The Census of Israel’s Warriors

Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on (A)the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, (B)Take a [a]census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from (C)twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall [b]count them by their armies. With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, (D)each one head of his father’s household. These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: (E)of the tribe of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; of the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; of the tribe of Judah, (F)Nahshon the son of Amminadab; of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; 14 of Gad, Eliasaph the son of (G)Deuel; 15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan. 16 These are the men who were (H)called from the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the (I)heads of [c]divisions of Israel.”

17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, 18 and they assembled all the congregation on the (J)first day of the second month. Then they registered by (K)ancestry in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 just as (L)the Lord had commanded Moses. So he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 (M)Now the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 21 their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

22 (N)Of the sons of Simeon, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, (O)whoever was able to go to war, 23 their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

24 (P)Of the sons of Gad, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 25 their numbered men of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

26 (Q)Of the sons of Judah, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 27 their numbered men of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

28 (R)Of the sons of Issachar, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 29 their numbered men of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

30 (S)Of the sons of Zebulun, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 31 their numbered men of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

32 (T)Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 33 their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

34 (U)Of the sons of Manasseh, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 35 their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

36 (V)Of the sons of Benjamin, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 37 their numbered men of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

38 (W)Of the sons of Dan, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 39 their numbered men of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

40 (X)Of the sons of Asher, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 41 their numbered men of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

42 (Y)Of the sons of Naphtali, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war, 43 their numbered men of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

44 These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron counted, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. 45 So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war in Israel, 46 all the numbered men were (Z)603,550.

Levites Exempted

47 (AA)The Levites, however, were not counted among them by their fathers’ tribe. 48 For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi (AB)you shall not count, nor shall you take their [d]census among the sons of Israel. 50 And you shall (AC)appoint the Levites over the [e]tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over everything that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the [f]tabernacle. 51 (AD)So when the tabernacle is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But (AE)the [g]layman who comes near it shall be put to death. 52 (AF)So the sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own [h]flag, according to their armies. 53 (AG)But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be (AH)no divine wrath against the congregation of the sons of Israel. (AI)So the Levites shall be responsible for service to the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 And the sons of Israel did so; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did.

Arrangement of the Camps

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, (AJ)The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own [i]flag, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting [j]at a distance. Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the flag of the camp of Judah, by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Judah: (AK)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, and his army, their [k]numbered men: 74,600. Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the leader of the sons of Issachar: (AL)Nethanel the son of Zuar, and his army, their numbered men: 54,400. Then follows the tribe of Zebulun; and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: (AM)Eliab the son of Helon, and his army, his numbered men: 57,400. The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. (AN)They shall set out first.

10 “On the south side shall be the flag of the camp of Reuben by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Reuben: (AO)Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 and his army, their numbered men: 46,500. 12 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the leader of the sons of Simeon: (AP)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 and his army, their numbered men: 59,300. 14 Then follows the tribe of Gad; and the leader of the sons of Gad: (AQ)Eliasaph the son of [l]Deuel, 15 and his army, their numbered men: 45,650. 16 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And (AR)they shall set out second.

17 (AS)Then the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their flags.

18 “On the west side shall be the flag of the camp of (AT)Ephraim by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: (AU)Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 and his army, their numbered men: 40,500. 20 Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: (AV)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 and his army, their numbered men, 32,200. 22 Then follows the tribe of (AW)Benjamin; and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: (AX)Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 and his army, their numbered men, 35,400. 24 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And (AY)they shall set out third.

25 “On the north side shall be the flag of the camp of Dan by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Dan: (AZ)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 and his army, their numbered men: 62,700. 27 Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the leader of the sons of Asher: (BA)Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 and his army, their numbered men: 41,500. 29 Then follows the tribe of (BB)Naphtali; and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: (BC)Ahira the son of Enan, 30 and his army, their numbered men: 53,400. 31 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. (BD)They shall set out last by their flags.”

32 These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, (BE)603,550. 33 (BF)The Levites, however, were not counted among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 34 So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household.

Levite Priesthood Established

(BG)Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. (BH)These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the (BI)anointed priests, whom he [m]ordained to serve as priests. (BJ)But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered [n]strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests [o]in the lifetime of their father Aaron.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (BK)Bring the tribe of Levi forward and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. They shall perform the duties for [p]him and for the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, to do the (BL)service of the tabernacle. They shall also take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. So you shall (BM)assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are exclusively assigned to him from the sons of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that (BN)they may [q]keep their priesthood, but (BO)the [r]layman who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Now, behold, I (BP)have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every (BQ)firstborn, the firstborn of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. 13 For (BR)all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from the human firstborn to animals. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord.”

14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses (BS)in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 [s](BT)Count the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall count.” 16 So Moses counted them according to the [t]word of the Lord, just as he had been commanded. 17 (BU)These, then, are the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the (BV)sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei; 19 and the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel; 20 and the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 22 Their numbered men, in the counting of every male from a month old and upward, their numbered men were 7,500. 23 The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the [u]tabernacle westward, 24 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites: Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Duties of the Levites

25 Now (BW)the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting included the tabernacle and (BX)the tent, its covering, and (BY)the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 and (BZ)the curtains of the courtyard, (CA)the curtain for the entrance of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its ropes, according to all the service [v]concerning them.

27 Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. 28 In the counting of every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, performing the duties of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families: [w]Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 Now (CB)their duties included (CC)the ark, (CD)the table, (CE)the lampstand, (CF)the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, the [x]curtain, and all the service [y]concerning them; 32 and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was the head of the leaders of Levi, and he had the supervision of those who performed the duties of the sanctuary.

33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34 Their numbered men in the counting of every male from a month old and upward: 6,200. 35 And the leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to (CG)camp on the northward side of the tabernacle. 36 Now the appointment of duties of the sons of Merari included the framework of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its bases, all its equipment, and all the service concerning them, 37 and the pillars around the courtyard with their bases, their pegs, and their ropes.

38 Now those who were to (CH)camp in front of the tabernacle eastward, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for the obligation of the sons of Israel; but (CI)the [z]layman coming near was to be put to death. 39 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the [aa]command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were (CJ)twenty-two thousand.

Firstborn Redeemed

40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(CK)Count every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and [ab]make a list of their names. 41 And you (CL)shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.” 42 So Moses counted all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded him; 43 and all the firstborn males, by the number of names from a month old and upward for their numbered men, were (CM)22,273.

44 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 (CN)Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am the Lord. 46 (CO)And as [ac]a redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess of the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take (CP)five shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in (CQ)terms of the shekel of the sanctuary ((CR)the shekel is twenty [ad]gerahs), 48 and you shall give the money, the redemption price of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons.” 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were in excess of the number of those redeemed by the Levites; 50 from the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the money in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, 1,365. 51 Then Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, at the [ae]command of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Duties of the Kohathites

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Take a [af]census of the [ag]descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, from (CS)thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, everyone who can enter the service of ministry to do work in the tent of meeting. This is the work of the [ah]descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things.

“When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down (CT)the veil of the curtain, and cover the (CU)ark of the testimony with it; and they shall place a (CV)covering of [ai]fine leather on it, and spread over it a cloth of pure [aj]violet, and insert its carrying poles. Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall also spread a cloth of violet and put on it the dishes, the pans, the sacrificial bowls, and the jugs for the drink offering; and (CW)the continual bread shall be on it. And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet material, and cover the same with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles. Then they shall take a violet cloth and cover the (CX)lampstand for the light, (CY)along with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all its oil containers, by which they attend to it; 10 and they shall put it and all its utensils in a covering of fine leather, and put it on the carrying [ak]bars. 11 Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles; 12 and they shall take all the utensils of service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a violet cloth and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying [al]bars. 13 Then they shall clean away the [am]ashes from the (CZ)altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall also put on it all its utensils by which they serve in connection with it: the firepans, the forks, shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a cover of fine leather over it and insert its carrying poles. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them by the poles, so that they will not touch the holy objects (DA)and die. These are the [an]things in the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 “Now the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is (DB)the oil for the light, the (DC)fragrant incense, (DD)the continual grain offering, and (DE)the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the [ao]tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 “Do not let the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be eliminated from among the Levites. 19 Rather, do this for them so that they will live and (DF)not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; 20 but (DG)they shall not come in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Duties of the Gershonites

21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a [ap]census of the sons of Gershon [aq]also, by their fathers’ households, by their families; 23 from (DH)thirty years old and upward to fifty years old you shall [ar]count them: all who can enter to perform service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying: 25 they shall carry (DI)the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and (DJ)the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 and (DK)the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes and all the equipment for their service; and everything that is to be done [as]by them, [at]they shall perform. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, that is, all their loads and all their work, shall be performed at the [au]command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a duty all their loads. 28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their duties shall be [av]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Duties of the Merarites

29 As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; 30 from (DL)thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, you shall count them, everyone who can enter the service to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31 Now this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its bases, 32 and the pillars around the courtyard and their bases, their pegs, and their ropes, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign by names of the men the items [aw]that each is to carry. 33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tent of meeting, [ax]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families and by their fathers’ households, 35 from (DM)thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting. 36 Their numbered men by their families were 2,750. 37 These were the numbered men of the Kohathite families, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [ay]commandment of the Lord [az]through Moses.

38 And the numbered men of the sons of Gershon by their families and by their fathers’ households, 39 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 40 their numbered men by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630. 41 These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who was serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [ba]commandment of the Lord.

42 And the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari by their families, by their fathers’ households, 43 from (DN)thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting— 44 their numbered men by their families were 3,200. 45 These were the numbered men of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the [bb]commandment of the Lord [bc]through Moses.

46 All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ households, 47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the tent of meeting— 48 their numbered men were (DO)8,580. 49 According to the [bd]commandment of the Lord [be]through Moses, they (DP)were counted, everyone by his serving or carrying; so these were his numbered men, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

On Defilement

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel that they (DQ)send away from the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone having a (DR)discharge, and everyone who is (DS)unclean because of contact with a dead person. You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they do not defile their camp where I dwell (DT)in their midst.” And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as the Lord had spoken to Moses, that is what the sons of Israel did.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘(DU)When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then [bf]he shall (DV)confess [bg]his sin which [bh]he has committed, and he (DW)shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it a fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. But if the person has no [bi]redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. (DX)Also every [bj]contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. 10 So every person’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever anyone gives to the priest, it (DY)becomes his.’”

The Adultery Test

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife (DZ)goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man has (EA)sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, 14 [bk]if [bl]an attitude of (EB)jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if [bm]an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, 15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as [bn]an offering for her a tenth of an [bo]ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of reminder, (EC)a reminder of wrongdoing.

16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord, 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware container; and [bp]he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. 18 The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let down the hair of the woman’s head, and place the grain offering of reminder [bq]in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not (ED)gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority of your husband, be [br]immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; 20 if, however, you have (EE)gone astray, though under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had sexual intercourse with you” 21 (then the priest shall have the woman (EF)swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “may the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lords making your thigh [bs]shriveled and your [bt]belly swollen; 22 and this water that brings a curse shall go into your [bu]stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh [bv]shrivel.” And the woman (EG)shall say, “Amen, Amen.”

23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall [bw]wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her [bx]and cause bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; 26 and (EH)the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it will come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her [by]and cause bitterness, and her belly will swell up and her thigh will [bz]shrivel, and the woman will become (EI)a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be [ca]immune and conceive [cb]children.

29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, who is under the authority of her husband, (EJ)goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when [cc]an attitude of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all of this law to her. 31 The man, moreover, will be free of [cd]guilt, but that woman shall (EK)bear the consequences of her [ce]guilt.’”

Law of the Nazirites

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes [cf]a special vow, namely, the vow of (EL)a [cg]Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, he shall (EM)abstain from wine and [ch]strong drink; he shall [ci]consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

‘All the days of his vow of consecration (EN)no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

(EO)All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. He (EP)shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is [cj]on his head. All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then (EQ)he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; (ER)he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring (ES)two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer (ET)one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him [ck]regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, 12 and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will [cl]not count, because his consecration was defiled.

13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite (EU)when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring [cm]his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one (EV)ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of (EW)unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with (EX)their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 (EY)The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 (EZ)And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the [cn]hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. 20 Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as [co]a contribution; and (FA)afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else [cp]he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

Aaron’s Benediction

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way (FB)you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:

24 The Lord (FC)bless you, and [cq](FD)keep you;

25 The Lord (FE)cause His face to shine on you,
And (FF)be gracious to you;

26 The Lord (FG)lift up His face to you,
And (FH)give you peace.’

27 So they shall [cr](FI)invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them.”

Offerings of the Leaders

Now on (FJ)the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he (FK)anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. Then (FL)the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, (FM)made an offering (they were the leaders of the tribes; they were the [cs]supervisors over the [ct]numbered men). When they brought their offering before the Lord, six (FN)covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders and an ox for each one, then they presented them in front of the tabernacle. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Accept these things from them, that they may be [cu]used in the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to (FO)their service, and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to (FP)their service, [cv]under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But he did not give any to the sons of Kohath, because theirs was (FQ)the service of the holy objects, which they carried on the shoulder.

10 And the leaders offered the dedication offering [cw]for the altar [cx]when (FR)it was anointed, so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. 11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “They shall present their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

12 Now the one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; 13 and his offering was one silver [cy](FS)dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels (FT)in [cz]sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 14 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 15 one [da]bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 16 (FU)one male goat as a sin offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of (FV)Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering; 19 he presented as his offering one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 20 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 21 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 22 one male goat as a sin offering; 23 and for the sacrifice of (FW)peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day it was Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the sons of Zebulun; 25 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 26 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 27 one bull, one ram, and one (FX)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 28 one male goat as a sin offering; 29 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

30 On the fourth day it was Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the sons of Reuben; 31 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 32 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 33 one bull, one ram, and one (FY)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 34 one male goat as a sin offering; 35 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

36 On the fifth day it was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the sons of Simeon; 37 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 38 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 39 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 40 one male goat as a sin offering; 41 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

42 On the sixth day it was (FZ)Eliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the sons of Gad; 43 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of (GA)fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 44 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 45 (GB)one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 46 one male goat as a sin offering; 47 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

48 On the seventh day it was (GC)Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the sons of Ephraim; 49 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 50 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of (GD)incense; 51 (GE)one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 52 one male goat as a sin offering; 53 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day it was (GF)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh; 55 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 56 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of (GG)incense; 57 one bull, one ram, and one (GH)male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 58 one male goat as a sin offering; 59 and for the (GI)sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day it was (GJ)Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the sons of Benjamin; 61 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 62 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of (GK)incense; 63 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 64 one male goat as a (GL)sin offering; 65 and for the sacrifice of (GM)peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day it was (GN)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the sons of Dan; 67 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary (GO)shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 68 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of (GP)incense; 69 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 70 one male goat as a sin offering; 71 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

72 On the eleventh day it was (GQ)Pagiel the son of Ochran, leader of the sons of Asher; 73 his offering was also one silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 74 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of (GR)incense; 75 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 76 one male goat as a sin offering; 77 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

78 On the twelfth day it was (GS)Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the sons of Naphtali; 79 his offering was also one (GT)silver dish whose weight was 130 shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels in sanctuary shekels, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 80 one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; 81 one bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering; 82 one male goat as a sin offering; 83 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was (GU)the dedication offering [db]for the altar from the leaders of Israel [dc]when (GV)it was anointed: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold pans, 85 each silver dish weighing 130 shekels and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the utensils totaled 2,400 in sanctuary shekels; 86 the twelve gold pans full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece in sanctuary (GW)shekels, all the gold of the pans totaled 120 shekels. 87 All the oxen for the burnt offering totaled twelve bulls, all the rams, twelve, the male lambs one year old with their grain offering, twelve, and the male goats as a sin offering, twelve; 88 and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings totaled twenty-four bulls, all the rams, sixty, the male goats, sixty, and the male lambs one year old, sixty. (GX)This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

89 Now when (GY)Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above (GZ)the [dd]atoning cover that was on the ark of the testimony, from (HA)between the two [de]cherubim; so He spoke to him.

The Seven Lamps

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you [df]mount the lamps, the seven lamps will (HB)provide light in the front of the lampstand.’” Therefore Aaron did so; he [dg]mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. (HC)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flower ornamentation it was hammered work; (HD)according to the [dh]pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Cleansing the Levites

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (HE)cleanse them. This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle [di]purifying (HF)water on them, and have them [dj](HG)use a razor over their whole [dk]body, and they shall (HH)wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. Then have them take a [dl]bull with (HI)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second [dm]bull as a sin offering. So (HJ)you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. (HK)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel (HL)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [dn]present the Levites before the Lord as a (HM)wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may [do]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12 Now (HN)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.

14 “So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (HO)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (HP)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (HQ)exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (HR)instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (HS)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 And (HT)I have given the Levites as [dp]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no (HU)affliction among the sons of Israel due to [dq]their approaching the sanctuary.”

20 So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (HV)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Retirement for the Levites

23 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: from (HW)twenty-five years old and upward [dr]they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25 But at the age of fifty years they shall [ds]retire from service in the work and not work anymore. 26 They may, however, [dt]assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, (HX)to fulfill an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. In this way you shall deal with the Levites in their obligations.”

The Passover

Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in (HY)the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Now the sons of Israel are to [du]celebrate the Passover at (HZ)its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, [dv]at twilight, you shall celebrate it at its appointed time; you shall celebrate it in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances.” So Moses [dw]told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover. And (IA)they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; (IB)in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. But there were some men who were (IC)unclean because of contact with a [dx]dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and (ID)they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of a [dy]dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” Moses then said to them, “[dz](IE)Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead [ea]person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the (IF)fourteenth day at twilight, they shall celebrate it; they (IG)shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They (IH)shall not leave any of it until morning, (II)nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover. 13 (IJ)But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that [eb]person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That person (IK)will bear the responsibility for his sin. 14 And (IL)if a stranger resides among you and [ec]celebrates the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have [ed]the (IM)same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

15 Now on (IN)the day that the tabernacle was erected, (IO)the cloud covered the tabernacle, the (IP)tent of the testimony, and (IQ)in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. 16 That is how it was continuously; (IR)the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 (IS)Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. 18 At the [ee]command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the [ef]command of the Lord they would camp; (IT)as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. 19 Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, [eg]the sons of Israel would comply with the Lords ordinance and not set out. 20 If [eh]sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, (IU)in accordance with the [ei]command of the Lord they remained camped. Then in accordance with the [ej]command of the Lord they set out. 21 If [ek]sometimes the cloud [el]remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning they would set out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. 22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but (IV)when it was lifted, they did set out. 23 (IW)At the [em]command of the Lord they camped, and at the [en]command of the Lord they set out; they did what the Lord required, in accordance with the [eo]command of the Lord through Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying, “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for (IX)summoning the congregation and breaking camp. Now (IY)when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if only one is blown, then the (IZ)leaders, the heads of the [ep]divisions of Israel, shall meet you. And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched (JA)on the east side shall set out. Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on (JB)the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp. When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without (JC)sounding an alarm. (JD)The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who (JE)attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be (JF)thought of by the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies. 10 Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed [eq]feasts, and on the first days of your months, (JG)you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:2 Lit sum
  2. Numbers 1:3 Lit muster, and so throughout the ch
  3. Numbers 1:16 Lit thousands; or clans
  4. Numbers 1:49 Lit sum
  5. Numbers 1:50 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
  6. Numbers 1:50 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
  7. Numbers 1:51 Lit stranger
  8. Numbers 1:52 Or division
  9. Numbers 2:2 Or division, and so throughout the ch
  10. Numbers 2:2 Or facing it
  11. Numbers 2:4 Lit mustered, and so throughout the ch
  12. Numbers 2:14 Many mss (cf. 1:14); some ancient versions Reuel
  13. Numbers 3:3 Lit filled their hand
  14. Numbers 3:4 I.e., prohibited
  15. Numbers 3:4 Lit before the face
  16. Numbers 3:7 Lit him and the duties of the whole congregation
  17. Numbers 3:10 Or perform
  18. Numbers 3:10 Lit stranger
  19. Numbers 3:15 Lit muster, and so throughout the ch
  20. Numbers 3:16 Lit mouth
  21. Numbers 3:23 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
  22. Numbers 3:26 Lit of it
  23. Numbers 3:30 In Ex 6:22, Elzaphan
  24. Numbers 3:31 I.e., the veil between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place
  25. Numbers 3:31 Lit of it
  26. Numbers 3:38 Lit stranger
  27. Numbers 3:39 Lit mouth
  28. Numbers 3:40 Lit take up the number
  29. Numbers 3:46 Or ransom
  30. Numbers 3:47 A gerah is about 0.025 oz. or 0.7 gm
  31. Numbers 3:51 Lit mouth
  32. Numbers 4:2 Lit sum
  33. Numbers 4:2 Lit sons
  34. Numbers 4:4 Lit sons
  35. Numbers 4:6 Meaning of the Heb uncertain, and so throughout the ch
  36. Numbers 4:6 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
  37. Numbers 4:10 Or frame
  38. Numbers 4:12 Or frame
  39. Numbers 4:13 Or fatty ashes; i.e., soaked with fat
  40. Numbers 4:15 Lit burden...of the sons
  41. Numbers 4:16 Lit dwelling place, and so throughout the ch
  42. Numbers 4:22 Lit sum
  43. Numbers 4:22 Lit also them
  44. Numbers 4:23 Lit muster, and so throughout the ch
  45. Numbers 4:26 Or to them
  46. Numbers 4:26 Lit so they shall serve
  47. Numbers 4:27 Lit mouth
  48. Numbers 4:28 Lit in the hand
  49. Numbers 4:32 Lit of the duty of their loads
  50. Numbers 4:33 Lit in the hand
  51. Numbers 4:37 Lit mouth
  52. Numbers 4:37 Lit by the hand of
  53. Numbers 4:41 Lit mouth
  54. Numbers 4:45 Lit mouth
  55. Numbers 4:45 Lit by the hand of
  56. Numbers 4:49 Lit mouth
  57. Numbers 4:49 Lit by the hand of
  58. Numbers 5:7 Lit they
  59. Numbers 5:7 Lit their
  60. Numbers 5:7 Lit they have
  61. Numbers 5:8 I.e., male relative to act in his behalf
  62. Numbers 5:9 Or uplifted offering
  63. Numbers 5:14 Lit and
  64. Numbers 5:14 Lit a spirit
  65. Numbers 5:14 Lit a spirit
  66. Numbers 5:15 Lit her offering
  67. Numbers 5:15 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  68. Numbers 5:17 Lit the priest
  69. Numbers 5:18 Lit on her palms
  70. Numbers 5:19 Lit free from
  71. Numbers 5:21 Lit collapsed
  72. Numbers 5:21 Possibly the womb, and so throughout the ch
  73. Numbers 5:22 Or inward parts
  74. Numbers 5:22 Lit collapse
  75. Numbers 5:23 Lit wipe
  76. Numbers 5:24 Lit for bitterness
  77. Numbers 5:27 Lit for bitterness
  78. Numbers 5:27 Lit collapse
  79. Numbers 5:28 Lit free
  80. Numbers 5:28 Lit seed
  81. Numbers 5:30 Lit a spirit
  82. Numbers 5:31 Or wrongdoing
  83. Numbers 5:31 Or wrongdoing
  84. Numbers 6:2 Or an extraordinary
  85. Numbers 6:2 I.e., one consecrated to God
  86. Numbers 6:3 I.e., other alcoholic drink
  87. Numbers 6:3 Lit drink
  88. Numbers 6:7 I.e., referring either to the visibility of the long hair, or to the consequences of violating the vow
  89. Numbers 6:11 Lit because of that which he sinned
  90. Numbers 6:12 Lit fall
  91. Numbers 6:13 Lit it
  92. Numbers 6:19 Lit palms
  93. Numbers 6:20 Or an uplifted offering
  94. Numbers 6:21 Lit his hand reaches
  95. Numbers 6:24 Or watch over; or take care of
  96. Numbers 6:27 Lit put
  97. Numbers 7:2 Lit ones standing
  98. Numbers 7:2 Lit mustered
  99. Numbers 7:5 Lit for serving
  100. Numbers 7:8 Lit by the hand
  101. Numbers 7:10 Lit of
  102. Numbers 7:10 Lit in the day that
  103. Numbers 7:13 Or platter, and so through v 85
  104. Numbers 7:13 About 0.5 oz. or 14 gm, and so through v 86
  105. Numbers 7:15 Lit bull, a son of the herd, and so through v 81
  106. Numbers 7:84 Lit of
  107. Numbers 7:84 Lit in the day that
  108. Numbers 7:89 Also called mercy seat; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
  109. Numbers 7:89 Heb plural of cherub
  110. Numbers 8:2 Lit put up
  111. Numbers 8:3 Lit put up
  112. Numbers 8:4 Lit appearance
  113. Numbers 8:7 Lit water of expiation
  114. Numbers 8:7 Lit cause to pass
  115. Numbers 8:7 Lit flesh
  116. Numbers 8:8 Lit bull, a son of the herd
  117. Numbers 8:8 Lit bull, a son of the herd
  118. Numbers 8:11 Lit wave, and so throughout the ch
  119. Numbers 8:11 Lit be to perform
  120. Numbers 8:19 Lit given ones
  121. Numbers 8:19 Lit the sons of Israel’s
  122. Numbers 8:24 Lit he
  123. Numbers 8:25 Lit return
  124. Numbers 8:26 Lit serve
  125. Numbers 9:2 Lit perform, and so throughout the ch
  126. Numbers 9:3 Lit between the two evenings, and so throughout the ch
  127. Numbers 9:4 Lit spoke to
  128. Numbers 9:6 Lit soul of man
  129. Numbers 9:7 Lit soul of man
  130. Numbers 9:8 Lit Stand
  131. Numbers 9:10 Lit soul
  132. Numbers 9:13 Lit soul
  133. Numbers 9:14 Or would celebrate
  134. Numbers 9:14 Or one statute
  135. Numbers 9:18 Lit mouth
  136. Numbers 9:18 Lit mouth
  137. Numbers 9:19 Lit and the
  138. Numbers 9:20 Lit it was that
  139. Numbers 9:20 Lit mouth
  140. Numbers 9:20 Lit mouth
  141. Numbers 9:21 Lit it was that
  142. Numbers 9:21 Lit was
  143. Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth
  144. Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth
  145. Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth
  146. Numbers 10:4 Lit thousands; or clans
  147. Numbers 10:10 Or times

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.

Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.

10 Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

11 Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.

12 Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

13 Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.

14 Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

15 Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.

16 These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:

18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.

19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

21 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

23 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

24 Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

25 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

27 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

28 Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

29 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

31 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

32 Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

33 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

35 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

36 Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

37 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

38 Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

39 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

40 Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

41 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

42 Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

43 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

44 These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.

45 So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

46 Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

48 For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying,

49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

50 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.

53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

54 And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.

And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar.

And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun.

And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth.

10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.

11 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

12 And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

13 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

14 Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.

15 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

16 All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank.

17 Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.

18 On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.

19 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.

20 And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

21 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

22 Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.

23 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

25 The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

26 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.

28 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

29 Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.

30 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

31 All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

32 These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

34 And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.

These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.

And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

14 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

15 Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

19 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

20 And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

21 Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

22 Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.

23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

24 And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

26 And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

27 And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.

28 In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

30 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

31 And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.

34 And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

35 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

36 And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,

37 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

38 But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

39 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

40 And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

41 And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

42 And Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

43 And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

44 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

45 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.

46 And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

47 Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

48 And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

49 And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:

50 Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

51 And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:

10 And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

12 And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar:

13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:

14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

16 And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

17 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying,

18 Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:

19 But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

20 But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

21 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

22 Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;

23 From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

25 And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

26 And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve.

27 At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;

30 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

31 And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,

32 And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

35 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:

36 And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,

39 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

40 Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

41 These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord.

42 And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

43 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

44 Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

45 These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

46 All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

47 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation.

48 Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore,

49 According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:

Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.

And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty;

Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.

But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.

And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.

10 And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,

13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord:

17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

18 And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:

21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;

22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar:

26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;

30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:

He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.

He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.

And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

12 And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

14 And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

22 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;

That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:

And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.

And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.

Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:

And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.

10 And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.

11 And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.

12 And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:

13 And his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

14 One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:

15 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

16 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

17 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18 On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer:

19 He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

20 One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:

21 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

22 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

23 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer:

25 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

26 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

27 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

28 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

29 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer:

31 His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

32 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

33 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

34 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

35 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

36 On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer:

37 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

38 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

39 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

40 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

41 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:

43 His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

44 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

45 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

46 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

47 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:

49 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

50 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

51 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

52 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

53 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh:

55 His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

56 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

57 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

58 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

59 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered:

61 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

62 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

63 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

64 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

65 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered:

67 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

68 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

69 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

70 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

71 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered:

73 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

74 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

75 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

76 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

77 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

78 On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered:

79 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

80 One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

81 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

82 One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

83 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold:

85 Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

86 The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels.

87 All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.

88 And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.

89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto Aaron and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.

And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord.

12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.

13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord.

14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.

16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.

20 And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

21 And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

22 And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.

In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.

And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?

And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord.

11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.

13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

18 At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.

19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.

20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.

21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.

22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

23 At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.

When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.

And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.

And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.

It was on the fifteenth day of April[a] of the second year after the Israelis left Egypt that the Lord issued the following instructions to Moses. (He was in the Tabernacle at the camp of Israel on the Sinai peninsula at the time.)

2-15 “Take a census of all the men twenty years old and older who are able to go to war, indicating their tribe and family. You and Aaron are to direct the project, assisted by these leaders from each tribe”:

TribeLeader
ReubenElizur (son of Shedeur)
SimeonShelumiel (son of Zurishaddai)
JudahNahshon (son of Amminadab)
IssacharNethanel (son of Zuar)
ZebulunEliab (son of Helon)
Ephraim (son of Joseph)Elishama (son of Ammihud)
Manasseh (son of Joseph)Gamaliel (son of Pedahzur)
BenjaminAbidan (son of Gideoni)
DanAhiezer (son of Ammishaddai)
AsherPagiel (son of Ochran)
GadEliasaph (son of Deuel)
NaphtaliAhira (son of Enan)

16 These were the tribal leaders elected from among the people.

17-19 [b] On the same day Moses and Aaron and the above-named leaders summoned all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older to come and register, each man indicating his tribe and family, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 20-46 Here is the final tabulation:

TribeTotal
Reuben (the oldest son of Jacob)46,500
Simeon59,300
Gad45,650
Judah74,600
Issachar54,400
Zebulun57,400
Joseph: Ephraim (son of Joseph)40,500
Joseph: Manasseh (son of Joseph)32,200
Benjamin35,400
Dan62,700
Asher41,500
Naphtali53,400

Grand Total: 603,550

47-49 This total does not include the Levites, for the Lord had said to Moses, “Exempt the entire tribe of Levi from the draft, and do not include their number in the census. 50 For the Levites are assigned for the work connected with the Tabernacle and its transportation. They are to live near the Tabernacle, 51 and whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites are to take it down and set it up again; anyone else touching it shall be executed. 52 Each tribe of Israel shall have a separate camping area with its own flag. 53 The Levites’ tents shall be clustered around the Tabernacle as a wall between the people of Israel and God’s wrath—to protect them from his fierce anger against their sins.”

54 So all these instructions of the Lord to Moses were put into effect.

1-2 The Lord gave these further instructions to Moses and Aaron: “Each tribe will have its own tent area, with its flagpole and tribal banner; and at the center of these tribal compounds will be the Tabernacle.” 3-31 Here are the tribal locations:[c]

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
JudahNahshon (son of Amminadab)East side of Tabernacle74,600
IssacharNethanel (son of Zuar)Next to Judah54,400
ZebulunEliab (son of Helon)Next to Issachar57,400

So the total of all those on Judah’s side of the camp was 186,400. These three tribes led the way whenever the Israelites traveled to a new campsite.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
ReubenElizur (son of Shedeur)South side of Tabernacle46,500
SimeonShelumiel (son of Zurishaddai)Next to Reuben59,300
GadEliasaph (son of Reuel)Next to Simeon45,650

So the total of the Reuben side of the camp was 151,450. These three tribes were next in line whenever the Israelis traveled.

Next in the line of march was the Tabernacle, with the Levites. When traveling, each tribe stayed together under its own flag, just as each was separate from the others in camp.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
EphraimElishama (son of Ammihud)West side of Tabernacle40,500
ManassehGamaliel (son of Pedahzur)Next to Ephraim32,200
BenjaminAbidan (son of Gideoni)Next to Manasseh35,400

So the total on the Ephraim side of the camp was 108,100, and they were next in the line of march.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
DanAhiezer (son of Ammishaddai)North side of Tabernacle62,700
AsherPagiel (son of Ochran)Next to Dan41,500
NaphtaliAhira (son of Enan)Next to Asher53,400

So the total on Dan’s side of the camp was 157,600. They brought up the rear whenever Israel traveled. 32-33 In summary, the armies of Israel totaled 603,550 (not including the Levites, who were exempted by Jehovah’s commandment to Moses). 34 So the people of Israel set up their camps, each tribe under its own banner, in the locations indicated by the Lord to Moses.

At the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, Aaron’s sons were:[d] Nadab (his oldest), Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar. All were anointed as priests and set apart to minister at the Tabernacle. But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai when they used unholy fire. And since they had no children, this left only Eleazar and Ithamar to assist their father, Aaron.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Summon the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron as his assistants. 7-9 They will follow his instructions and perform the sacred duties at the Tabernacle on behalf of all the people of Israel. For they are assigned to him as representatives of all the people of Israel. They are in charge of all the furnishings and maintenance of the Tabernacle. 10 However, only Aaron and his sons may carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who presumes to assume this office shall be executed.”

11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have accepted the Levites in substitution for all the oldest sons of the people of Israel. The Levites are mine 13 in exchange for all the oldest sons. From the day I killed all the oldest sons of the Egyptians, I took for myself all the firstborn in Israel of both men and animals! They are mine; I am Jehovah.”

14-15 The Lord now spoke again to Moses at the Sinai peninsula, telling him, “Take a census of the tribe of Levi, indicating each person’s clan; count every male down to one month old.” 16-24 So Moses did:

Levi’s sonLevi’s grandsons (clan names)CensusLeaderCamp Location
GershonLibni, Shimei7,500Elisaph (son of Lael)West side of Tabernacle

25-30 Responsibilities:

The responsibility of these two clans of Levites was the care of the Tabernacle: its coverings, its entry drapes, the drapes covering the fence surrounding the courtyard, the screen at the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle, the altar, and all the ropes used in tying the Tabernacle together.

Levi’s sonLevi’s grandsons (clan names)CensusLeaderCamp Location
KohathAmran, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel8,600Elizaphan (son of Uzziel)South side of Tabernacle

31-35 Responsibilities:

The responsibility of these four clans of Levites was the care of the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the various utensils used in the Tabernacle, the veil, and any repairs needed on any of these items. (Note: Eleazar, Aaron’s son, shall be the chief administrator over the leaders of the Levites, with special responsibility for the oversight of the sanctuary.)

Levi’s sonLevi’s grandsons (clan names)CensusLeaderCamp Location
MerariMahli, Mushi6,200Zuriel (son of Abihail)North side of Tabernacle

36-37 Responsibilities:

The responsibility of these two clans was the care of the frames of the Tabernacle building; the posts; the bases for the posts, and all of the equipment needed for their use; the posts around the courtyard and their bases, pegs, and ropes.

38 The area east of the Tabernacle was reserved for the tents of Moses and of Aaron and his sons, who had the final responsibility for the Tabernacle on behalf of the people of Israel. (Anyone who was not a priest or Levite, but came into the Tabernacle, was to be executed.)

39 So all the Levites, as numbered by Moses and Aaron at the command of the Lord, were 22,000 males one month old and older.

40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now take a census of all the eldest sons in Israel who are one month old and older, and register each name. 41 The Levites shall be mine (I am Jehovah) as substitutes for the eldest sons of Israel; and the Levites’ cattle are mine as substitutes for the firstborn cattle of the whole nation.”

42 So Moses took a census of the eldest sons of the people of Israel, as the Lord had commanded, 43 and found the total number of eldest sons one month old and older to be 22,273.

44 Now the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Give me the Levites instead of the eldest sons of the people of Israel; and give me the cattle of the Levites instead of the firstborn cattle of the people of Israel; yes, the Levites shall be mine; I am Jehovah. 46 To redeem the 273 eldest sons in excess of the number of Levites, 47-48 pay five dollars for each one to Aaron and his sons.”

49 So Moses received redemption money for the 273 eldest sons of Israel who were in excess of the number of Levites. (All the others were redeemed because the Levites had been given to the Lord in their place.) 50 The money collected came to a total of $1,365.$1,365, literally, “1,365 shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary.” 51 And Moses gave it to Aaron and his sons as the Lord had commanded.

1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take a census of the Kohath division of the Levite tribe. This census will be of all males from ages thirty to fifty who are able to work in the Tabernacle. These are their sacred duties:

“When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons will enter the Tabernacle first and take down the veil and cover the Ark with it. Then they will cover the veil with goatskin leather, cover the goatskins with a blue cloth, and place the carrying poles of the Ark in their rings.

“Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and place the dishes, spoons, bowls, cups, and the Bread upon the cloth. They will spread a scarlet cloth over that, and finally a covering of goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they shall insert the carrying poles into the table.

“Next they must cover with a blue cloth the lampstand, the lamps, snuffers, trays, and the reservoir of olive oil. 10 This entire group of objects shall then be covered with goatskin leather, and the bundle shall be placed upon a carrying frame.

11 “They must then spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with a covering of goatskin leather, and insert the carrying poles into the altar. 12 All of the remaining utensils of the Tabernacle are to be wrapped in a blue cloth, covered with goatskin leather, and placed on the carrying frame.

13 “The ashes are to be removed from the altar, and the altar shall be covered with a purple cloth. 14 All of the altar utensils are to be placed upon the cloth—the firepans, hooks, shovels, basins, and other containers—and a cover of goatskin leather will be spread over them. Finally, the carrying poles are to be put in place. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished packing the sanctuary and all the utensils, the clan of Kohath shall come and carry the units to wherever the camp is traveling; but they must not touch the holy items, lest they die. This, then, is the sacred work of the sons of Kohath.

16 “Aaron’s son Eleazar shall be responsible for the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil—in fact, the supervision of the entire Tabernacle and everything in it will be his responsibility.”

17-19 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Don’t let the families of Kohath destroy themselves! This is what you must do so that they will not die when they carry the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in with them and point out what each is to carry. 20 Otherwise they must never enter the sanctuary for even a moment, lest they look at the sacred objects there and die.”

21-23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take a census of the Gershonite division of the tribe of Levi, all of the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible for the sacred work of the Tabernacle. 24 These will be their duties:

25 “They will carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the goatskin leather roof, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance. 26 They are also to carry the drapes covering the courtyard fence, and the curtain across the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the altar and the Tabernacle. They will also carry the altar, the ropes, and all of the accessories. They are fully responsible for the transportation of these items. 27 Aaron or any of his sons may assign the Gershonites’ tasks to them, 28 but the Gershonites will be directly responsible to Aaron’s son Ithamar.

29 “Now take a census of the Merari division of the Levite tribe, all of the men from thirty to fifty who are eligible for the Tabernacle service. 30-31 When the Tabernacle is moved, they are to carry the frames of the Tabernacle, the bars, the bases, 32 the frames for the courtyard fence with their bases, pegs, cords, and everything else connected with their use and repair. Assign duties to each man by name. 33 The Merari division will also report to Aaron’s son Ithamar.”

34 So Moses and Aaron and the other leaders took a census of the Kohath division, 35 including all of the men thirty to fifty years of age who were eligible for the Tabernacle service, 36 and found that the total number was 2,750. 37 All this was done to carry out the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 38-41 A similar census of the Gershon division totaled 2,630. 42-45 And of the Merari division, 3,200. 46-48 Thus Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel found that the total of all the Levites who were thirty to fifty years old and who were eligible for the Tabernacle service and transportation was 8,580. 49 This census was taken in response to the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

1-2 These are further instructions from the Lord to Moses: “Inform the people of Israel that they must expel all lepers from the camp, and all who have open sores, or who have been defiled by touching a dead person. This applies to men and women alike. Remove them so that they will not defile the camp where I live among you.” These instructions were put into effect.

5-6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that when anyone, man or woman, betrays the Lord by betraying a trust, it is sin. He must confess his sin and make full repayment for what he has stolen,[f] adding 20 percent and returning it to the person he took it from. But if the person he wronged is dead,[g] and there is no near relative to whom the payment can be made, it must be given to the priest, along with a lamb for atonement. 9-10 When the people of Israel bring a gift to the Lord it shall go to the priests.”

11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that if a man’s wife commits adultery, 13 but there is no proof, there being no witness, 14 and he is jealous and suspicious, 15 the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering for her of a tenth of a bushel of barley meal without oil or frankincense mingled with it—for it is a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth[h] as to whether or not she is guilty.

16 “The priest shall bring her before the Lord, 17 and take holy water in a clay jar and mix into it dust from the floor of the Tabernacle. 18 He shall unbind her hair and place the suspicion offering in her hands to determine whether or not her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest shall stand before her holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse. 19 He shall require her to swear that she is innocent, and then he shall say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you except your husband, be free from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21-22 then Jehovah shall make you a curse among your people, for he will make your thigh rot away and your body swell.’ And the woman shall be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ 23 Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 (When he requires the woman to drink the water, it becomes bitter within her if she is guilty.[i])

25 “Then the priest shall take the suspicion offering from the woman’s hand and wave it before Jehovah, and carry it to the altar. 26 He shall take a handful, representing all of it, and burn the handful upon the altar, and then require the woman to drink the water. 27 If she has been defiled, having committed adultery against her husband, the water will become bitter within her, and her body will swell and her thigh will rot, and she shall be a curse among her people. 28 But if she is pure and has not committed adultery, she shall be unharmed and will soon become pregnant.

29 “This, then, is the law concerning a wayward wife—or a husband’s suspicions against his wife— 30 to determine whether or not she has been unfaithful to him. He shall bring her before the Lord and the priest shall handle the situation as outlined above. 31 Her husband shall not be brought to trial for causing her horrible disease, for she is responsible.”

1-2 The Lord gave Moses these further instructions for the people of Israel: “When either a man or a woman takes the special vow of a Nazirite, consecrating himself to the Lord in a special way, 3-4 he must not thereafter, during the entire period of his special consecration to the Lord, taste strong drink or wine or even fresh wine, grape juice, grapes, or raisins! He may eat nothing that comes from grapevines, not even the seeds or skins!

“Throughout that time he must never cut his hair, for he is holy and consecrated to the Lord; that is why he must let his hair grow.

6-7 “And he may not go near any dead body during the entire period of his vow, even if it is the body of his father, mother, brother, or sister; for his vow of consecration remains in effect, and he is consecrated to the Lord throughout the entire period. If he is defiled by having someone fall dead beside him, then seven days later he shall shave his defiled head; he will then be cleansed from the contamination of being in the presence of death. 10 The next day, the eighth day, he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 11 The priest shall offer one of the birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for his defilement. And he must renew his vows that day and let his hair begin to grow again. 12 The days of his vow that were fulfilled before his defilement no longer count. He must begin all over again with a new vow, and must bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering.

13 “At the conclusion of the period of his vow of separation to the Lord, he must go to the entrance of the Tabernacle 14 and offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, a year-old lamb without defect. He must also offer a sin offering, a yearling ewe lamb without defect; a peace offering, a ram without defect; 15 a basket of bread made without yeast; pancakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil; unleavened wafers spread with oil; and the accompanying grain offering and drink offerings. 16 The priest shall present these offerings before the Lord: first the sin offering and the burnt offering; 17 then the ram for a peace offering, along with the basket of bread made without yeast; and finally the grain offering along with the drink offering.

18 “Then the Nazirite shall shave his long hair—the sign of his vow of separation. This shall be done at the entrance of the Tabernacle, after which the hair shall be put in the fire under the peace offering sacrifice. 19 After the man’s head has been shaved, the priest shall take the roasted shoulder of the lamb, one of the pancakes (made without yeast), and one of the wafers (also made without yeast), and put them all into the man’s hands. 20 The priest shall then wave it all back and forth before the Lord in a gesture of offering; all of it is a holy portion for the priest, as are the rib piece and shoulder that were waved before the Lord. After that the Nazirite may again drink wine, for he is freed from his vow.

21 “These are the regulations concerning a Nazirite and his sacrifices at the conclusion of his period of special dedication. In addition to these sacrifices he must bring any further offering he promised at the time he took his vow to become a Nazirite.”

22-23 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons that they are to give this special blessing to the people of Israel: 24-26 ‘May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.’ 27 This is how Aaron and his sons shall call down my blessings[j] upon the people of Israel; and I myself will personally bless them.”

Moses anointed and sanctified each part of the Tabernacle, including the altar and its utensils, on the day he finished setting it up. Then the leaders of Israel—the chiefs of the tribes, the men who had organized the census—brought their offerings. They brought six covered wagons, each drawn by two oxen—a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each one; and they presented them to the Lord in front of the Tabernacle.

4-5 “Accept their gifts,” the Lord told Moses, “and use these wagons for the work of the Tabernacle. Give them to the Levites for whatever needs they may have.”

So Moses presented the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen were given to the Gershon division for their use, and four wagons and eight oxen were given to the Merari division, which was under the leadership of Ithamar, Aaron’s son. None of the wagons or teams was given to the Kohath division, for they were required to carry their portion of the Tabernacle upon their shoulders.

10 The leaders also presented dedication gifts on the day the altar was anointed, placing them before the altar. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “Let each of them bring his gift on a different day for the dedication of the altar.”

12 So Nahshon, the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah, brought his gift the first day. 13 It consisted of a silver platter weighing three pounds and a silver bowl of about two pounds, both filled with grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil. 14 He also brought a tiny[k] gold box of incense which weighed only about four ounces. 15 He brought a young bull, a ram, and a male yearling lamb as burnt offerings; 16 a male goat for a sin offering; 17 and for the peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male yearling lambs.

18-23 The next day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of the tribe of Issachar, brought his gifts and offerings. They were exactly the same as Nahshon had presented on the previous day.[l]

24-29 On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the tribe of Zebulun, came with his offerings—the same as those presented on the previous days.

30-35 On the fourth day the gifts were presented by Elizur, son of Shedeur, chief of the tribe of Reuben; his gifts and offerings were the same as those given on the previous days.

36-41 On the fifth day came Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the tribe of Simeon, with the same gifts.

42-47 The next day it was Eliasaph’s turn, son of Deuel, chief of the tribe of Gad. He, too, offered the same gifts and sacrifices.

48-53 On the seventh day, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the tribe of Ephraim, brought his gifts, the same as those presented on the previous days.

54-59 Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur, prince of the tribe of Manasseh, came the eighth day with the same offerings.

60-65 On the ninth day it was Abidan the son of Gideoni, chief of the tribe of Benjamin, with his gifts, the same as those offered by the others.

66-71 Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, brought his gifts on the tenth day. He was the chief of the tribe of Dan and his offerings were the same as those on the previous days.

72-77 Pagiel, son of Ochran, chief of the tribe of Asher, brought his gifts on the eleventh day—the same gifts and offerings as the others.

78-83 On the twelfth day came Ahira, son of Enan, chief of the tribe of Naphtali, with his offerings; they were identical to those brought by the others.

84-86 So, beginning the day the altar was anointed, it was dedicated by these gifts from the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. Their combined offerings were as follows:

12 silver platters (each weighing about three pounds);

12 silver bowls (each weighing about two pounds); (so the total weight of the silver was about sixty pounds);

12 gold trays (the trays weighing about four ounces apiece); (so the total weight of gold was about three pounds).

87 For the burnt offerings they brought:

12 bulls, 12 rams,

12 yearling male goats (with the grain offerings that accompanied them).

For sin offerings they brought:

12 male goats.

88 For the peace offerings they brought:

24 young bulls,

60 rams, 60 male goats,

60 male lambs one year old.

89 When Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with God, he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the place of mercy over the Ark, between the statues of the two Guardian Angels.

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron that when he lights the seven lamps in the lampstand, he is to set them so that they will throw their light forward.”

So Aaron did this. The lampstand, including the floral decorations on the base and branches, was made entirely of beaten gold. It was constructed according to the exact design the Lord had shown Moses.

5-6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now set apart the Levites from the other people of Israel. Do this by sprinkling water of purification upon them, then having them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothing and themselves. Have them bring a young bull and a grain offering of fine flour mingled with oil, along with another young bull for a sin offering. Then bring the Levites to the door of the Tabernacle as all the people watch. 10 There the leaders[m] of the tribes shall lay their hands upon them, 11 and Aaron, with a gesture of offering, shall present them to the Lord as a gift from the entire nation of Israel. The Levites will represent all the people in serving the Lord.

12 “Next, the Levite leaders shall lay their hands upon the heads of the young bulls and offer them before the Lord; one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Then the Levites are to be presented to Aaron and his sons, just as any other gift to the Lord is given to the priests! 14 In this way you will dedicate the Levites from among the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15 After you have sanctified them and presented them in this way, they shall go in and out of the Tabernacle to do their work.

16 “They are mine from among all the people of Israel, and I have accepted them in place of all the firstborn children of the Israelites: I have taken the Levites as their substitutes. 17 For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both men and animals; I claimed them for myself the night I killed all the firstborn Egyptians. 18 Yes, I have accepted the Levites in place of all the eldest sons of Israel. 19 And I will give the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons. The Levites will carry out the sacred duties required of the people of Israel in the Tabernacle, and will offer the people’s sacrifices, making atonement for them. There will be no plague among the Israelites—as there would be if the ordinary people entered the Tabernacle.”

20 So Moses and Aaron and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, carefully following Jehovah’s instructions to Moses. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them to the Lord in a gesture of offering. He then performed the rite of atonement over them to purify them. 22 After that they went into the Tabernacle as assistants to Aaron and his sons; everything was done just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

23-24 The Lord also instructed Moses, “The Levites are to begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five, and are to retire at the age of fifty. 25-26 After retirement they can assist with various light duties in the Tabernacle, but will have no regular responsibilities.”

Jehovah gave these instructions to Moses while he and the rest of the Israelis were on the Sinai peninsula, during the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt: 2-3 “The people of Israel must celebrate the Passover annually on April first,[n] beginning in the evening. Be sure to follow all of my instructions concerning this celebration.”

4-5 So Moses announced that the Passover celebration would begin on the evening of April first, there in the Sinai peninsula, just as the Lord had commanded. 6-7 But as it happened, some of the men had just attended a funeral and were ceremonially defiled by having touched the dead, so they couldn’t eat the Passover lamb that night. They came to Moses and Aaron and explained their problem and protested at being forbidden from offering their sacrifice to the Lord at the time he had appointed.

Moses said he would ask the Lord about it, and this was God’s reply: 10 “If any of the people of Israel, now or in the generations to come, are defiled at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present, they may still celebrate the Passover, but one month later, 11 on May first,[o] beginning in the evening. They are to eat the lamb at that time, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it until the next morning, and must not break a bone of it, and must follow all the regular instructions concerning the Passover.

13 “But anyone who is not defiled, and anyone who is not away on a trip, and yet refuses to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, shall be excommunicated from the people of Israel for refusing to sacrifice to Jehovah at the proper time; he must bear his guilt. 14 And if a foreigner is living among you and wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, he shall follow all these same instructions. There is one law for all.”

15 On the day the Tabernacle was raised the Cloud covered it; and that evening the Cloud changed to the appearance of fire, and stayed that way throughout the night. 16 It was always so—the daytime Cloud changing to the appearance of fire at night. 17 When the Cloud lifted, the people of Israel moved on to wherever it stopped, and camped there. 18 In this way they journeyed at the command of the Lord and stopped where he told them to, then remained there as long as the Cloud stayed. 19 If it stayed a long time, then they stayed a long time. But if it stayed only a few days, then they remained only a few days; for so the Lord had instructed them. 20-21 Sometimes the fire-cloud stayed only during the night and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when it moved, the people broke camp and followed. 22 If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved. 23 So it was that they camped or traveled at the commandment of the Lord; and whatever the Lord told Moses they should do, they did.

10 1-2 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Make two trumpets of beaten silver to be used for summoning the people to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp. When both trumpets are blown, the people will know that they are to gather at the entrance of the Tabernacle. But if only one is blown, then only the chiefs of the tribes of Israel shall come to you.

5-7 “Different trumpet blasts will be necessary to distinguish between the summons to assemble and the signal to break camp and move onward.[p] When the travel signal is blown, the tribes camped on the east side of the Tabernacle shall leave first; at the second signal, the tribes on the south shall go. Only the priests are permitted to blow the trumpets. This is a permanent instruction to be followed from generation to generation.

“When you arrive in the Promised Land and go to war against your enemies, God will hear you and save you from your enemies when you sound the alarm with these trumpets. 10 Use the trumpets in times of gladness, too, blowing them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month to rejoice over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. And God will be reminded of his covenant with you. For I am Jehovah, your God.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 1:1 fifteenth day of April, literally, “on the first day of the second month” (of the Jewish calendar). So also for vv. 17-19 On the same day.
  2. Numbers 1:17 Added in the Hebrew text is this sentence: “So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.”
  3. Numbers 2:3 Here are the tribal locations, implied. Reuel. Deuel in ch. 1.
  4. Numbers 3:2 Aaron’s sons were, literally, “These are the generations of Aaron and Moses.”
  5. Numbers 3:50 $1,365, literally, “1,365 shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary.”
  6. Numbers 5:7 for what he has stolen, literally, “for his wrong.”
  7. Numbers 5:8 But if the person he wronged is dead, implied.
  8. Numbers 5:15 a suspicion offering—to bring out the truth, literally, “an offering of remembrance.”
  9. Numbers 5:24 if she is guilty, implied.
  10. Numbers 6:27 shall call down my blessings, literally, “shall put my name upon the people of Israel.”
  11. Numbers 7:14 tiny, implied.
  12. Numbers 7:18 The original text repeats the lists of the offerings recorded in vv. 13-17.
  13. Numbers 8:10 There the leaders, implied. Also in v. 12.
  14. Numbers 9:2 on April first, literally, “on the fourteenth day of the first month” (of the Hebrew calendar). This corresponds approximately to our first day of April.
  15. Numbers 9:11 May first, literally, “on the fourteenth day of the second month” (of the Hebrew calendar).
  16. Numbers 10:5 and the signal to break camp and move onward, more literally, v. 7 reads: “But when the Assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow but you shall not sound the alarm.”