aaron must offer the Levites before Yahweh, as a wave offering from the people of Israel so that they may do the service of Yahweh. ¹² The Levites must place their hands on the heads of the bulls. You must offer one bull for a sin offering and the other bull for a burnt offering to me, to atone for the Levites. ¹³ Present the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and lift them up as a wave offering to me.

¹⁴ In this way you must separate the Levites from among the people of Israel. The Levites will belong to me. ¹⁵ After that, the Levites must go in to serve in the tent of meeting. You must purify them. You must offer them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ Do this, because they are entirely mine from among the people of Israel. They will take the place of each male child who opens the womb, the firstborn of all the descendants of Israel. I have taken the Levites for myself. ¹⁷ All the firstborn from among the people of Israel are mine, both of people and of animals. On the day that I took the lives of all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set them apart for myself. ¹⁸ I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of all the firstborn. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons. I have taken them from among the people of Israel to do the work of the people of Israel in the tent of meeting. I have given them to atone for the people of Israel so that no plague will harm the people when they come near to the holy place."

²⁰ Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of the people of Israel did this with the Levites. They did everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. The people of Israel did this with them. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothing, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering to Yahweh and he made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before Aaron's sons. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses about the Levites. They treated all the Levites in this way.

²³ Yahweh spoke again to Moses. He said, ²⁴ "All of this is for the Levites who are twenty-five years old and more. They must join the company to serve in the tent of meeting. ²⁵ They must stop serving in this way at the age of fifty years. At that age they must not serve any longer. ²⁶ They may help their brothers who continue to work at the tent of meeting, but they must serve no more. You must direct the Levites in all these matters."

Chapter 9

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt. He said, ² "Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its fixed time of year. ³ On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you must keep the Passover at its fixed time of year. You must keep it, follow all the regulations, and obey all the decrees that are related to it." ⁴ So, Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Festival of the Passover. ⁵ So they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. The people of Israel obeyed everything that Yahweh commanded Moses to do. ⁶ There were certain men who became unclean by the body of a dead man. They could not keep the Passover on that day. They went before Moses and Aaron on that same day. ⁷ Those men said to Moses, "We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why do you keep us from offering the sacrifice to Yahweh at the fixed time of year among the people of Israel?" ⁸ Moses said to them, "Wait for me to hear what Yahweh will instruct about you."

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁰ "Speak to the people of Israel. Say, 'If any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body, or are on a long journey, he may still keep the Passover to Yahweh.' ¹¹ In the second month on the fourteenth day at evening, they will eat the Passover meal. They must eat the Passover lamb with bread that is made without yeast and with bitter herbs. ¹² They must not leave any of it until the morning, or break any of its bones. They must follow all the regulations for the Passover. ¹³ But any person who is clean and is not on a journey, but who fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not offer the sacrifice that Yahweh requires at the fixed time of year. That man must carry his sin. ¹⁴ If a stranger lives among you and keeps the Passover in Yahweh's honor, he must keep it and do all he commands, keeping the rules of the Passover, and obeying the laws for it. You must have the same law for the foreigner and for all who have been born in the land."

¹⁵ On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant decrees. At evening the cloud was over the tabernacle. It appeared like fire until morning. ¹⁶ It continued that way. The cloud covered the tabernacle and appeared like fire at night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the people of Israel would set out on their journey. Wherever the cloud stopped, the people would camp. ¹⁸ At Yahweh's command, the people of Israel would travel, and at his command, they would camp. While the cloud stopped over the tabernacle, they would stay in their camp. ¹⁹ When the cloud remained on the tabernacle for many days, then the people of Israel would obey Yahweh's instructions and not travel. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud remained a few days on the tabernacle. In that case, they would obey Yahweh's command—they would make camp and then travel on again at his command. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud was present in camp from evening until morning. When the cloud lifted in the morning, they journeyed. If it continued for a day and for a night, only when the cloud lifted would they journey on. ²² Whether the cloud stayed on the tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, for as long as it stayed there, the people of Israel would stay in their camp and not travel. But whenever the cloud was taken up, they would set out on their journey. ²³ They would camp at Yahweh's command, and they would travel at his command. They obeyed Yahweh's command given through Moses.

Chapter 10

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Make two silver trumpets. Hammer the silver to make them. You must use the trumpets to call the community together and to call the community to move their camps. ³ The priests must blow the trumpets to call all the community together in front of you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁴ If the priests blow only one trumpet, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, must gather to you. ⁵ When you blow a loud signal, the camps on the east side must begin their journey. ⁶ When you blow a loud signal the second time, the camps on the south side must begin their journey. They must blow a loud signal for their journeys. ⁷ When the community gathers together, blow the trumpets, but not loudly. ⁸ The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blow the trumpets. This will always be a regulation for you throughout your people's generations. ⁹ When you go to war in your land against an adversary who oppresses you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets. I, Yahweh your God, will call you to mind and save you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also, at the times of celebration, both your regular festivals and at the beginnings of the months, you must blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices for your fellowship offerings. These will act as a reminder of you to me, your God. I am Yahweh your God."

¹¹ In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted from the tabernacle of the covenant decrees. ¹² The people of Israel then went on their journey from the wilderness of Sinai. The cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran. ¹³ They made their first journey, following Yahweh's command given through Moses. ¹⁴ The camp under the banner of Judah's descendants went out first, moving out their individual armies. Nahshon son of Amminadab led Judah's army. ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar led the army of the tribe of Issachar's descendants. ¹⁶ Eliab son of Helon led the army of the tribe of Zebulun's descendants. ¹⁷ The descendants of Gershon and of Merari, who cared for the tabernacle, took down the tabernacle and then set out on their journey. ¹⁸ Next, the armies under the banner of Reuben's camp set out on their journey. Elizur son of Shedeur led Reuben's army. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai led the army of the tribe of Simeon's descendants. ²⁰ Eliasaph son of Deuel led the army of the tribe of Gad's descendants.

²¹ The Kohathites set out. They carried the sanctuary's holy equipment. Others would set up the tabernacle before the Kohathites arrived at the next camp. ²² The armies under the banner of Ephraim's descendants set out next. Elishama son of Ammihud led Ephraim's army. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur led the army of the tribe of Manasseh's descendants. ²⁴ Abidan son of Gideoni led the army of the tribe of Benjamin's descendants.

²⁵ The armies that camped under the banner of Dan's descendants set out last. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai led Dan's army. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Okran led the army of the tribe of Asher's descendants. ²⁷ Ahira son of Enan led the army of the tribe of Naphtali's descendants. ²⁸ This is the way that the armies of the people of Israel set out on their journey.

²⁹ Moses spoke to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite. Reuel was the father of Moses' wife. Moses spoke to Hobab and said, "We are traveling to a place that Yahweh described. Yahweh said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will do you good. Yahweh has promised to do good for Israel." ³⁰ But Hobab said to Moses, "I will not go with you. I will go to my own land and my own people." ³¹ Then Moses replied, "Please do not leave us. You know how to camp in the wilderness. You must watch out for us. ³² If you go with us, we will do for you the same good that Yahweh does to us."

³³ They journeyed from the mountain of Yahweh for three days. The ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them for three days to find a place for them to rest. ³⁴ Yahweh's cloud was over them by daylight as they journeyed.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, "Rise up, Yahweh. Scatter your enemies. Make those who hate you run from you." ³⁶ Whenever the ark stopped, Moses would say, "Return, Yahweh, to Israel's many tens of thousands."

Chapter 11

¹ Now the people complained about their troubles as Yahweh listened. Yahweh heard the people and became angry. Fire from Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the camp on its edges. ² Then people called out to Moses, so Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire stopped. ³ That place was named Taberah, because Yahweh's fire burned among them.

⁴ Some foreign people began to camp with Israel's descendants. They wanted better food to eat. Then the people of Israel began to weep and say, "Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ Now our appetite is gone, because all we can see is this manna." ⁷ Manna was like coriander seed. It looked like resin. ⁸ The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it in mills, beat it in mortars, boiled it in pots, and made it into cakes. It tasted like fresh olive oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna also fell. ¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping in their families, and every man was at the entrance to his tent. Yahweh was very angry, and in Moses' eyes their complaining was wrong. ¹¹ Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why are you not pleased with me? You make me carry the load of all these people. ¹² Did I conceive all these people? Have I given them birth so that you should say to me, 'Carry them closely to your chest as a father carries a baby?' Should I carry them to the land that you swore to their ancestors to give them? ¹³ Where can I find meat to give to all this people? They are weeping in front of me and are saying, 'Give us meat to eat.' ¹⁴ I cannot bear all these people alone. They are too much for me. ¹⁵ Since you are treating me this way, kill me now—if I find favor in your eyes—do not let me see my misery."

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, "Bring to me seventy of Israel's elders. Be sure that they are elders and officers of the people. Bring them to the tent of meeting to stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will bear the burden of the people with you. You will not have to bear it alone. ¹⁸ Say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow and you will indeed eat meat, for you have wept and Yahweh has heard. You said, "Who will give us meat to eat? It was good for us in Egypt." Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat it. ¹⁹ You will not eat meat for only one day, two days, five days, ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but you will eat meat for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils. It will disgust you because you have rejected Yahweh, who is among you. You have wept before him. You said, "Why did we leave Egypt?"'" ²¹ Then Moses said, "I am with 600,000 people, and you have said, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.' ²² Should we kill flocks and herds to satisfy them? Should we catch all the fish in the sea to satisfy them?" ²³ Yahweh said to Moses, "Is my hand short? Now you will see whether or not my word is true."

²⁴ Moses went out and told the people Yahweh's words. He gathered seventy of the people's elders and positioned them around the tent. ²⁵ Yahweh came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Yahweh took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but only on that occasion and not again.

²⁶ Two men remained in the camp, named Eldad and Medad. The Spirit also rested on them. Their names were written on the list, but they had not gone out to the tent. Nevertheless, they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man in the camp ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." ²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his chosen men, said to Moses, "My master Moses, stop them." ²⁹ Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all of Yahweh's people were prophets and that he would put his Spirit on them all!" ³⁰ Then Moses and the elders of Israel went back to the camp.

³¹ Then a wind came from Yahweh and brought quail from the sea. They fell near the camp, about a day's journey on one side and a day's journey on the other side. The quail surrounded the camp about two cubits above the ground. ³² The people were busy gathering quail all that day, all the night, and all the next day. No one gathered less than ten homers of quail. They shared the quail all through the camp. ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, while they were chewing it, Yahweh became angry at them. He attacked the people with a very great disease. ³⁴ That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved meat. ³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed.

Chapter 12

¹ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. ² They said, "Has Yahweh spoken only with Moses? Has he not spoken also with us?" Now Yahweh heard what they said. ³ Now the man Moses was very humble, humbler than anyone else on earth.

⁴ Right away Yahweh spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." So the three of them went out. ⁵ Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent and called Aaron and Miriam. They both came forward. ⁶ Yahweh said, "Now listen to my words.

     When a prophet of mine is with you,

     I will reveal myself to him in visions

     and speak to him in dreams.

     ⁷ My servant Moses is not like that.

     He is faithful in all my house.

     ⁸ I speak to Moses directly, not with visions or riddles.

     He sees my form.

     So why are you unafraid

     to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

⁹ Yahweh's anger burned against them, and then he left them. ¹⁰ The cloud rose from over the tent, and Miriam was suddenly leprous—she was as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she had leprosy. ¹¹ Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my master, please do not hold this sin against us. We have spoken foolishly, and we have sinned. ¹² Please do not let her be like a dead newborn whose flesh is half consumed when it emerges from its mother's womb." ¹³ So Moses called out to Yahweh. He said, "Please heal her, God, please." ¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, she would be disgraced for seven days. Shut her outside the camp for seven days. After that bring her in again." ¹⁵ So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days. The people did not journey until she had returned to the camp.

¹⁶ After that, the people journeyed from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Chapter 13

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Send some men to examine the land of Canaan, which I have given to the people of Israel. Send a man from every tribe of their ancestors. Each man must be a leader among them." ³ Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, so that they might obey Yahweh's command. All of them were leaders among the people of Israel. ⁴ These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph (that is to say, from the tribe Manasseh), Gaddi son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki. ¹⁶ These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to examine the land. Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name of Joshua.

¹⁷ Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan. He said to them, "Approach from the Negev and go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ Examine the land to see what it is like. Observe the people who live there, whether they are strong or weak, and whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ See what the land is like where they live. Is it good or bad? What cities are there? Are they like camps, or are they fortified cities? ²⁰ See what the land is like, whether it is good for growing crops or not, and whether there are trees there or not. Be brave and bring back samples of the land's produce." Now the time was the season for the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So the men went up and examined the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath. ²² They went up from the Negev and arrived at Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, clans descended from Anak, were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. ²³ When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut down a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a staff between two of their group. They also brought pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was named the Valley of Eshkol, because of the grape cluster that the people of Israel cut down there.

²⁵ After forty days, they returned from examining the land. ²⁶ They came back to Moses, Aaron, and all the community of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the community, and showed them the produce from the land. ²⁷ They told Moses, "We reached the land to which you sent us. It certainly flows with milk and honey. Here is some produce from it. ²⁸ However, the people who make their homes there are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. We also saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites have their homes in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan River."

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people who were before Moses and said, "Let us go up and take possession of the land, for we are certainly able to conquer it." ³¹ But the other men who had gone with him said, "We are not able to attack the people because they are stronger than we are." ³² So they spread around a discouraging report to the people of Israel about the land that they had examined. They said, "The land that we looked at is a land that eats up its inhabitants. All the people whom we saw there are people of great height. ³³ There we saw giants, descendants of Anak, people who came from giants. In our own sight we were like grasshoppers in comparison with them, and this is what we were in their sight, too."

Chapter 14

¹ That night all the community wept loudly. ² All the people of Israel criticized Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them, "We wish we had died in the land of Egypt, or here in this wilderness! ³ Why did Yahweh bring us to this land to die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become victims. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?"

⁴ They said to each another, "Let us choose another leader, and let us return to Egypt." ⁵ Then Moses and Aaron lay facedown before all the assembly of the community of the people of Israel. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were some of those sent to examine the land, tore their clothes. ⁷ They spoke to all the community of the people of Israel. They said, "The land that we passed through and examined is a very good land. ⁸ If Yahweh is pleased with us, then he will take us into this land and give it to us. The land flows with milk and honey. ⁹ But do not rebel against Yahweh, and do not fear the people in the land, for they are bread to us. Their protection will be removed from them, because Yahweh is with us. Do not fear them." ¹⁰ Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of Yahweh appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "How long must this people despise me? How long must they fail to trust me, despite all the signs of my power that I have done among them? ¹² I will attack them with plague, disinherit them, and make from your own clan a nation that will be greater and mightier than they are."

¹³ Moses said to Yahweh, "If you do this, then the Egyptians will hear about it, because you rescued this people from them by your power. ¹⁴ They will tell it to this land's inhabitants. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are present with this people, because you are seen face to face. Your cloud stands over our people. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations that have heard of your fame will speak and say, ¹⁶ 'Because Yahweh could not take this people into the land that he swore to give them, he has killed them in the wilderness.' ¹⁷ Now, I beg you, use your great power. For you have said, ¹⁸ 'Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in covenant faithfulness. He forgives iniquity and transgression. He will by no means clear the guilty when he brings the punishment of the ancestors' sin on their descendants, to the third and fourth generation.' ¹⁹ Pardon, I plead with you, this people's sin because of the greatness of your covenant faithfulness, just as you have always forgiven this people from the time they were in Egypt until now."

²⁰ Yahweh said, "I have pardoned them in keeping with your request, ²¹ but truly, as I live, and as all the earth will be filled with my glory, ²² all those people who saw my glory and the signs of power that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness—they have still tempted me these ten times and have not listened to my voice. ²³ So I say that they will certainly not see the land about which I made an oath to their ancestors. Not one of them who despised me will see it, ²⁴ except for my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit. He has followed me fully; I will bring him into the land which he went to examine. His descendants will possess it. ²⁵ (Now the Amalekites and Canaanites lived in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and go to the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Reeds."

²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said, ²⁷ "How long must I tolerate this evil community that criticizes me? I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel against me. ²⁸ Say to them, 'As I live,' says Yahweh, 'as you have spoken in my hearing, I will do this to you: ²⁹ Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all you who complained against me, you who were counted in the census, the whole number of the people from twenty years old and upward. ³⁰ You will certainly not go into the land that I promised to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ But your little ones who you said would be victims, I will take them into the land. They will experience the land that you have rejected! ³² As for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years. They must bear the consequences of your acts of rebellion until the end of your corpses in the wilderness. ³⁴ Just as the number of the days during which you examined the land—forty days, you must likewise bear the consequences of your sins for forty years—one year for every day, and you must know what it is like for me to oppose you. ³⁵ I, Yahweh, have spoken. I will certainly do this to all this evil community that is gathered together against me. They will be completely cut off, and here they will die.'"

³⁶ So the men Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made the entire community grumble against Moses by spreading a bad report about the land— ³⁷ these men who had brought out a bad report about the land were struck down, and they died of a plague before Yahweh. ³⁸ Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.

³⁹ When Moses reported these words to all the people of Israel, they mourned very deeply. ⁴⁰ They rose up early in the morning and went to the top of the mountain and said, "Look, we are here, and we will go to the place that Yahweh has promised, for we have sinned." ⁴¹ But Moses said, "Why are you now violating Yahweh's command? You will not succeed. ⁴² Do not go, because Yahweh is not with you to prevent you from being defeated by your enemies. ⁴³ The Amalekites and Canaanites are there, and you will die by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh. So he will not be with you." ⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up into the hill country; however, neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of Yahweh left the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites came down, and also the Canaanites who lived on those hills. They attacked the Israelites and defeated them all the way to Hormah.

Chapter 15

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you go into the land where you will live, which Yahweh will give to you, ³ you are to prepare an offering by fire to Yahweh, either a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or a freewill offering, or an offering at your feasts, to produce a pleasing aroma for Yahweh from the herd or the flock. ⁴ You must offer to Yahweh a burnt offering as well as a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil. ⁵ You must also offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, one-fourth of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. ⁶ If you are offering a ram, you must prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. ⁷ For the drink offering, you must offer a third of a hin of wine. It will produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. ⁸ When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a fellowship offering to Yahweh, ⁹ then you must offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil. ¹⁰ You must offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh.

¹¹ It must be done this way for each bull, for each ram, and for each of the male lambs or young goats. ¹² Every sacrifice that you prepare and offer must be done as described here. ¹³ All who are native-born Israelites must do these things in this way, when anyone brings an offering made by fire, to produce an aroma that is pleasing to Yahweh. ¹⁴ If a foreigner is staying with you, or whoever may live among you throughout your people's generations, he must make an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. He must act as you act. ¹⁵ There must be the same law for the community and for the foreigner who stays with you, a permanent law throughout your people's generations. As you are, so also must be the traveler staying with you. He must act as you act before Yahweh. ¹⁶ The same law and decree must apply to you and to the foreigner who is staying with you.'"

¹⁷ Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁸ "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land where I will take you, ¹⁹ when you eat the food produced in the land, you must offer an offering and present it to me. ²⁰ From the first of your dough you must offer a loaf to raise it up as a raised offering from the threshing floor. You must raise it up in this way. ²¹ You must give to me a raised offering throughout your people's generations from the first of your dough.

²² You will sometimes sin without intending to do so, when you do not obey all these commands that I have spoken to Moses— ²³ everything that I have commanded you through Moses from the day that I began to give you commands and onward throughout your people's generations. ²⁴ In the case of unintentional sin without the community's knowledge, then all the community must offer one young bull as a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. Along with this must be made a grain offering and drink offering, as commanded by the decree, and one male goat as a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest must make atonement for all the community of the people of Israel. They will be forgiven because the sin was an error. They have brought their sacrifice, an offering made by fire to me. They have brought their sin offering before me for their error. ²⁶ Then all the community of the people of Israel will be forgiven, and also the foreigners who are staying with them, because all the people committed the sin unintentionally.

²⁷ If a person sins unintentionally, then he must offer a female goat a year old as a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest must make atonement before Yahweh for the person who sins unintentionally. That person will be forgiven when atonement has been made. ²⁹ You must have the same law for the one who does anything unintentionally, the same law for the one who is native born among the people of Israel and for the foreigners who are staying among them. ³⁰ But the person who does anything in defiance, whether he is native born or a foreigner, blasphemes me. That person must be cut off from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised my word and has broken my commandment, that person must be cut off completely. His sin will be on him.'"

³² While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him brought him to Moses, Aaron, and all the community. ³⁴ They kept him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done with him. ³⁵ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death. All the community must stone him with stones outside the camp." ³⁶ So all the community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁷ Again Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ³⁸ "Speak to the descendants of Israel and command them to make for themselves tassels to hang from the borders of their garments, to hang them from each border by a blue cord. They must do this throughout their people's generations. ³⁹ It will be a special reminder to you, when you may look at it, of all my commandments, to carry them out so that you do not look to your own heart and your own eyes and prostitute yourselves to them. ⁴⁰ Do this so that you may call to mind and obey all my commandments, and so that you may be holy, reserved for me, your God. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to become your God. I am Yahweh your God."

Chapter 16

¹ Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, gathered some men. ² They rose up against Moses, along with other men from the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the community who were well-known members in the community. ³ They assembled themselves together to confront Moses and Aaron. They said to them, "You have gone too far! All the community is set apart, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them. Why do you lift up yourselves above the rest of Yahweh's community?"

⁴ When Moses heard that, he lay facedown. ⁵ He spoke to Korah and to all those with him, "In the morning Yahweh will make known who belongs to him and who is set apart to him. He will bring that person near to him. The one he chooses he will bring near to himself. ⁶ Do this, Korah and all your group. Take censers ⁷ tomorrow and put fire and incense in them before Yahweh. The one whom Yahweh chooses, that man will be set apart to Yahweh. You have gone too far, you descendants of Levi." ⁸ Again, Moses said to Korah, "Now listen, you descendants of Levi: ⁹ is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do work in Yahweh's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to serve them? ¹⁰ He has brought you near, and all your kinfolk, the descendants of Levi, with you, yet you are seeking the priesthood also! ¹¹ That is why you and all your group have gathered together against Yahweh. So why are you complaining about Aaron, who obeys Yahweh?"

¹² Then Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up. ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now you want to make yourself ruler over us! ¹⁴ In addition, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us the fields and vineyards as an inheritance. Now do you want to blind us with empty promises? We will not come to you."

¹⁵ Moses was very angry and said to Yahweh, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any of them." ¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and all your company must go before Yahweh—you and they, and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each of you must take his censer and put incense in it. Then each man must bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron, also, must each bring your censer." ¹⁸ So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense in it, and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Korah assembled all the community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory appeared to all the community.

²⁰ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron: ²¹ "Separate yourselves from among this community that I may consume them immediately." ²² Moses and Aaron lay facedown and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all humanity, if one man sins, must you be angry with all the community?" ²³ Yahweh replied to Moses. He said, ²⁴ "Speak to the community. Say, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"

²⁵ Then Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He spoke to the community and said, "Now leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be consumed by all their sins." ²⁷ So the community on every side of the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram left them. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ Then Moses said, "By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own accord. ²⁹ If these men die a natural death such as normally happens, then Yahweh has not sent me. ³⁰ But if Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that they possess, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you must understand that these men have despised Yahweh."

³¹ As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground opened under those men. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all the people who belonged to Korah, as well as all their possessions. ³³ So they and all that they possessed went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from among the community. ³⁴ All Israel around them fled from their cries. They exclaimed, "The earth may swallow us up also!" ³⁵ Then fire flashed out from Yahweh and devoured the 250 men who had offered incense.

³⁶ Again Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ³⁷ "Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest and let him take up the censers out of the flames, for the censers are set apart to me. Then let him scatter the burning coals at a distance. ³⁸ Take the censers of those who lost their lives because of their sin. Let them be made into hammered plates as a covering over the altar. Those men did offer them before me, so they are set apart to me. They will be a sign of my presence to the people of Israel."

³⁹ Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been used by the men who were burned up, and they were hammered out into a covering for the altar, ⁴⁰ to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider who was not descended from Aaron should come up to burn incense before Yahweh, so they might not become like Korah and his group—just as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

⁴¹ But the next morning all the community of the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, "You have killed Yahweh's people." ⁴² Then it happened, when the community had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting and, behold, the cloud was covering it. Yahweh's glory appeared, ⁴³ and Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. ⁴⁴ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ⁴⁵ "Go away from in front of this community so that I may consume them immediately." Then Moses and Aaron lay down with their faces to the ground. ⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, "Take the censer, put fire in it from off the altar, put incense in it, carry it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because anger is coming from Yahweh. The plague has begun." ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses directed. He ran into the middle of the community. The plague had quickly started to spread among the people, so he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ Aaron stood between the dead and the living; in this way the plague was stopped. ⁴⁹ Those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who had died in the matter of Korah. ⁵⁰ Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague ended.

Chapter 17

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, ² "Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff. ³ You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe. ⁴ You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you. ⁵ It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you." ⁶ So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them. ⁷ Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

⁸ The next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant decrees and, behold, Aaron's staff for the tribe of Levi had budded. It grew buds and produced blossoms and ripe almonds! ⁹ Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the people of Israel, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, "Put Aaron's staff in front of the covenant decrees. Keep it as a sign of guilt against the people who rebelled so that you may end complaints against me, or they will die." ¹¹ Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him.

¹² The people of Israel spoke to Moses and said, "We will die here. We will all perish! ¹³ Everyone who comes up, who approaches Yahweh's tabernacle, will die. Must we all perish?"

Chapter 18

¹ Yahweh said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your ancestor's clan will be responsible for all sins committed against the sanctuary. But only you and your sons with you will be responsible for all sins committed by anyone in the priesthood. ² As for your fellow members of the tribe of Levi, your ancestors' tribe, you must bring them with you so they may join you and help you when you and your sons serve in front of the tent of the covenant decrees. ³ They must serve you and the whole tent. However, they must not come near to anything in the holy place or connected with the altar, or they and also you will die. ⁴ They must join you and take care of the tent of meeting, for all the work connected with the tent. A foreigner must not come near you. ⁵ You must take responsibility for the holy place and for the altar so that my anger does not come on the people of Israel again. ⁶ Look, I myself have chosen your fellow members of the Levites from among the descendants of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to me to do the work connected to the tent of meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons may exercise the priesthood regarding everything connected with the altar and everything inside the curtain. You yourselves must fulfill those responsibilities. I am giving you the priesthood as a gift. Any foreigner who approaches must be put to death."

⁸ Then Yahweh said to Aaron, "Look, I have given you the duty of handling the offerings raised up to me, and all the holy offerings that the people of Israel give to me. I have given these offerings to you and your sons as your ongoing share. ⁹ This will belong to you from the most holy things that is kept from the fire. From every offering of theirs—every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering—they are set apart to you and to your sons. ¹⁰ These offerings are very holy; every male must eat it, for they are holy to you. ¹¹ These are the offerings that will belong to you, set apart out of all their gifts of the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, your sons, and your daughters, as your portion forever. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your family may eat any of these offerings. ¹² All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and grain, the firstfruits that the people give to me—all these things I have given to you. ¹³ The first ripe produce of all that is in their land, which they bring to me, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your family may eat these things. ¹⁴ Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours. ¹⁵ Everything that opens the womb, all the firstborn which the people offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the people must certainly buy back every firstborn son, and they must buy back the firstborn male of unclean animals. ¹⁶ Those that are to be bought back by the people must be bought back after becoming one month old. Then the people may buy them back, for the price of five shekels, by the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat—you must not buy back these animals; they are set apart to me. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahweh. ¹⁸ Their meat will be yours. Like the raised breast and the right thigh, their meat will be yours. ¹⁹ All the holy offerings that the people of Israel present to Yahweh, I have given to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a continual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt, a binding covenant forever, before Yahweh for both you and your descendants with you." ²⁰ Yahweh said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in the people's land, nor will you have any share of property among the people. I am your share and inheritance among the people of Israel.

²¹ To the descendants of Levi, look, I have given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the service that they provide in working at the tent of meeting. ²² From now on the people of Israel must not come near the tent of meeting, or they will be responsible for this sin and die. ²³ The Levites must do the work connected to the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sin regarding it. This will be a permanent law throughout your people's generations. Among the people of Israel they must have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithes of the people of Israel, which they offer as a contribution to me—it is these that I have given to the Levites as their inheritance. That is why I said to them, 'They must have no inheritance among the people of Israel.'"

²⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ²⁶ "You must speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive from the people of Israel the tenth that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, you will present a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tenth of the tithe. ²⁷ Your contribution must be considered by you as if it were a tenth of the grain from the threshing floor or of the production from the winepress. ²⁸ So you also must make a contribution to Yahweh from all the tithes that you receive from the people of Israel. From them you must give his contribution to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all the gifts you receive, you must make every contribution to Yahweh. You must do this from all the best and the holiest things that have been given to you.' ³⁰ Therefore you must say to them, 'When you present the best of it, then it must be credited to the Levites as the product from the threshing floor and the winepress. ³¹ You may eat the rest of your gifts in any place, you and your families, because it is your pay in return for your work in the tent of meeting. ³² You will not incur any guilt by eating and drinking it, if you have presented to Yahweh the best of what you have received. But you must not profane the holy offerings of the people of Israel, or you will die.'"

Chapter 19

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ² "This is a statute, a law which I am commanding you: Say to the people of Israel that they must bring to you a red heifer without flaw or blemish, and which has never carried a yoke. ³ Give the heifer to Eleazar the priest. He must bring it outside the camp, and someone must kill it in front of him. ⁴ Eleazar the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. ⁵ Another priest must burn the heifer in his sight. He must burn its hide, flesh, and its blood with its dung. ⁶ The priest must take cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet wool, and throw it all into the middle of the burning heifer. ⁷ Then he must wash his clothes and bathe in water. Then he may come into the camp, where he will remain unclean until the evening. ⁸ The one who has burned the heifer must wash his clothes in water and bathe in water. He will remain unclean until the evening. ⁹ Someone who is clean must gather up the heifer's ashes and put them outside the camp in a clean place. These ashes must be kept for the community of the people of Israel. They will mix the ashes with water for purification from sin, since the ashes were from a sin offering. ¹⁰ The one who gathered the heifer's ashes must wash his clothes. He will remain unclean until the evening. This will be a permanent law for the people of Israel and the foreigners who stay with them.

¹¹ Whoever touches the dead body of any man will be unclean for seven days. ¹² Such a person must purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day. Then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third day, then he will not be clean on the seventh day. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself—this person defiles Yahweh's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him. He will remain unclean; his uncleanness will remain on him.

¹⁴ This is the law for when someone dies in a tent. Everyone who goes into the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ Every open container with no cover becomes unclean. ¹⁶ Similarly, anyone outside a tent who touches someone who has been killed with a sword, any other dead body, a human bone, or a grave—that person will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷ Do this for the unclean person: Take some ashes from the burnt sin offering and mix them in a jar with fresh water. ¹⁸ Someone who is clean must then take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers inside the tent, on the persons who were there, and on anyone who touched the bone, the one who was killed, the one who died, or the grave. ¹⁹ On the third day and on the seventh day, the clean person must sprinkle the unclean person. On the seventh day the unclean person must purify himself. He must wash his clothes and bathe in water. At evening he will become clean.

²⁰ But anyone who remains unclean, who refuses to purify himself—that person will be cut off from the community, because he has defiled Yahweh's sanctuary. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he remains unclean. ²¹ This will be an ongoing law concerning these situations. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity must wash his clothes. The one who touches the water for impurity will become unclean until evening. ²² Whatever the unclean person touches will become unclean. The person who touches it will become unclean until evening."

Chapter 20

¹ So the people of Israel, the whole community, went into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

² There was no water for the community, so they assembled together against Moses and Aaron. ³ The people complained against Moses. They said, "It would have been better if we had died when our fellow Israelites died in front of Yahweh! ⁴ Why have you brought Yahweh's community into this wilderness to die here, we and our animals? ⁵ Why did you make us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this horrible place? Here there is no seed, figs, vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink." ⁶ So Moses and Aaron went away from in front of the assembly. They went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and lay facedown. There Yahweh's brilliant glory appeared to them. ⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ⁸ "Take the staff and assemble the community, you, and Aaron your brother. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and command it to flow with water. You will produce water for them out of that rock, and you must give it to the community and their cattle to drink." ⁹ Moses took the staff from before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock. Moses said to them, "Listen now, you rebels. Must we bring water out of this rock for you?" ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, and much water came out. The community drank, and their cattle drank. ¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me or honor me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them." ¹³ This place was called the waters of Meribah because the people of Israel had quarreled with Yahweh there, and he showed himself to them as holy.

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Your brother Israel says this: "You know all the difficulties that have happened to us. ¹⁵ You know that our ancestors went down to Egypt and lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians treated us harshly and also our ancestors. ¹⁶ When we called out to Yahweh, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your land. ¹⁷ I am asking you to let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, nor will we drink the water in your wells. We will go along the king's highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed your border." ¹⁸ But the king of Edom replied to him, "You may not pass through here. If you do, I will come with the sword to attack you." ¹⁹ Then the people of Israel said to him, "We will go along the highway. If we or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. Just let us walk through on foot, without doing anything else." ²⁰ But the king of Edom replied, "You may not pass through." So the king of Edom came against Israel with a strong hand with many soldiers. ²¹ The king of Edom refused to allow Israel to cross over their border. Because of this, Israel turned away from the land of Edom.

²² So the people journeyed from Kadesh. The people of Israel, the whole community, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on Edom's border. He said, ²⁴ "Aaron must be gathered to his people, for he will not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel. This is because you both rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Take Aaron's priestly garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron must die and be gathered to his people there." ²⁷ Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the community. ²⁸ Moses took Aaron's priestly garments off him and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down. ²⁹ When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the entire nation wept for Aaron for thirty days.

Chapter 21

¹ When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was traveling by the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² Israel vowed to Yahweh and said, "If you give us victory over these people, then we will completely destroy their cities." ³ Yahweh listened to Israel's voice and he gave them victory over the Canaanites. They completely destroyed them and their cities. That place was called Hormah.

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Reeds to go around the land of Edom. The people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵ The people spoke against God and Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, no water, and we hate this miserable food." ⁶ Then Yahweh sent poisonous snakes among the people. The snakes bit the people; many people died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and you. Pray to Yahweh for him to take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, "Make a snake and attach it to a pole. It will happen that everyone who is bitten will survive, if he looks at it." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and attached it to a pole. When a snake bit any person, if he looked at the bronze snake, he survived.

¹⁰ Then the people of Israel traveled on and camped at Oboth. ¹¹ They traveled from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the east. ¹² From there they traveled on and camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³ From there they traveled on and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites. The Arnon River forms the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ That is why it says in the scroll of the Wars of Yahweh,

     "... Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

     ¹⁵ the slope of the valleys that lead toward the town of Ar

     and lie along the border of Moab."

¹⁶ From there they traveled to Beer, the well where Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather the people together for me to give them water."

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

     "Spring up, well!

     Sing about it,

     ¹⁸ about the well that our leaders dug,

     the well the nobles of the people dug,

     with the scepter and their staffs."

Then from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah. ¹⁹ From Mattanah they traveled to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to a valley in the land of Moab. That is where the top of Mount Pisgah looks down on the wilderness.

²¹ Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites saying, ²² "Let us pass through your land. We will not turn into any field or vineyard. We will not drink the water from your wells. We will travel by the king's highway until we have crossed your border." ²³ But King Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through their border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his army together and attacked Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz, where he fought against Israel. ²⁴ Israel attacked the army of Sihon with the edge of the sword and took their land from the Arnon to the Jabbok river, as far as the land of the people of Ammon. Now the border of the people of Ammon was fortified. ²⁵ Israel took all the Amorite cities and lived in all of them, including Heshbon and all of its villages. ²⁶ Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab. Sihon had taken all his land from his territory to the Arnon River. ²⁷ That is why those who speak in proverbs say,

     "Come to Heshbon.

     Let the city of Sihon be rebuilt and established again.

     ²⁸ A fire blazed from Heshbon,

     a flame from the city of Sihon

     that devoured Ar of Moab,

     and the owners of the high places of Arnon.

     ²⁹ Woe to you, Moab!

     You have perished, people of Chemosh.

     He has made his sons to be fugitives

     and his daughters to be prisoners

     of Sihon king of the Amorites.

     ³⁰ But we have conquered Sihon. Heshbon is devastated all the way to Dibon.

     We have defeated them all the way to Nophah,

     which reaches to Medeba."

³¹ So Israel began to live in the Amorites' land. ³² Then Moses sent men to look at Jazer. They took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³ Then they turned and went up by the road of Bashan. Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his army, to fight them at Edrei. ³⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not fear him, because I have given you victory over him, all his army, and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." ³⁵ So they killed him, his sons, and all his army, until none of his people were left alive. Then they took over his land.

Chapter 22

¹ The people of Israel traveled on until they camped in the plains of Moab near Jericho, on the other side of the Jordan River from the city.

² Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was very afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was in terror of the people of Israel. ⁴ The king of Moab said to the elders of Midian, "This multitude will eat up all that is around us as an ox eats up the grass in a field." Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor which is by the Euphrates River, in the land of his nation and his people. He called him and said, "Look, a nation has come here from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and they are right now next to me. ⁶ So please come now and curse this nation for me, because they are too strong for me. Perhaps then I can manage to attack them and drive them out of the land. I know that whomever you bless will be blessed, and whomever you curse will be cursed."

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left, taking payment for divination. They came to Balaam and spoke to him Balak's words. ⁸ Balaam said to them, "Stay here tonight. I will bring you what Yahweh says to me." So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam that night. ⁹ God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men who came to you?" ¹⁰ Balaam answered God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me. He said, ¹¹ 'Look, the people who have come from Egypt cover the surface of my land. Now come and curse them for me. Perhaps I will manage to fight them and drive them out.'" ¹² God replied to Balaam, "You must not go with those men. You must not curse the people of Israel because they have been blessed." ¹³ Balaam rose up in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your land because Yahweh refuses to allow me to go with you." ¹⁴ So the leaders of Moab left and went back to Balak. They said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

¹⁵ Balak sent again more leaders who were even more honored than the first group. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, "Balak son of Zippor says this, 'Please let nothing stop you from coming to me, ¹⁷ because I will pay you extremely well and give you great honor, and I will do whatever you tell me to do. So please come and curse this people for me.'" ¹⁸ Balaam answered and said to Balak's men, "Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Yahweh, my God, and do less or more than what he tells me. ¹⁹ Now then, please wait here tonight too, so that I may learn anything further that Yahweh says to me." ²⁰ God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them. But only do what I tell you to do."

²¹ Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab. ²² But because he went, God's anger was kindled. The angel of Yahweh placed himself in the road as someone hostile to Balaam, who was riding on his donkey. Balaam's two servants were also with him. ²³ The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. The donkey turned off the road and went into a field. Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back to the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow part of the road between some vineyards, with a wall on his right side and another wall on his left side. ²⁵ The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh again. She went against the wall and pinned Balaam's foot against it. Balaam struck her again. ²⁶ The angel of Yahweh went further and stood in another narrow place where there was no way to turn to either side. ²⁷ The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then Yahweh opened the donkey's mouth so she could talk. She said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that induced you to strike me these three times?" ²⁹ Balaam replied to the donkey, "It was because you acted so stupidly with me. I wish there were a sword in my hand. If there were, by now I would have killed you." ³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, "Am not I your donkey on which you have ridden all your life long to this present day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such things to you before?" Balaam said, "No."

³¹ Then Yahweh opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. Balaam lowered his head and lay facedown. ³² The angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Look, I have come as someone hostile to you because your actions before me have been wicked. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you and spared her life." ³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, "I have sinned. I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back." ³⁵ But the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, "Go on ahead with the men. But you must only speak the words that I tell you." So Balaam went with the leaders of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at a city in Moab at the Arnon, which is on the border. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send men to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?" ³⁸ Then Balaam replied to Balak, "See, I have come to you. Do I now have any power to say anything? I can only say the words that God puts into my mouth." ³⁹ Balaam went with Balak, and they arrived at Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Then Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and gave some meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ In the morning, Balak took Balaam up to the high place of Baal. From there Balaam could see only a part of the Israelites in their camp.

Chapter 23

¹ Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." ² So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you." So he went away to a hilltop with no trees. ⁴ While he was on the hilltop, God met him, and Balaam said to him, "I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one." ⁵ Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and speak to him." ⁶ So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him. ⁷ Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said,

     "Balak has brought me from Aram,

         the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.

     'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said.

         'Come, defy Israel.'

     ⁸ How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?

         How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?

     ⁹ For from the top of the rocks I see him;

         from the hills I look at him.

     See, there is a people who live alone

         and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.

     ¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob

         or number even only one-fourth of Israel?

     Let me die the death of a righteous person,

         and let my life's end be like his!"

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them." ¹² Balaam answered and said, "Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?"

¹³ So Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me." ¹⁴ So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there." ¹⁶ So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, "Return to Balak and give him my message." ¹⁷ Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, "What has Yahweh said?" ¹⁸ Balaam began his prophecy. He said,

     "Rise up, Balak, and hear.

         Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

     ¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie,

         Or a human being, that he should change his mind.

     Has he promised anything without doing it?

         Has he said he would do something without carrying it out? ²⁰ Look, I have been commanded to bless.

         God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

     ²¹ He has seen no hardship in Jacob

         or trouble in Israel.

     Yahweh their God is with them,

         and shouts for their king are among them. ²² God brought them out of Egypt

         with strength like that of a wild ox.

     ²³ There is no sorcery that works against Jacob,

         and no fortune-telling harms Israel.

     Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel,

         'Look what God has done!'

     ²⁴ Look, the people rise like a lioness,

         as a lion emerges and attacks.

     He does not lie down until he eats his victim

         and drinks the blood of what he has killed."

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them or bless them at all." ²⁶ But Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?" ²⁷ So Balak replied to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me." ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wilderness. ²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." ³⁰ So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he did not go, as at the other times, to use sorcery. Instead, he looked toward the wilderness. ² He raised his eyes and saw that Israel was camped, each in their own tribe, and the Spirit of God came on him. ³ He received this prophecy and said,

     "Balaam son of Beor is about to speak,

         the man whose eyes are wide open.

     ⁴ He speaks and hears God's words.

         He sees a vision from the Almighty,

     Before whom he bows down with his eyes open.

     ⁵ How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,

         the place where you live, Israel!

     ⁶ Like valleys they spread out,

         like gardens by the riverside,

         like aloes planted by Yahweh,

         like cedars beside the waters.

     ⁷ Water flows from their buckets,

         and their seed is well-watered.

     Their king is to be higher than Agag,

         and their kingdom will be honored.

     ⁸ God brings him out of Egypt,

     with strength like a wild ox.

         He will eat up the nations who fight against him.

         He will break their bones to pieces.

         He will shoot them with his arrows.

     ⁹ He crouches down like a lion,

         like a lioness. Who dares disturb him?

     May everyone who blesses him be blessed;

         may everyone who curses him be cursed."

¹⁰ Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam and he struck his hands together in anger. Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them three times. ¹¹ So leave me right now and go home. I said I would greatly reward you, but Yahweh has kept you from getting any reward." ¹² Then Balaam replied to Balak, "I said to the messengers that you sent to me, ¹³ 'Even if Balak gave me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond Yahweh's word and anything bad or good, or anything at all that I might want to do. I can say only what Yahweh tells me to say.' Did I not say this to them? ¹⁴ So now, look, I will go back to my people. But first let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days ahead." ¹⁵ Balaam began this prophecy. He said,

     "Balaam son of Beor speaks,

         The man whose eyes are wide open.

     ¹⁶ This is a prophecy of someone who hears words from God,

         who has knowledge from the Most High,

         who has visions from the Almighty,

     Before whom he bows down with open eyes.

     ¹⁷ I see him, but he is not here now.

     I look at him, but he is not near.

     A star will come out of Jacob,

         and a scepter will rise out of Israel.

     He will shatter Moab's leaders

         and destroy all the descendants of Seth.

     ¹⁸ Then Edom will become a possession of Israel,

     and Seir will also become their possession,

         enemies of Israel,

         whom Israel will conquer with force.

     ¹⁹ Out of Jacob a king will come who will have dominion,

         and he will destroy the survivors of their city."

²⁰ Then Balaam looked at Amalek and began his prophecy. He said,

     "Amalek was once the greatest of nations,

         but his final end will be destruction."

²¹ Then Balaam looked toward the Kenites and began his prophecy. He said,

     "The place where you live is strong,

         and your nest is in the rocks.

     ²² Nevertheless you Kenites will be consumed by fire

         when Assyria carries you away captive."

²³ Then Balaam began his final prophecy. He said,

     "Woe! Who will survive when God does this?

     ²⁴ Ships will come from the coast of Kittim;

         they will attack Assyria and will conquer Eber,

         but they, too, will end in destruction."

²⁵ Then Balaam got up and left. He returned to his home, and Balak also went away.

Chapter 25

¹ Israel stayed in Shittim, and the men began to prostitute themselves with women of Moab, ² for the Moabites had invited the people to the sacrifices to their gods. So the people ate and bowed down to Moabite gods. ³ The men of Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel. ⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Kill all the leaders of the people and hang them up before me to expose them in the daylight, so that my fierce anger may turn away from Israel." ⁵ So Moses said to Israel's leaders, "Each of you must execute his people who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor."

⁶ Then one of the men of Israel came and brought among his family members a Midianite woman. This happened in the sight of Moses and all the community of the people of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw that, he rose up from among the community and took a spear in his hand. ⁸ He followed the Israelite man into the tent and thrust the spear through both of their bodies, both the Israelite man and the woman. So a plague that God had sent on the people of Israel stopped. ⁹ Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.

¹⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ¹¹ "Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned my rage away from the people of Israel because he was passionate with my zeal among them. So I have not consumed the people of Israel in my fierceness. ¹² Therefore say, 'Yahweh says, "Look, I am giving to Phinehas my covenant of peace. ¹³ For him and his descendants after him, it will be a covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for me, his God. He has atoned for the people of Israel."'"

¹⁴ Now the name of the Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of an ancestor's family among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kozbi daughter of Zur, who was head of a tribe and family in Midian.

¹⁶ So Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁷ "Treat the Midianites as enemies and attack them, ¹⁸ for they treated you like enemies with their deceitfulness. They led you into evil in the case of Peor and in the case of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a leader in Midian, who was killed on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor."

Chapter 26

¹ It came about after the plague that Yahweh spoke to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He said, ² "Count all the community of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and up, by their ancestor's families, all who are able to go to war for Israel." ³ So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said, ⁴ "Count the people, from twenty years old and up, as Yahweh commanded Moses and the people of Israel, who came out of the land of Egypt."

⁵ Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. From his son Hanok came the clan of the Hanokites. From Pallu came the clan of the Palluites. ⁶ From Hezron came the clan of the Hezronites. From Karmi came the clan of the Karmites. ⁷ These were the clans of Reuben, who numbered 43,730 men. ⁸ Eliab was a son of Pallu. ⁹ Eliab's sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These were the same Dathan and Abiram who followed Korah when they challenged Moses and Aaron and rebelled against Yahweh. ¹⁰ The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah when all his followers died. At that time, fire devoured 250 men, who became a warning sign. ¹¹ But Korah's line did not die out.

¹² The clans of Simeon's descendants were these:

     Through Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites,

     through Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites,

     through Jakin, the clan of the Jakinites,

     ¹³ through Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites,

     through Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites. ¹⁴ These were the clans of Simeon's descendants, who numbered 22,200 men.

¹⁵ The clans of Gad's descendants were these:

     Through Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites,

     through Haggi, the clan of the Haggites,

     through Shuni, the clan of the Shunites,

     ¹⁶ through Ozni, the clan of the Oznites,

     through Eri, the clan of the Erites,

     ¹⁷ through Arod, the clan of the Arodites,

     through Areli, the clan of the Arelites. ¹⁸ These were the clans of Gad's descendants, who numbered 40,500 men.

¹⁹ Judah's sons were Er and Onan, but these men died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The clans of Judah's other descendants were these:

     through Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites,

     through Perez, the clan of the Perezites, and

     through Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites. ²¹ The descendants of Perez were these:

     Through Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites,

     through Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. ²² These were the clans of Judah's descendants, who numbered 76,500 men.

²³ The clans of Issachar's descendants were these:

     Through Tola, the clan of the Tolaites,

     through Puah, the clan of the Puites, ²⁴ through Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites,

     through Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites. ²⁵ These were the clans of Issachar, who numbered 64,300 men.

²⁶ The clans of Zebulun's descendants were these:

     Through Sered, the clan of the Seredites,

     through Elon, the clan of the Elonites,

     through Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites. ²⁷ These were the clans of the Zebulunites, who numbered 60,500 men.

²⁸ The clans of Joseph's descendants were Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹ The descendants of Manasseh were these:

     through Makir, the clan of the Makirites (Makir was Gilead's father),

     through Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. ³⁰ Gilead's descendants were these:

     Through Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites,

     through Helek, the clan of the Helekites,

     ³¹ through Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites,

     through Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites,

     ³² through Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites,

     through Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. ³³ Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. ³⁴ These were the clans of Manasseh, who numbered 52,700 men.

³⁵ The clans of Ephraim's descendants were these:

     Through Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites,

     through Beker, the clan of the Bekerites,

     through Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. ³⁶ The descendants of Shuthelah were, by Eran, the clan of the Eranites. ³⁷ These were the clans of Ephraim's descendants, who numbered 32,500 men. These were Joseph's descendants, counted in each of their clans.

³⁸ The clans of Benjamin's descendants were these:

     Through Bela, the clan of the Belaites,

     through Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites,

     through Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites,

     ³⁹ through Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites,

     through Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites.

⁴⁰ Bela's sons were Ard and Naaman. From Ard came the clan of the Ardites, and from Naaman came the clan of the Naamites. ⁴¹ These were the clans of Benjamin's descendants. They numbered 45,600 men.

⁴² The clans of Dan's descendants were, by Shuham, the clans of the Shuhamites. These were the clans of Dan's descendants. ⁴³ All the clans of the Shuhamites numbered 64,400 men.

⁴⁴ The clans of Asher's descendants were these:

     Through Imnah, the clan of the Imnites,

     through Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites,

     through Beriah, the clan of the Beriites.

⁴⁵ The descendants of Beriah were these:

     Through Heber, the clan of the Heberites,

     through Malkiel, the clan of the Malkielites.

⁴⁶ The name of Asher's daughter was Serah. ⁴⁷ These were the clans of Asher's descendants, who numbered 53,400 men.

⁴⁸ The clans of Naphtali's descendants were these:

     Through Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites,

     through Guni, the clan of the Gunites,

     ⁴⁹ through Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites,

     through Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites.

⁵⁰ These were the clans of Naphtali's descendants, who numbered 45,400 men.

⁵¹ This was the complete count of men among the people of Israel: 601,730.

⁵² Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ⁵³ "The land must be divided among these men as an inheritance according to the number of their names. ⁵⁴ To the larger clans you must give more inheritance, and to the smaller clans you must give less inheritance. To every family you must give an inheritance according to the number of men who were counted. ⁵⁵ However, the land must be divided by random lots. They must inherit the land as it will be divided among their ancestors' tribes. ⁵⁶ Their inheritance must be divided among the larger and the smaller clans, distributed to them by random lot."

⁵⁷ The Levite clans, counted clan by clan, were these:

     Through Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites,

     through Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites,

     through Merari, the clan of the Merarites.

⁵⁸ The clans of Levi were these:

     the clan of the Libnites,

     the clan of the Hebronites,

     the clan of the Mahlites,

     the clan of the Mushites,

     and the clan of the Korahites.

Kohath was the Amram's ancestor. ⁵⁹ The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to Levites in Egypt. She bore to Amram their children, who were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. ⁶⁰ To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹ Nadab and Abihu died when they offered before Yahweh unacceptable fire. ⁶² The males who were counted among them numbered twenty-three thousand, all males one month old and up. But they were not counted among Israel's descendants because no inheritance was given to them among the people of Israel.

⁶³ These are the ones who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest. They counted the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁶⁴ But among these there was no man who had been counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when the descendants of Israel were counted in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For Yahweh had said that all of those people would certainly die in the wilderness. There was not a man left among them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 27

¹ Then to Moses came the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and before all the community at the entrance to the tent of meeting. They said, ³ "Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who conspired against Yahweh in the company of Korah. He died for his own sin, and he had no sons. ⁴ Why should our father's name be taken away from among his clan members because he had no son? Give us land among our father's relatives." ⁵ So Moses brought their case before Yahweh.

⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ⁷ "Zelophehad's daughters are speaking correctly. You must certainly give them land as an inheritance among their father's relatives, and you must ensure that their father's inheritance passes on to them. ⁸ You must speak to the people of Israel and say, 'If a man dies and has no son, then you must cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you must give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his father's brothers. ¹¹ If his father has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his clan, and he must take it for his own. This will be a law established by decree for the people of Israel, as Yahweh has commanded me.'"

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, "Go up the mountains of Abarim and look at the land that I have given to the people of Israel. ¹³ After you have seen it, you, too, must be gathered to your people, like Aaron your brother. ¹⁴ This will happen because you two rebelled against my command in the wilderness of Zin. There, when the water flowed from the rock, in your anger you failed to honor me as holy before the eyes of the whole community." These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

¹⁵ Then Moses spoke to Yahweh and said, ¹⁶ "May you, Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all humanity, appoint a man over the community, ¹⁷ a man who may go out and come in before them and lead them out and bring them in, so that your community is not like sheep that have no shepherd." ¹⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom my Spirit lives, and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Place him before Eleazar the priest and before all the community, and command him before their eyes to lead them. ²⁰ You must put some of your authority on him, so that all the community of the people of Israel may obey him. ²¹ He will go before Eleazar the priest to seek my will for him by the decisions of the Urim. It will be at his command that the people will go out and come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole community." ²² So Moses did as Yahweh had commanded him. He took Joshua and placed him before Eleazar the priest and all the community. ²³ He laid his hands on him and commanded him to lead, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

Chapter 28

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ² "Command the people of Israel and say to them, 'You must offer sacrifices to me at the appointed times, the food of my offerings made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for me.' ³ You must also say to them, 'This is the offering made by fire that you must offer to Yahweh—male lambs a year old without blemish, two each day, as a regular burnt offering. ⁴ One lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer in the evening. ⁵ You must offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil. ⁶ This is the regular burnt offering that was commanded at Mount Sinai to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ⁷ The drink offering with it must be one-fourth of a hin for one of the lambs. You must pour out in the holy place a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh. ⁸ The other lamb you must offer in the evening along with another grain offering like the one offered in the morning. You must also offer another drink offering with it, an offering made by fire, to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh.

⁹ On the Sabbath day you must offer two male lambs, each a year old without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, and the drink offering with it. ¹⁰ This is to be the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it.

¹¹ At the beginning of each month, you must offer a burnt offering to Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old without blemish. ¹² You must also offer three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil for each bull, and two-tenths of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil for the one ram. ¹³ You must also offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb. This is to be the burnt offering, to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ¹⁴ The people's drink offerings must be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is to be the burnt offering for every month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵ One male goat as a sin offering to Yahweh must be offered. This will be in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it.

¹⁶ During the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, comes Yahweh's Passover. ¹⁷ On the fifteenth day of this month a feast is to be held. For seven days, bread without yeast must be eaten. ¹⁸ On the first day, there must be a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day. ¹⁹ However, you must offer a sacrifice made by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, without blemish. ²⁰ Along with the bull, you must offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and along with the ram, two-tenths. ²¹ With each of the seven lambs, you must offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, ²² and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for yourselves. ²³ You must offer these in addition to the regular burnt offering required each morning. ²⁴ As described here, you must offer these sacrifices daily, for the seven days of the Passover, the food of the offering made by fire, a sweet aroma for Yahweh. It must be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and the drink offering with it. ²⁵ On the seventh day you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh, and you must not do regular work on that day.

²⁶ Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a new grain offering to Yahweh in your Festival of Weeks, you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh, and you must not do regular work on that day. ²⁷ You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. ²⁸ Offer also grain offering to go with them: Fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each bull and two-tenths for the one ram. ²⁹ Offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each of the seven lambs, ³⁰ and one male goat to make atonement for yourselves. ³¹ When you offer those animals without blemish, along with their drink offerings, this must be in addition to the regular burnt offering and the grain offering with it.'"

Chapter 29

¹ "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day. It will be a day when you blow trumpets. ² You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ³ You must offer with them their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, ⁴ and one-tenth for each lamb of the seven lambs. ⁵ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for yourselves. ⁶ Make these offerings in the seventh month in addition to all of the offerings you will make on the first of each month: the special burnt offering and the grain offering to go with it. These must be in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings. As you make these offerings, you will obey what has been decreed to produce a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

⁷ On the tenth day of the seventh month you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must humble yourselves and do no work. ⁸ You must offer a burnt offering to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They must each be without blemish. ⁹ You must offer with them a grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ¹⁰ and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs. ¹¹ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering. This will be in addition to the sin offering of atonement, the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹² On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you must have a holy assembly to honor Yahweh. You must not do regular work on that day, and you must keep the festival for him seven days. ¹³ You must offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old. Each must be without blemish. ¹⁴ You must offer with them a grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each ram of the two rams, ¹⁵ and a tenth of an ephah for each of the fourteen lambs. ¹⁶ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and the drink offering with it.

¹⁷ On the second day of the assembly, you must offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ¹⁸ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ¹⁹ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰ On the third day of the assembly, you must offer eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ²¹ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ²² You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²³ On the fourth day of the assembly, you must offer ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ²⁴ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ²⁵ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁶ On the fifth day of the assembly, you must offer nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ²⁷ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ²⁸ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁹ On the sixth day of the assembly, you must offer eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ³⁰ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ³¹ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³² On the seventh day of the assembly, you must offer seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ³³ You must make with them a grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ³⁴ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³⁵ On the eighth day you must have another solemn assembly. You must not do regular work on that day. ³⁶ You must make a burnt offering, an offering made by fire to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. You must offer one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, each without blemish. ³⁷ You must offer their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, making as many offerings as were commanded. ³⁸ You must offer one male goat as a sin offering in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

³⁹ These are what you must offer to Yahweh at your fixed festivals. These must be in addition to your vows and freewill offerings. You must offer these as your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and fellowship offerings." ⁴⁰ Moses told the people of Israel everything that Yahweh had commanded him to say.

Chapter 30

¹ Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the people of Israel. He said, "This is what Yahweh has commanded. ² When anyone makes a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind himself with a promise, he must not break his word. He must keep his promise to do everything that comes out of his mouth. ³ When a young woman living in her father's house makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself with a promise, ⁴ if her father hears the vow and the promise by which she has bound herself, and if he says nothing to reverse her, then all her vows will remain in force. Every promise by which she has bound herself will remain in force. ⁵ But if her father hears about her vow and her promise, and if he says nothing to her, then all the vows and promises that she took on herself will remain in force.

⁶ However, if her father hears all the vows she made and her solemn promises with which she has bound herself, and if he overrules her on that same day, then they will not remain in force. Yahweh will forgive her because her father had overruled her. ⁷ If she marries a man while she is under those vows, or if she makes rash promises with which she obligates herself, those obligations will remain in force. ⁸ But if her husband stops her on the day that he hears about it, then he cancels the vow that she has made, the rash talk of her lips with which she has bound herself. Yahweh will release her.

⁹ But as for a widow or a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself will remain in force against her. ¹⁰ If a woman made a vow in her husband's house or obligates herself by taking an oath, ¹¹ and her husband hears of it, but he says nothing to her and he does oppose her, then all her vows must stand and the obligations she made must remain in force. ¹² But if her husband cancels them on the day that he heard about them, then whatever came out of her lips about her vows or promises will not remain in force. Her husband has canceled them. Yahweh will release her.

¹³ Every vow or oath a woman takes that binds her to deny herself something may be confirmed or canceled by her husband. ¹⁴ But if he says nothing at all to her day after day, then he confirms all her vows and binding promises that she has made. He has confirmed them because he has said nothing to her at the time that he heard about them. ¹⁵ If her husband tries to cancel his wife's vow a long time after he has heard about it, then he will be responsible for her sin." ¹⁶ These are the statutes that Yahweh commanded Moses to announce—statutes for what is between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter when she is in her youth in her father's family.

Chapter 31

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ² "Take vengeance on the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After doing that, you will die and be gathered to your people." ³ So Moses spoke to the people. He said, "Arm some of your men for war so they may go against Midian and carry out Yahweh's vengeance on it. ⁴ Every tribe throughout Israel must send a thousand soldiers to war." ⁵ So out of Israel's thousands of men, one thousand was provided from each tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war. ⁶ Then Moses sent them to battle, a thousand from every tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and with some articles from the holy place and the trumpets in his possession for sounding signals. ⁷ They fought against Midian, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They killed every man. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their dead: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor, with the sword. ⁹ The army of Israel took captive the women of Midian, their children, all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They took these as plunder. ¹⁰ They burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps. ¹¹ They took all the plunder and prisoners, both people and animals. ¹² They brought the prisoners, the plunder, and the captured things to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the community of the people of Israel. They brought these to the camp in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan near Jericho.

¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from battle. ¹⁵ Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live? ¹⁶ Look, these women caused the people of Israel, through Balaam's advice, to commit sin against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, when the plague spread among Yahweh's community. ¹⁷ Now then, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man. ¹⁸ But take for yourselves all the young girls who have never slept with a man. ¹⁹ You must camp outside the camp of Israel for seven days. All of you who have killed anyone and or have touched any dead person—you must purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your prisoners. ²⁰ You must purify every garment and everything made of animal hide and goats' hair, and everything made of wood."

²¹ Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to war, "This is a decreed law that Yahweh has given to Moses: ²² The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead, ²³ and everything that resists fire, you must put it through the fire, and it will become clean. You must then purify those things with the water of cleansing. Whatever cannot go through the fire you must cleanse with that water. ²⁴ You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and then you will become clean. Afterward you may come into Israel's camp."

²⁵ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ²⁶ "Count all the plundered things that were taken, both people and animals. You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community's ancestor's clans ²⁷ must divide the plunder into two parts. Divide it between the soldiers who went out to battle and all the rest of the community. ²⁸ Then levy a tax to be given to me from the soldiers who went out to battle. This tax must be one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats. ²⁹ Take this tax from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for an offering to be presented to me. ³⁰ Also from the people of Israel's half, you must take one out of every fifty—from the persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give these to the Levites who take care of my tabernacle." ³¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³² Now the plunder that remained of what the soldiers had taken was 675,000 sheep, ³³ seventy-two thousand oxen, ³⁴ sixty-one thousand donkeys, ³⁵ and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with any man. ³⁶ The half that was kept for the soldiers numbered 337,000 sheep. ³⁷ Yahweh's part of the sheep was 675. ³⁸ The oxen were thirty-six thousand which Yahweh's tax was seventy-two. ³⁹ The donkeys were 30,500 from which Yahweh's part was sixty-one. ⁴⁰ The persons were sixteen thousand women of whom Yahweh's tax was thirty-two. ⁴¹ Moses took the tax that was to be an offering presented to Yahweh. He gave it to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁴² As for the people of Israel's half that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war— ⁴³ the community's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ thirty-six thousand oxen, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand women. ⁴⁷ From the people of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of people and animals. He gave them to the Levites who kept care of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

⁴⁸ Then the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and the captains over hundreds, came to Moses. ⁴⁹ They said to him, "Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our command, and not one man is missing. ⁵⁰ We have brought Yahweh's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh." ⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold and all the articles of craftsmanship. ⁵² All the gold of the offering that they gave to Yahweh—the offerings from the commanders of thousands and from the captains of hundreds—weighed 16,750 shekels. ⁵³ Each soldier had taken plunder, each man for himself. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and captains of hundreds. They took it into the tent of meeting as a reminder of the people of Israel for Yahweh.

Chapter 32

¹ Now the descendants of Reuben and of Gad had large numbers of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer and Gilead, the land was a wonderful place for livestock. ² So the descendants of Gad and Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the community. They said, ³ "This is a list of places we have surveyed: Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. ⁴ These are the lands that Yahweh attacked before the community of Israel, and they are good places for livestock. We, your servants, have a lot of livestock." ⁵ They said, "If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to us, your servants, as a possession. Do not make us cross over the Jordan."

⁶ Moses replied to the descendants of Gad and Reuben, "Should your brothers go to war while you settle down here? ⁷ Why discourage the hearts of the people of Israel from going over into the land that Yahweh has given them? ⁸ Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to examine the land. ⁹ They went up to the Valley of Eshkol. They saw the land and then discouraged the hearts of the people of Israel so that they refused to enter the land that Yahweh had given them. ¹⁰ Yahweh's anger was kindled on that day. He took an oath and said, ¹¹ 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and up, will see the land about which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not completely followed me, except for ¹² Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun. Only Caleb and Joshua have completely followed me.' ¹³ So Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel. He made them wander around in the wilderness for forty years until all the generation who had done evil in his sight was destroyed. ¹⁴ Look, you have risen up in your fathers' place, like just more sinful men, to add to Yahweh's burning anger toward Israel. ¹⁵ If you turn away from following him, he will again leave Israel in the wilderness and you will have destroyed all this people."

¹⁶ So they came near Moses and said, "Allow us to build fences here for our cattle and cities for our families. ¹⁷ However, we ourselves will be ready and armed to go with Israel's army until we have led them into their place. But our families will live in the fortified cities because of the other people who still live in this land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our houses until every one of the people of Israel has obtained his inheritance. ¹⁹ We will not inherit the land with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance is here on the east side of the Jordan."

²⁰ So Moses replied to them, "If you do what you say, if you arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to war, ²¹ then every one of your armed men must cross over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him ²² and the land is subdued before him. Then afterward you may return. You will be guiltless toward Yahweh and toward Israel. This land will be your possession before Yahweh. ²³ But if you do not do so, look, you will have sinned against Yahweh. Be sure that your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build cities for your families and pens for your sheep; then do what you have said." ²⁵ The descendants of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses and said, "Your servants will do as you, our master, commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will stay there in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ However, we, your servants, will cross over before Yahweh to battle, every man who is armed for war, as you, our master, say."

²⁸ So Moses gave instructions concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders of the ancestor's clans in the tribes of the people of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, "If the descendants of Gad and Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and if the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ But if they do not cross over with you armed, then they will acquire their possessions among you in the land of Canaan." ³¹ So the descendants of Gad and Reuben answered and said, "As Yahweh has said to us, your servants, this is what we will do. ³² We will cross over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, but our possessed inheritance will remain with us on this side of the Jordan."

³³ So to the descendants of Gad and Reuben, and also to the half tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, Moses gave the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan. He gave to them the land, and distributed to them all its cities with their borders, the cities of the land around them. ³⁴ The descendants of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities with pens for sheep. ³⁷ The descendants of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal Meon—their names were later changed, and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities that they rebuilt. ³⁹ The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it away from the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ Then Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and his people settled there. ⁴¹ Jair son of Manasseh went and captured its towns and called them Havvoth Jair. ⁴² Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

Chapter 33

¹ These were the movements of the people of Israel after they left the land of Egypt by their armed groups under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ² Moses wrote down the places from where they left to where they went, as commanded by Yahweh. These were their movements, departure after departure. ³ They traveled from Rameses during the first month, leaving on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the morning after the Passover, the people of Israel left openly, in the sight of all the Egyptians. ⁴ This happened while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, those whom Yahweh had killed among them, for he also inflicted punishment on their gods.

⁵ The people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. ⁶ They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷ They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is opposite Baal Zephon, where they camped opposite Migdol. ⁸ Then they set out from opposite Pi Hahiroth and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They traveled three days' journey into the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹ They set out from Marah and arrived at Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. That is where they camped. ¹⁰ They set out from Elim and camped by the Sea of Reeds. ¹¹ They set out from the Sea of Reeds and camped in the wilderness of Sin. ¹² They set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³ They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴ They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where no water was found for the people to drink. ¹⁵ They set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶ They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah. ¹⁷ They set out from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. ¹⁸ They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹ They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. ²⁰ They set out from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹ They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²² They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. ²³ They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵ They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶ They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷ They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸ They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. ²⁹ They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰ They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. ³¹ They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan. ³² They set out from Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad. ³³ They set out from Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. ³⁴ They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵ They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. ³⁶ They set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh. ³⁷ They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸ Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at Yahweh's command and died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. ³⁹ Aaron was a 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the southern wilderness in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹ They set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴² They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³ They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. ⁴⁴ They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ They set out from Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad. ⁴⁶ They set out from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim. ⁴⁷ They set out from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, opposite Nebo. ⁴⁸ They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁴⁹ They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said, ⁵¹ "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² then you must drive out all the land's inhabitants before you. You must destroy all their carved figures. You must destroy all their cast figures and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ You must take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given you the land to possess. ⁵⁴ You must inherit the land by lot, according to each clan. To the larger clans you must give a larger share of land, and to the smaller clans you must give a smaller share of land. Wherever the lot falls to each clan, that land will belong to it. You will inherit the land according to your ancestors' tribes. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the land's inhabitants before you, then the people you allow to stay will become like objects in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will make your lives difficult in the land where you settle. ⁵⁶ Then it will happen that what I now intend to do to those people, I will do also to you.'"

Chapter 34

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ² "Command the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan, the land that will belong to you, the land of Canaan and its borders, ³ your southern border will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. The eastern end of the southern border will be on a line that ends at the southern end of the Salt Sea. ⁴ Your border will turn south from the hill of Akrabbim and pass along through the wilderness of Zin. From there, it will run south of Kadesh Barnea and continue to Hazar Addar and further to Azmon. ⁵ From there, the border will turn from Azmon toward the brook of Egypt and follow it to the sea.

⁶ The western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea. This will be your western border.

⁷ Your northern border will extend along a line that you must mark out from the Great Sea to Mount Hor, ⁸ then from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath, then on to Zedad. ⁹ Then the border will continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ Then you must mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan south to Shepham. ¹¹ Then the eastern border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border will continue along the east side of the Sea of Kinnereth. ¹² Then the border will continue south along the Jordan River to the Salt Sea and continue down the eastern border of the Salt Sea. This will be your land, following its borders all around.'"

¹³ Then Moses commanded the people of Israel and said, "This is the land that you will receive by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half tribe. ¹⁴ The tribe of the descendants of Reuben, following the assignment of property to their ancestor's tribe, and the tribe of the descendants of Gad, following the assignment of property to their ancestor's tribe, and the half tribe of Manasseh have all received their land. ¹⁵ The two tribes and the half tribe have received their share of land beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise."

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁷ "These are the names of the men who will divide the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ You must choose one leader from every tribe to divide the land for their clans. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men:

     From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

     ²⁰ From the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, Shemuel son of Ammihud.

     ²¹ From the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon.

     ²² From of the tribe of the descendants of Dan a leader, Bukki son of Jogli.

     ²³ From the descendants of Joseph, of the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel son of Ephod.

     ²⁴ From the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan.

     ²⁵ From the tribe of the descendants of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnak.

     ²⁶ From the tribe of the descendants of Issachar a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan.

     ²⁷ From the tribe of the descendants of Asher a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi.

     ²⁸ From the tribe of the descendants of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud."

²⁹ Yahweh commanded these men to divide the land of Canaan and to give each of the tribes of Israel their share.

Chapter 35

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said, ² "Command the people of Israel to give some of their own shares of land to the Levites. They must give them cities to live in and pastureland surrounding those cities. ³ The Levites will have these cities to live in. The pastureland will be for their cattle, their flocks, and all their animals. ⁴ The pasturelands around the cities that you will give to the Levites must extend from the city walls for one thousand cubits in every direction. ⁵ You must measure two thousand cubits from outside the city on the east side, and two thousand cubits to the south side, two thousand cubits to the west side, and two thousand cubits to the north side. This will be the pasturelands for their cities. The cities will be in the center. ⁶ Six of the cities that you will give to Levites must serve as cities of refuge. You must provide these as places to which a person who has killed someone can flee. Also provide forty-two other cities. ⁷ The cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight. You must give their pasturelands with them. ⁸ The larger tribes of the people of Israel, the tribes that have more land, must provide more cities. The smaller tribes will provide fewer cities. Each tribe must provide for the Levites according to the share that it has received."

⁹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁰ "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you must choose cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, a place to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. ¹² These cities must be your refuge from the avenger, so that the accused man will not be killed without first standing trial before the community. ¹³ You must choose six cities as cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You must provide three cities beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ For the people of Israel, for the foreigners, for anyone living among you, these six cities will serve as a refuge to which anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee.

¹⁶ But if an accused man has struck his victim with an instrument of iron, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death. ¹⁷ If an accused man has struck his victim with a stone in his hand that might kill the victim, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death. ¹⁸ If an accused man has struck his victim with a wooden weapon that might kill the victim, and if the victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death. When he meets him, the avenger of blood must put him to death. ²⁰ If he strikes another in hatred or throws something at him, while hiding to ambush him, so that the victim dies, ²¹ or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² But if an accused man suddenly hits a victim without premeditated hate or throws something that hits the victim without lying in wait ²³ or if he throws a stone that could kill a victim without seeing the victim, then the accused was not the victim's enemy; he was not trying to hurt the victim. But this is what to do if the victim dies anyway. ²⁴ In that case, the community must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood on the basis of these rules. ²⁵ The community must rescue the accused from the power of the avenger of blood. The community must return the accused to the city of refuge to which he had originally fled. He must live there until the death of the current high priest, the one who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the accused man at any time goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he fled, ²⁷ and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and if he kills the accused man, the avenger of blood will not be guilty of murder. ²⁸ This is because the accused man should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the accused may return to the land where he has his own property.

²⁹ These laws must be statutes for you through all your people's generations in all the places where you live. ³⁰ Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be killed, as testified to by the words of witnesses. But one witness' word alone may not cause any person to be put to death. ³¹ Also, you must not accept ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of murder. He must certainly be put to death. ³² You must not accept ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge. You must not in this way allow him to reside on his own property until the high priest dies. ³³ Do not pollute in this way the land where you live, because blood from murder pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ So you must not defile the land in which you live because I am living in it. I, Yahweh, live among the people of Israel.'"

Chapter 36

¹ Then the leaders of the ancestors' families of the clan of Gilead son of Machir (who was Manasseh's son), who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and before the leaders who were the heads of the ancestor's families of the people of Israel. ² They said, "Yahweh commanded you, our master, to give a share of land by lot to the people of Israel. You were commanded by Yahweh to give the share of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ But if his daughters marry men in another tribe of the people of Israel, then their share of land will be removed from our ancestor's share. It will be added to the share of the tribes that they join. In that case, it will be removed from the assigned share of our inheritance. ⁴ In that case, when the year of Jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their share will be joined to the share of the tribe that they have joined. In this way, their share will be taken away from the share of our ancestors' tribe."

⁵ So Moses gave a command to the people of Israel, at Yahweh's word. He said, "What the tribe of Joseph's descendants says is right. ⁶ This is what Yahweh commands concerning Zelophehad's daughters. He says, 'Let them be married to whom they think best, but they must marry only within the family of their father's tribe.' ⁷ No share of the people of Israel must change from one tribe to another. Each one of the people of Israel must continue with the share of his ancestor's tribe. ⁸ Every woman of the people of Israel who owns a share in her tribe must marry someone from the clans belonging to her father's tribe. This is so that everyone of the people of Israel may own an inheritance from his ancestors. ⁹ No share may change hands from one tribe to another. Everyone of the tribes of the people of Israel must keep his own inheritance."

¹⁰ So Zelophehad's daughters did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married descendants of Manasseh. ¹² They married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph. In this way, their inheritances remained in the tribe to which their father's clan belonged.

¹³ These are the commands and the decrees that Yahweh gave by Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.