txt/Tanakh/Torah/Numbers/English/Tanakh The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS.txt

Numbers
במדבר
Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
https://jps.org/books/tanakh-the-holy-scriptures-blue/

Numbers



Chapter 1

On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., its tribes.</i>its ancestral houses,<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> listing the names, every male, head by head.
You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms.
Associated with you shall be a man from each tribe, each one the head of his ancestral house.
These are the names of the men who shall assist you:<br>From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur.
From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab.
From Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar.
From Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.
From the sons of Joseph:<br>from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;<br>from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
From Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.
From Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
From Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran.
From Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
From Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
Those are the elected of the assembly, the chieftains of their ancestral tribes: they are the heads of the contingents of Israel.
So Moses and Aaron took those men, who were designated by name,
and on the first day of the second month they convoked the whole community, who were registered by the clans of their ancestral houses—the names of those aged twenty years and over being listed head by head.
As the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses, so he recorded them in the wilderness of Sinai.
They totaled as follows:<br>The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s first-born, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, head by head, all males aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Reuben: 46,500.
Of the descendants of Simeon, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, their enrollment as listed by name, head by head, all males aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Simeon: 59,300.
Of the descendants of Gad, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Gad: 45,650.
Of the descendants of Judah, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Judah: 74,600.
Of the descendants of Issachar, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Issachar: 54,400.
Of the descendants of Zebulun, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Zebulun: 57,400.
Of the descendants of Joseph:<br>Of the descendants of Ephraim, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Ephraim: 40,500.
Of the descendants of Manasseh, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Manasseh: 32,200.
Of the descendants of Benjamin, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Benjamin: 35,400.
Of the descendants of Dan, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Dan: 62,700.
Of the descendants of Asher, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Asher: 41,500.
[Of] the descendants of Naphtali, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house as listed by name, aged twenty years and over, all who were able to bear arms—
those enrolled from the tribe of Naphtali: 53,400.
Those are the enrollments recorded by Moses and Aaron and by the chieftains of Israel, who were twelve in number, one man to each ancestral house.
All the Israelites, aged twenty years and over, enrolled by ancestral houses, all those in Israel who were able to bear arms—
all who were enrolled came to 603,550.
The Levites, however, were not recorded among them by their ancestral tribe.
For the L<small>ORD</small> had spoken to Moses, saying:
Do not on any account enroll the tribe of Levi or take a census of them with the Israelites.
You shall put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Pact, all its furnishings, and everything that pertains to it: they shall carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it; and they shall camp around the Tabernacle.
When the Tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the Tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death.
The Israelites shall encamp troop by troop, each man with his division and each under his standard.
The Levites, however, shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Pact, that wrath may not strike the Israelite community; the Levites shall stand guard around the Tabernacle of the Pact.
The Israelites did accordingly; just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses, so they did.

Chapter 2

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
The Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.
Camped on the front, or east side: the standard of the division of Judah, troop by troop.<br>Chieftain of the Judites: Nahshon son of Amminadab.
His troop, as enrolled: 74,600.
Camping next to it:<br>The tribe of Issachar.<br>Chieftain of the Issacharites: Nethanel son of Zuar.
His troop, as enrolled: 54,400.
The tribe of Zebulun.<br>Chieftain of the Zebulunites: Eliab son of Helon.
His troop, as enrolled: 57,400.
The total enrolled in the division of Judah: 186,400, for all troops. These shall march first.
On the south: the standard of the division of Reuben, troop by troop.<br>Chieftain of the Reubenites: Elizur son of Shedeur.
His troop, as enrolled: 46,500.
Camping next to it:<br>The tribe of Simeon.<br>Chieftain of the Simeonites: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
His troop, as enrolled: 59,300.
And the tribe of Gad.<br>Chieftain of the Gadites: Eliasaph son of Reuel.
His troop, as enrolled: 45,650.
The total enrolled in the division of Reuben: 151,450, for all troops. These shall march second.
Then, midway between the divisions, the Tent of Meeting, the division of the Levites, shall move. As they camp, so they shall march, each in position, by their standards.
On the west: the standard of the division of Ephraim, troop by troop.<br>Chieftain of the Ephraimites: Elishama son of Ammihud.
His troop, as enrolled: 40,500.
Next to it:<br>The tribe of Manasseh.<br>Chieftain of the Manassites: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
His troop, as enrolled: 32,200.
And the tribe of Benjamin.<br>Chieftain of the Benjaminites: Abidan son of Gideoni.
His troop, as enrolled: 35,400.
The total enrolled in the division of Ephraim: 108,100 for all troops. These shall march third.
On the north: the standard of the division of Dan, troop by troop.<br>Chieftain of the Danites: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
His troop, as enrolled: 62,700.
Camping next to it:<br>The tribe of Asher.<br>Chieftain of the Asherites: Pagiel son of Ochran.
His troop, as enrolled: 41,500.
And the tribe of Naphtali.<br>Chieftain of the Naphtalites: Ahira son of Enan.
His troop, as enrolled: 53,400.
The total enrolled in the division of Dan: 157,600. These shall march last, by their standards.
Those are the enrollments of the Israelites by ancestral houses. The total enrolled in the divisions, for all troops: 603,550.
The Levites, however, were not recorded among the Israelites, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.
The Israelites did accordingly; just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they marched, each with his clan according to his ancestral house.

Chapter 3

This is the line of Aaron and Moses at the time that the L<small>ORD</small> spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
These were the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar;
those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests who were ordained for priesthood.
But Nadab and Abihu died <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Others “before.”</i>by the will of<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> the L<small>ORD</small>, when they offered alien fire before the L<small>ORD</small> in the wilderness of Sinai; and they left no sons. So it was Eleazar and Ithamar who served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Advance the tribe of Levi and place them in attendance upon Aaron the priest to serve him.
They shall perform duties for him and for the whole community before the Tent of Meeting, doing the work of the Tabernacle.
They shall take charge of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting—a duty on behalf of the Israelites—doing the work of the Tabernacle.
You shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are formally assigned to him from among the Israelites.
You shall make Aaron and his sons responsible for observing their priestly duties; and any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the first-born, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine.
For every first-born is Mine: at the time that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every first-born in Israel, man and beast, to Myself, to be Mine, the L<small>ORD</small>’s.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying:
Record the Levites by ancestral house and by clan; record every male among them from the age of one month up.
So Moses recorded them at the command of the L<small>ORD</small>, as he was bidden.
These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
These were the names of the sons of Gershon by clan: Libni and Shimei.
The sons of Kohath by clan: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
The sons of Merari by clan: Mahli and Mushi.<br>These were the clans of the Levites within their ancestral houses:
To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; those were the clans of the Gershonites.
The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up, as recorded, came to 7,500.
The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the Tabernacle, to the west.
The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.
The duties of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting comprised: the tabernacle,<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">See note on Exod. 26.1.</i> the tent, its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;
the hangings of the enclosure, the screen for the entrance of the enclosure which surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the altar—all the service connected with these.
To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites, the clan of the Izharites, the clan of the Hebronites, and the clan of the Uzzielites; those were the clans of the Kohathites.
All the listed males from the age of one month up came to 8,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.
The clans of the Kohathites were to camp along the south side of the Tabernacle.
The chieftain of the ancestral house of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
Their duties comprised: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the sacred utensils that were used with them, and the screen<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the screening curtain; cf. 4–5.</i>—all the service connected with these.
The head chieftain of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, in charge of those attending to the duties of the sanctuary.
To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites; those were the clans of Merari.
The recorded entries of all their males from the age of one month up came to 6,200.
The chieftain of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp along the north side of the Tabernacle.
The assigned duties of the Merarites comprised: the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, posts, and sockets, and all its furnishings—all the service connected with these;
also the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords.
Those who were to camp before the Tabernacle, in front—before the Tent of Meeting, on the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons, attending to the duties of the sanctuary, as a duty on behalf of the Israelites; and any outsider who encroached was to be put to death.
All the Levites who were recorded, whom at the L<small>ORD</small>’s command Moses and Aaron recorded by their clans, all the males from the age of one month up, came to 22,000.
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses: Record every first-born male of the Israelite people from the age of one month up, and make a list of their names;
and take the Levites for Me, the L<small>ORD</small>, in place of every first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of every first-born among the cattle of the Israelites.
So Moses recorded all the first-born among the Israelites, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded him.
All the first-born males as listed by name, recorded from the age of one month up, came to 22,273.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Take the Levites in place of all the first-born among the Israelite people, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine, the L<small>ORD</small>’s.
And as the redemption price of the 273 Israelite first-born over and above the number of the Levites,
take five shekels per head—take this by the sanctuary weight, twenty <i>gerah</i>s to the shekel—
and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess.
So Moses took the redemption money from those over and above the ones redeemed by the Levites;
he took the money from the first-born of the Israelites, 1,365 sanctuary shekels.
And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons at the L<small>ORD</small>’s bidding, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.

Chapter 4

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
Take a [separate] census of the Kohathites among the Levites, by the clans of their ancestral house,
from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service, to perform tasks for the Tent of Meeting.
This is the responsibility of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting: the most sacred objects.
At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the Ark of the Pact with it.
They shall lay a covering of dolphin<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Exod. 25.5.</i> skin over it and spread a cloth of pure blue on top; and they shall put its poles in place.
Over the table of display they shall spread a blue cloth; they shall place upon it the bowls, the ladles, the jars, and the libation jugs; and the regular bread shall rest upon it.
They shall spread over these a crimson cloth which they shall cover with a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put the poles in place.
Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for lighting, with its lamps, its tongs, and its fire pans, as well as all the oil vessels that are used in its service.
They shall put it and all its furnishings into a covering of dolphin skin, which they shall then place on a carrying frame.
Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the altar of gold and cover it with a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put its poles in place.
They shall take all the service vessels with which the service in the sanctuary is performed, put them into a blue cloth and cover them with a covering of dolphin skin, which they shall then place on a carrying frame.
They shall remove the ashes from the [copper] altar and spread a purple cloth over it.
Upon it they shall place all the vessels that are used in its service: the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the scrapers, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar—and over it they shall spread a covering of dolphin skin; and they shall put its poles in place.
<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Continuing v. 4.</i>When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all the furnishings of the sacred objects at the breaking of camp, only then shall the Kohathites come and lift them, so that they do not come in contact with the sacred objects and die. These things in the Tent of Meeting shall be the porterage of the Kohathites.
Responsibility shall rest with Eleazar son of Aaron the priest for the lighting oil, the aromatic incense, the regular meal offering, and the anointing oil—responsibility for the whole Tabernacle and for everything consecrated that is in it or in its vessels.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
Do not let the group of Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites.
Do this with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects: let Aaron and his sons go in and assign each of them to his duties and to his porterage.
But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and <i></i><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Others “look at the sacred objects even for a moment.”</i>witness the dismantling of the sanctuary,<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> lest they die.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses:
Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their ancestral house and by their clans.
Record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of tasks for the Tent of Meeting.
These are the duties of the Gershonite clans as to labor and porterage:
they shall carry the cloths of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of dolphin skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;
the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate of the enclosure that surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the altar, and all their service equipment and all their accessories; and they shall perform the service.
All the duties of the Gershonites, all their porterage and all their service, shall be performed on orders from Aaron and his sons; you shall make them responsible for attending to all their porterage.
Those are the duties of the Gershonite clans for the Tent of Meeting; they shall attend to them under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
As for the Merarites, you shall record them by the clans of their ancestral house;
you shall record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of the duties for the Tent of Meeting.
These are their porterage tasks in connection with their various duties for the Tent of Meeting: the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Tabernacle;
the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords—all these furnishings and their service: you shall list by name the objects that are their porterage tasks.
Those are the duties of the Merarite clans, pertaining to their various duties in the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
So Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of the community recorded the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestral house,
from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting.
Those recorded by their clans came to 2,750.
That was the enrollment of the Kohathite clans, all those who performed duties relating to the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron recorded at the command of the L<small>ORD</small> through Moses.
The Gershonites who were recorded by the clans of their ancestral house,
from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting—
those recorded by the clans of their ancestral house came to 2,630.
That was the enrollment of the Gershonite clans, all those performing duties relating to the Tent of Meeting whom Moses and Aaron recorded at the command of the L<small>ORD</small>.
The enrollment of the Merarite clans by the clans of their ancestral house,
from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting—
those recorded by their clans came to 3,200.
That was the enrollment of the Merarite clans which Moses and Aaron recorded at the command of the L<small>ORD</small> through Moses.
All the Levites whom Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of Israel recorded by the clans of their ancestral houses,
from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the Tent of Meeting—
those recorded came to 8,580.
Each one was given responsibility for his service and porterage at the command of the L<small>ORD</small> through Moses, and each was recorded as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.

Chapter 5

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Instruct the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See Lev. 13, 15.</i>eruption or a discharge<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> and anyone defiled by a corpse.
Remove male and female alike; put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell.
The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the L<small>ORD</small> had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow man, thus breaking faith with the L<small>ORD</small>, and that person realizes his guilt,
he shall confess the wrong that he has done. He shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one-fifth to it, giving it to him whom he has wronged.
If the man has no kinsman<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “redeemer.”</i> to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to the L<small>ORD</small> for the priest—in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on his behalf.<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Lev. 5.15 f.</i>
So, too, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offer shall be the priest’s.
And each shall retain his sacred donations: each priest shall keep what is given to him.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:<br>If any man’s wife has gone astray and broken faith with him
in that a man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her—
but a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself; or if a fit of jealousy comes over one and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself—
the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an <i>ephah</i> of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.
The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the L<small>ORD</small>.
The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water.
After he has made the woman stand before the L<small>ORD</small>, the priest shall bare the woman’s head<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 10.6.</i> and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness <sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>that induces the spell.<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup>
The priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell.
But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself, if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you”—
here the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman, as the priest goes on to say to the woman—“may the L<small>ORD</small> make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as the L<small>ORD</small> causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend;<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>
may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”
The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness.
He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness.
Then the priest shall take from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, elevate the meal offering before the L<small>ORD</small>, and present it on the altar.
The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. Last, he shall make the woman drink the water.
Once he has made her drink the water—if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband, the spell-inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness, so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed.
This is the ritual in cases of jealousy, when a woman goes astray while married to her husband and defiles herself,
or when a fit of jealousy comes over a man and he is wrought up over his wife: the woman shall be made to stand before the L<small>ORD</small> and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her.
The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.

Chapter 6

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If anyone, man or woman, explicitly<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 22.21.</i> utters a nazirite’s vow, to set himself apart for the L<small>ORD</small>,
he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant; he shall not drink vinegar of wine or of any other intoxicant, neither shall he drink anything in which grapes have been steeped, nor eat grapes fresh or dried.
Throughout his term as nazirite, he may not eat anything that is obtained from the grapevine, even seeds or skin.<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. ḥarṣannim and zag uncertain.</i>
Throughout the term of his vow as nazirite, no razor shall touch his head; it shall remain consecrated until the completion of his term as nazirite of the L<small>ORD</small>, the hair of his head being left to grow untrimmed.
Throughout the term that he has set apart for the L<small>ORD</small>, he shall not go in where there is a dead person.
Even if his father or mother, or his brother or sister should die, he must not defile himself for them, since <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Others “his consecration unto God.”</i>hair set apart for his God<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> is upon his head:
throughout his term as nazirite he is consecrated to the L<small>ORD</small>.
If a person dies suddenly near him,<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Num. 19.14–16.</i> defiling his consecrated hair, he shall shave his head on the day he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day.
On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make expiation on his behalf for the guilt that he incurred through the corpse. That same day he shall reconsecrate his head
and rededicate to the L<small>ORD</small> his term as nazirite; and he shall bring a lamb in its first year as a penalty offering. The previous period shall be void, since his consecrated hair was defiled.
This is the ritual for the nazirite: On the day that his term as nazirite is completed, he<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Or “it,” i.e., the consecrated hair; cf. v. 19.</i> shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
As his offering to the L<small>ORD</small> he shall present: one male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; one ewe lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a sin offering; one ram without blemish for an offering of well-being;
a basket of unleavened cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; and the proper meal offerings and libations.
The priest shall present them before the L<small>ORD</small> and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering.
He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to the L<small>ORD</small>, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall also offer the meal offerings and the libations.
The nazirite shall then shave his consecrated hair, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and take the locks of his consecrated hair and put them on the fire that is under the sacrifice of well-being.
The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them on the hands of the nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair.
The priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the L<small>ORD</small>; and this shall be a sacred donation for the priest, in addition to the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of gift offering. After that the nazirite may drink wine.
Such is the obligation of a nazirite; except that he who vows an offering to the L<small>ORD</small> of what he can afford, beyond his nazirite requirements, must do exactly according to the vow that he has made beyond his obligation as a nazirite.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses:
Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:
The L<small>ORD</small> bless you and protect you!
The L<small>ORD</small> <sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Others “make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee.”</i>deal kindly and graciously with you!<sup class="endFootnote">-f</sup>
The L<small>ORD</small> <sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Others “lift up His countenance.”</i>bestow His favor<sup class="endFootnote">-g</sup> upon you and grant you peace!<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Or “friendship.”</i>
Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

Chapter 7

On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils. When he had anointed and consecrated them,
the chieftains of Israel, the heads of ancestral houses, namely, the chieftains of the tribes, those who were in charge of enrollment, drew near<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Exod. 14.10.</i>
and brought their offering before the L<small>ORD</small>: six draught carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two chieftains and an ox for each one.<br>When they had brought them before the Tabernacle,
the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses:
Accept these from them for use in the service of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the Levites according to their respective services.
Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
Two carts and four oxen he gave to the Gershonites, as required for their service,
and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the Merarites, as required for their service—under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
But to the Kohathites he did not give any; since theirs was the service of the [most] sacred objects, their porterage was by shoulder.
The chieftains also brought the dedication offering for the altar upon its being anointed. As the chieftains were presenting their offerings before the altar,
the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses: Let them present their offerings for the dedication of the altar, one chieftain each day.
The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.
On the second day, Nethanel son of Zuar, chieftain of Issachar, made his offering.
He presented as his offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.
On the third day, it was the chieftain of the Zebulunites, Eliab son of Helon.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
On the fourth day, it was the chieftain of the Reubenites, Elizur son of Shedeur.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.
On the fifth day, it was the chieftain of the Simeonites, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
On the sixth day, it was the chieftain of the Gadites, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.
On the seventh day, it was the chieftain of the Ephraimites, Elishama son of Ammihud.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.
On the eighth day, it was the chieftain of the Manassites, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
On the ninth day, it was the chieftain of the Benjaminites, Abidan son of Gideoni.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.
On the tenth day, it was the chieftain of the Danites, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
On the eleventh day, it was the chieftain of the Asherites, Pagiel son of Ochran.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.
On the twelfth day, it was the chieftain of the Naphtalites, Ahira son of Enan.
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;
one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense;
one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering;
one goat for a sin offering;
and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs. That was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.
This was the dedication offering for the altar from the chieftains of Israel upon its being anointed: silver bowls, 12; silver basins, 12; gold ladles, 12.
Silver per bowl, 130; per basin, 70. Total silver of vessels, 2,400 sanctuary shekels.
The 12 gold ladles filled with incense—10 sanctuary shekels per ladle—total gold of the ladles, 120.
Total of herd animals for burnt offerings, 12 bulls; of rams, 12; of yearling lambs, 12—with their proper meal offerings; of goats for sin offerings, 12.
Total of herd animals for sacrifices of well-being, 24 bulls; of rams, 60; of he-goats, 60; of yearling lambs, 60. That was the dedication offering for the altar after its anointing.
When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.

Chapter 8

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you mount<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Exod. 25.37.</i> the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.”
Aaron did so; he mounted the lamps at the front of the lampstand, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.—
Now this is how the lampstand was made: it was hammered work of gold, hammered from base to petal. According to the pattern that the L<small>ORD</small> had shown Moses, so was the lampstand made.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Take the Levites from among the Israelites and cleanse them.
This is what you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle on them water of purification, and let them go over their whole body with a razor, and wash their clothes; thus they shall be cleansed.
Let them take a bull of the herd, and with it a meal offering of choice flour with oil mixed in, and you take a second bull of the herd for a sin offering.
You shall bring the Levites forward before the Tent of Meeting. Assemble the whole Israelite community,
and bring the Levites forward before the L<small>ORD</small>. Let the Israelites lay their hands upon the Levites,
and let Aaron designate<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “elevate.”</i> the Levites before the L<small>ORD</small> as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may perform the service of the L<small>ORD</small>.
The Levites shall now lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; one shall be offered to the L<small>ORD</small> as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make expiation for the Levites.
You shall place the Levites in attendance upon Aaron and his sons, and designate them as an elevation offering to the L<small>ORD</small>.
Thus you shall set the Levites apart from the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine.
Thereafter the Levites shall be qualified for the service of the Tent of Meeting, once you have cleansed them and designated them as an elevation offering.
For they are formally assigned to Me from among the Israelites: I have taken them for Myself in place of all the first issue of the womb, of all the first-born of the Israelites.
For every first-born among the Israelites, man as well as beast, is Mine; I consecrated them to Myself at the time that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt.
Now I take the Levites instead of every first-born of the Israelites;
and from among the Israelites I formally assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, to perform the service for the Israelites in the Tent of Meeting and to make expiation for the Israelites, so that no plague may afflict the Israelites <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “when the Israelites come.”</i>for coming<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> too near the sanctuary.
Moses, Aaron, and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites accordingly; just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses in regard to the Levites, so the Israelites did with them.
The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; and Aaron designated them as an elevation offering before the L<small>ORD</small>, and Aaron made expiation for them to cleanse them.
Thereafter the Levites were qualified to perform their service in the Tent of Meeting, under Aaron and his sons. As the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses in regard to the Levites, so they did to them.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
This is the rule for the Levites. From twenty-five years of age up they shall participate in the work force in the service of the Tent of Meeting;
but at the age of fifty they shall retire from the work force and shall serve no more.
They may assist their brother Levites at the Tent of Meeting by standing guard, but they shall perform no labor. Thus you shall deal with the Levites in regard to their duties.

Chapter 9

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first new moon of the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, saying:
Let the Israelite people offer the passover sacrifice at its set time:
you shall offer it on the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, at its set time; you shall offer it in accordance with all its rules and rites.
Moses instructed the Israelites to offer the passover sacrifice;
and they offered the passover sacrifice in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai. Just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
But there were some men who were unclean by reason of a corpse and could not offer the passover sacrifice on that day. Appearing that same day before Moses and Aaron,
those men said to them,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “him.”</i> “Unclean though we are by reason of a corpse, why must we be debarred from presenting the L<small>ORD</small>’s offering at its set time with the rest of the Israelites?”
Moses said to them, “Stand by, and let me hear what instructions the L<small>ORD</small> gives about you.”
And the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people, saying: When any of you or of your posterity who are defiled by a corpse or are on a long journey would offer a passover sacrifice to the L<small>ORD</small>,
they shall offer it in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs,
and they shall not leave any of it over until morning. They shall not break a bone of it. They shall offer it in strict accord with the law of the passover sacrifice.
But if a man who is clean and not on a journey refrains from offering the passover sacrifice, that person shall be cut off from his kin, for he did not present the L<small>ORD</small>’s offering at its set time; that man shall bear his guilt.
And when a stranger who resides with you would offer a passover sacrifice to the L<small>ORD</small>, he must offer it in accordance with the rules and rites of the passover sacrifice. There shall be one law for you, whether stranger or citizen of the country.
On the day that the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Pact; and in the evening it rested over the Tabernacle in the likeness of fire until morning.
It was always so: the cloud covered it, appearing as fire by night.
And whenever the cloud lifted from the Tent, the Israelites would set out accordingly; and at the spot where the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.
At a command of the L<small>ORD</small> the Israelites broke camp, and at a command of the L<small>ORD</small> they made camp: they remained encamped as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle.
When the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle many days, the Israelites observed the L<small>ORD</small>’s mandate and did not journey on.
At such times as the cloud rested over the Tabernacle for but a few days, they remained encamped at a command of the L<small>ORD</small>, and broke camp at a command of the L<small>ORD</small>.
And at such times as the cloud stayed from evening until morning, they broke camp as soon as the cloud lifted in the morning. Day or night, whenever the cloud lifted, they would break camp.
Whether it was two days or a month or a year—however long the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle—the Israelites remained encamped and did not set out; only when it lifted did they break camp.
On a sign from the L<small>ORD</small> they made camp and on a sign from the L<small>ORD</small> they broke camp; they observed the L<small>ORD</small>’s mandate at the L<small>ORD</small>’s bidding through Moses.

Chapter 10

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Have two silver trumpets made; make them of hammered work. They shall serve you to summon the community and to set the divisions in motion.
When both are blown in long blasts,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> the whole community shall assemble before you at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;
and if only one is blown, the chieftains, heads of Israel’s contingents, shall assemble before you.
But when you sound short blasts,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> the divisions encamped on the east shall move forward;
and when you sound short blasts a second time, those encamped on the south shall move forward. Thus short blasts shall be blown for setting them in motion,
while to convoke the congregation you shall blow long blasts, not short ones.
The trumpets shall be blown by Aaron’s sons, the priests; they shall be for you an institution for all time throughout the ages.
<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> When you are at war<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, you shall sound short blasts on the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the L<small>ORD</small> your God and be delivered from your enemies.
And on your joyous occasions—your fixed festivals and new moon days—you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I, the L<small>ORD</small>, am your God.
In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle of the Pact
and the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.
When the march was to begin, at the L<small>ORD</small>’s command through Moses,
the first standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Judah. In command of its troops was Nahshon son of Amminadab;
in command of the tribal troop of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;
and in command of the tribal troop of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.
Then the Tabernacle would be taken apart; and the Gershonites and the Merarites, who carried the Tabernacle, would set out.
The next standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Reuben. In command of its troop was Elizur son of Shedeur;
in command of the tribal troop of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
and in command of the tribal troop of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
Then the Kohathites, who carried the sacred objects, would set out; and by the time they arrived, the Tabernacle would be set up again.
The next standard to set out, troop by troop, was the division of Ephraim. In command of its troop was Elishama son of Ammihud;
in command of the tribal troop of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
and in command of the tribal troop of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.
Then, as the rear guard of all the divisions, the standard of the division of Dan would set out, troop by troop. In command of its troop was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
in command of the tribal troop of Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran;
and in command of the tribal troop of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
Such was the order of march of the Israelites, as they marched troop by troop.
Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the L<small>ORD</small> has said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will be generous with you; for the L<small>ORD</small> has promised to be generous to Israel.”
“I will not go,” he replied to him, “but will return to my native land.”
He said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness and can be our guide.<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “eyes.”</i>
So if you come with us, we will extend to you the same bounty that the L<small>ORD</small> grants us.”
They marched from the mountain of the L<small>ORD</small> a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant of the L<small>ORD</small> traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them;
and the L<small>ORD</small>’s cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp.
When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say:<br>Advance, O L<small>ORD</small>!<br>May Your enemies be scattered,<br>And may Your foes flee before You!
And when it halted, he would say:<br><sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Others “Return, O Lord, unto the</i>Return, O L<small>ORD</small>,<br>You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands!<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>

Chapter 11

The people took to complaining bitterly before the L<small>ORD</small>. The L<small>ORD</small> heard and was incensed: a fire of the L<small>ORD</small> broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp.
The people cried out to Moses. Moses prayed to the L<small>ORD</small>, and the fire died down.
That place was named Taberah,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">From root b‘r, “to burn.”</i> because a fire of the L<small>ORD</small> had broken out against them.
The riffraff in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.
Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!”
Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in color it was like bdellium.
The people would go about and gather it, grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes. It tasted like rich cream.<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “cream of oil (or, fat).”</i>
When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall upon it.
Moses heard the people weeping, every clan apart, each person at the entrance of his tent. The L<small>ORD</small> was very angry, and Moses was distressed.
And Moses said to the L<small>ORD</small>, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me?
Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?
Where am I to get meat to give to all this people, when they whine before me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’
I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me.
If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”
Then the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy of Israel’s elders of whom you have experience as elders and officers of the people, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them take their place there with you.
I will come down and speak with you there, and I will draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone.
And say to the people: <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., as for a sacrificial meal.</i>Purify yourselves<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> for tomorrow and you shall eat meat, for you have kept whining before the L<small>ORD</small> and saying, ‘If only we had meat to eat! Indeed, we were better off in Egypt!’ The L<small>ORD</small> will give you meat and you shall eat.
You shall eat not one day, not two, not even five days or ten or twenty,
but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. For you have rejected the L<small>ORD</small> who is among you, by whining before Him and saying, ‘Oh, why did we ever leave Egypt!’”
But Moses said, “The people <sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “in whose midst I am.”</i>who are with me<sup class="endFootnote">-d</sup> number six hundred thousand men; yet You say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month.’
Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered to suffice them? Or could all the fish of the sea be gathered for them to suffice them?”
And the L<small>ORD</small> answered Moses, <sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “Is the Lord’s hand too short?”</i>“Is there a limit to the L<small>ORD</small>’s power?<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup> You shall soon see whether what I have said happens to you or not!”
Moses went out and reported the words of the L<small>ORD</small> to the people. He gathered seventy of the people’s elders and stationed them around the Tent.
Then the L<small>ORD</small> came down in a cloud and spoke to him; He drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they <sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Others “prophesied.”</i>spoke in ecstasy,<sup class="endFootnote">-f</sup> but did not continue.
Two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in camp; yet the spirit rested upon them—they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent—and they <sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Others “prophesied.”</i>spoke in ecstasy<sup class="endFootnote">-f</sup> in the camp.
A youth ran out and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are acting the prophet in the camp!”
And Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant from his youth, spoke up and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!”
But Moses said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all the L<small>ORD</small>’s people were prophets, that the L<small>ORD</small> put His spirit upon them!”
Moses then reentered the camp together with the elders of Israel.
A wind from the L<small>ORD</small> started up, swept quail from the sea and strewed them over the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on that side, all around the camp, and some two cubits deep on the ground.
The people set to gathering quail all that day and night and all the next day—even he who gathered least had ten <i>ḥomer</i>s—and they spread them out all around the camp.
The meat was still between their teeth, not yet chewed,<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. yikkareth uncertain.</i> when the anger of the L<small>ORD</small> blazed forth against the people and the L<small>ORD</small> struck the people with a very severe plague.
That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah,<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., “the graves of craving.”</i> because the people who had the craving were buried there.
Then the people set out from Kibroth-hattaavah for Hazeroth.<br>When they were in Hazeroth,

Chapter 12

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!”
They said, “Has the L<small>ORD</small> spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” The L<small>ORD</small> heard it.
Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.
Suddenly the L<small>ORD</small> called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three of them went out.
The L<small>ORD</small> came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward;
and He said, “Hear these My words: <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Others “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord.”</i>When a prophet of the L<small>ORD</small> arises among you, I<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.
Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household.
With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the L<small>ORD</small>. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!”
Still incensed with them, the L<small>ORD</small> departed.
As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales!<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Lev. 13.2–3.</i> When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales.
And Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly.
Let her not be as one dead, who emerges from his mother’s womb with half his flesh eaten away.”
So Moses cried out to the L<small>ORD</small>, saying, “O God, pray heal her!”
But the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “If her father spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of camp for seven days, and then let her be readmitted.”
So Miriam was shut out of camp seven days; and the people did not march on until Miriam was readmitted.
After that the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

Chapter 13

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.”
So Moses, by the L<small>ORD</small>’s command, sent them out from the wilderness of Paran, all the men being leaders of the Israelites.
And these were their names:<br>From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur.
From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori.
From the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.
From the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph.
From the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Hoshea.”</i> son of Nun.
From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Rafu.
From the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi.
From the tribe of Joseph, namely, the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi.
From the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli.
From the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael.
From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi.
From the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.
Those were the names of the men whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Hoshea.”</i> son of Nun to Joshua.
When Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negeb and on into the hill country,
and see what kind of country it is. Are the people who dwell in it strong or weak, few or many?
Is the country in which they dwell good or bad? Are the towns they live in open or fortified?
Is the soil rich or poor? Is it wooded or not? And take pains to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”—Now it happened to be the season of the first ripe grapes.
They went up and scouted the land, from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Others “the entrance to Hamath.”</i>
They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron, where lived Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites.—Now Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan of Egypt.—
They reached the wadi Eshcol, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them—and some pomegranates and figs.
That place was named the wadi Eshcol<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., “cluster.”</i> because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down there.
At the end of forty days they returned from scouting the land.
They went straight to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, and they made their report to them and to the whole community, as they showed them the fruit of the land.
This is what they told him: “We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the Anakites there.
Amalekites dwell in the Negeb region; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and along the Jordan.”
Caleb hushed the people before Moses and said, “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we.”
Thus they spread calumnies among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, “The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size;
we saw the Nephilim<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">See Gen. 6.4.</i> there—the Anakites are part of the Nephilim—and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.”

Chapter 14

The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night.
All the Israelites railed against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in the land of Egypt,” the whole community shouted at them, “or if only we might die in this wilderness!
Why is the L<small>ORD</small> taking us to that land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be carried off! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt!”
And they said to one another, “Let us <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “set the head and return to”; cf. Neh. 9.17. Others “Let us make a captain and return to.”</i>head back for<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> Egypt.”
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembled congregation of the Israelites.
And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those who had scouted the land, rent their clothes
and exhorted the whole Israelite community: “The land that we traversed and scouted is an exceedingly good land.
If the L<small>ORD</small> is pleased with us, He will bring us into that land, a land that flows with milk and honey, and give it to us;
only you must not rebel against the L<small>ORD</small>. Have no fear then of the people of the country, for they are our prey:<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “food (or, bread).”</i> their protection has departed from them, but the L<small>ORD</small> is with us. Have no fear of them!”
As the whole community threatened to pelt them with stones, the Presence of the L<small>ORD</small> appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
And the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me, and how long will they have no faith in Me despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?
I will strike them with pestilence and disown them, and I will make of you a nation far more numerous than they!”
But Moses said to the L<small>ORD</small>, “When the Egyptians, from whose midst You brought up this people in Your might, hear the news,
they will tell it to the inhabitants of that land. Now they have heard that You, O L<small>ORD</small>, are in the midst of this people; that You, O L<small>ORD</small>, appear in plain sight when Your cloud rests over them and when You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
If then You slay this people to a man, the nations who have heard Your fame will say,
‘It must be because the L<small>ORD</small> was powerless to bring that people into the land He had promised them on oath that He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
Therefore, I pray, let my Lord’s forbearance be great, as You have declared, saying,<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Exod. 34.6–7.</i>
‘The L<small>ORD</small>! slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.’
Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to Your great kindness, as You have forgiven this people ever since Egypt.”
And the L<small>ORD</small> said, “I pardon, as you have asked.
Nevertheless, as I live and as the L<small>ORD</small>’s Presence fills the whole world,
none of the men who have seen My Presence and the signs that I have performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tried Me these many<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “ten”; cf. note at Gen. 31.41.</i> times and have disobeyed Me,
shall see the land that I promised on oath to their fathers; none of those who spurn Me shall see it.
But My servant Caleb, because he was imbued with a different spirit and remained loyal to Me—him will I bring into the land that he entered, and his offspring shall hold it as a possession.
Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites occupy the valleys. Start out, then, tomorrow and march into the wilderness by way of the Sea of Reeds.”<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Exod. 10.19.</i>
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke further to Moses and Aaron,
“How much longer shall that wicked community keep muttering against Me? Very well, I have heeded the incessant muttering of the Israelites against Me.
Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the L<small>ORD</small>, ‘I will do to you just as you have urged Me.
In this very wilderness shall your carcasses drop. Of all of you who were recorded in your various lists from the age of twenty years up, you who have muttered against Me,
not one shall enter the land in which I swore<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “raised My hand.”</i> to settle you—save Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
Your children who, you said, would be carried off—these will I allow to enter; they shall know the land that you have rejected.
But your carcasses shall drop in this wilderness,
while your children roam the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your faithlessness, until the last of your carcasses is down in the wilderness.
You shall bear your punishment for forty years, corresponding to the number of days—forty days—that you scouted the land: a year for each day. Thus you shall know what it means to thwart Me.
I the L<small>ORD</small> have spoken: Thus will I do to all that wicked band that has banded together against Me: in this very wilderness they shall die to the last man.’”
As for the men whom Moses sent to scout the land, those who came back and caused the whole community to mutter against him by spreading calumnies about the land—
those who spread such calumnies about the land died of plague, by the will of the L<small>ORD</small>.
Of those men who had gone to scout the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
When Moses repeated these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome by grief.
Early next morning they set out toward the crest of the hill country, saying, “We are prepared to go up to the place that the L<small>ORD</small> has spoken of, for we were wrong.”
But Moses said, “Why do you transgress the L<small>ORD</small>’s command? This will not succeed.
Do not go up, lest you be routed by your enemies, for the L<small>ORD</small> is not in your midst.
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to face you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned from following the L<small>ORD</small> and the L<small>ORD</small> will not be with you.”
Yet defiantly<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> they marched toward the crest of the hill country, though neither the L<small>ORD</small>’s Ark of the Covenant nor Moses stirred from the camp.
And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah.

Chapter 15

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:<br>When you enter the land that I am giving you to settle in,
and would present an offering by fire to the L<small>ORD</small> from the herd or from the flock, be it burnt offering or sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow explicitly uttered,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 22.21.</i> or as a freewill offering, or at your fixed occasions, producing an odor pleasing to the L<small>ORD</small>:
The person who presents the offering to the L<small>ORD</small> shall bring as a meal offering: a tenth of a measure of choice flour with a quarter of a <i>hin</i> of oil mixed in.
You shall also offer, with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, a quarter of a <i>hin</i> of wine as a libation for each sheep.
In the case of a ram, you shall present as a meal offering: two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with a third of a <i>hin</i> of oil mixed in;
and a third of a <i>hin</i> of wine as a libation—as an offering of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
And if it is an animal from the herd that you offer to the L<small>ORD</small> as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow explicitly uttered or as an offering of well-being,
there shall be offered a meal offering along with the animal: three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with half a <i>hin</i> of oil mixed in;
and as libation you shall offer half a <i>hin</i> of wine—these being offerings by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
Thus shall be done with each ox, with each ram, and with any sheep or goat,
as many as you offer; you shall do thus with each one, as many as there are.
Every citizen, when presenting an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>, shall do so with them.
And when, throughout the ages, a stranger who has taken up residence with you, or one who lives among you, would present an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>—as you do, so <sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>shall it be done by
the rest of the congregation.<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup> There shall be one law for you and for the resident stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages. You and the stranger shall be alike before the L<small>ORD</small>;
the same ritual and the same rule shall apply to you and to the stranger who resides among you.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:<br>When you enter the land to which I am taking you
and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the L<small>ORD</small>:
as the first yield of your baking,<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. ‘arisah uncertain.</i> you shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor.
You shall make a gift to the L<small>ORD</small> from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.
If you unwittingly fail to observe any one of the commandments that the L<small>ORD</small> has declared to Moses—
anything that the L<small>ORD</small> has enjoined upon you through Moses—from the day that the L<small>ORD</small> gave the commandment and on through the ages:
If this was done unwittingly, through the inadvertence of the community, the whole community shall present one bull of the herd as a burnt offering of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>, with its proper meal offering and libation, and one he-goat as a sin offering.
The priest shall make expiation for the whole Israelite community and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and for their error they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the L<small>ORD</small> and their sin offering before the L<small>ORD</small>.
The whole Israelite community and the stranger residing among them shall be forgiven, for it happened to the entire people through error.
In case it is an individual who has sinned unwittingly, he shall offer a she-goat in its first year as a sin offering.
The priest shall make expiation before the L<small>ORD</small> on behalf of the person who erred, for he sinned unwittingly, making such expiation for him that he may be forgiven.
For the citizen among the Israelites and for the stranger who resides among them—you shall have one ritual for anyone who acts in error.
But the person, be he citizen or stranger, who acts defiantly<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “with upraised hand.”</i> reviles the L<small>ORD</small>; that person shall be cut off from among his people.
Because he has spurned the word of the L<small>ORD</small> and violated His commandment, that person shall be cut off—he bears his guilt.
Once, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they came upon a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.
Those who found him as he was gathering wood brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the whole community.
He was placed in custody, for it had not been specified what should be done to him.
Then the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death: the whole community shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.”
So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death—as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses as follows:
Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner.
That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the L<small>ORD</small> and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.
Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God.
I the L<small>ORD</small> am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the L<small>ORD</small> your God.

Chapter 16

Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “took”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>betook himself,<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, <sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">According to Num. 26.5, 8–9, Eliab was son of Pallu, son of Reuben.</i>and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup>—
to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute.
They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the L<small>ORD</small> is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the L<small>ORD</small>’s congregation?”
When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Perhaps in the sense of “his face fell.”</i>
Then he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Come morning, the L<small>ORD</small> will make known who is His and who is holy, and will grant him access to Himself; He will grant access to the one He has chosen.
Do this: You, Korah and all your<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “his.”</i> band, take fire pans,
and tomorrow put fire in them and lay incense on them before the L<small>ORD</small>. Then the man whom the L<small>ORD</small> chooses, he shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”
Moses said further to Korah, “Hear me, sons of Levi.
Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has set you apart from the community of Israel and given you access to Him, to perform the duties of the L<small>ORD</small>’s Tabernacle and to minister to the community and serve them?
Now that He has advanced you and all your fellow Levites with you, do you seek the priesthood too?
Truly, it is against the L<small>ORD</small> that you and all your company have banded together. For who is Aaron that you should rail against him?”
Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come!
Is it not enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, that you would also lord it over us?
<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “You have not even.”</i>Even if you had<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup> brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us possession of fields and vineyards, should you gouge out those men’s eyes?<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">“Those men’s” is a euphemism for “our”; cf. 1 Sam 29.4. Gouging out the eyes was punishment for runaway slaves and rebellious vassals; cf. 2 Kings 25.4–7; Jer. 39.4–7, 52.7–11.</i> We will not come!”
Moses was much aggrieved and he said to the L<small>ORD</small>, “Pay no regard to their oblation. I have not taken the ass of any one of them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”
And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company appear before the L<small>ORD</small>, you and they and Aaron.
Each of you take his fire pan and lay incense on it, and each of you bring his fire pan before the L<small>ORD</small>, two hundred and fifty fire pans; you and Aaron also [bring] your fire pans.”
Each of them took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and took his place at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, as did Moses and Aaron.
Korah gathered the whole community against them at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.<br>Then the Presence of the L<small>ORD</small> appeared to the whole community,
and the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
“Stand back from this community that I may annihilate them in an instant!”
But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, Source<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “God.”</i> of the breath of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be wrathful with the whole community?”
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the community and say: Withdraw from about the abodes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, the elders of Israel following him.
He addressed the community, saying, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be wiped out for all their sins.”
So they withdrew from about the abodes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.<br>Now Dathan and Abiram had come out and they stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, their children, and their little ones.
And Moses said, “By this you shall know that it was the L<small>ORD</small> who sent me to do all these things; that they are not of my own devising:
if these men die as all men do, if their lot be the common fate of all mankind, it was not the L<small>ORD</small> who sent me.
But if the L<small>ORD</small> brings about something unheard-of, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, you shall know that these men have spurned the L<small>ORD</small>.”
Scarcely had he finished speaking all these words when the ground under them burst asunder,
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people and all their possessions.
They went down alive into Sheol, with all that belonged to them; the earth closed over them and they vanished from the midst of the congregation.
All Israel around them fled at their shrieks, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!”
And a fire went forth from the L<small>ORD</small> and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.

Chapter 17

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Order Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the fire pans—for they have become sacred—from among the charred remains; and scatter the coals abroad.
<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of parts of verse uncertain.</i>[Remove] the fire pans of those who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar—for once they have been used for offering to the L<small>ORD</small>, they have become sacred—and let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.
Eleazar the priest took the copper fire pans which had been used for offering by those who died in the fire; and they were hammered into plating for the altar,
as the L<small>ORD</small> had ordered him through Moses. It was to be a reminder to the Israelites, so that no outsider—one not of Aaron’s offspring—should presume to offer incense before the L<small>ORD</small> and suffer the fate of Korah and his band.
Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You two have brought death upon the L<small>ORD</small>’s people!”
But as the community gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting; the cloud had covered it and the Presence of the L<small>ORD</small> appeared.
When Moses and Aaron reached the Tent of Meeting,
the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Remove yourselves from this community, that I may annihilate them in an instant.” They fell on their faces.
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the altar. Add incense and take it quickly to the community and make expiation for them. For wrath has gone forth from the L<small>ORD</small>: the plague has begun!”
Aaron took it, as Moses had ordered, and ran to the midst of the congregation, where the plague had begun among the people. He put on the incense and made expiation for the people;
he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was checked.
Those who died of the plague came to fourteen thousand and seven hundred, aside from those who died on account of Korah.
Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was checked.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people and take from them—from the chieftains of their ancestral houses<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., of their tribes.</i>—one staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house: twelve staffs in all. Inscribe each man’s name on his staff,
there being one staff for each head of an ancestral house; also inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi.
Deposit them in the Tent of Meeting before the Pact, where I meet with you.
The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will rid<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. wahashikkothi uncertain.</i> Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you.
Moses spoke thus to the Israelites. Their chieftains gave him a staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house, twelve staffs in all; among these staffs was that of Aaron.
Moses deposited the staffs before the L<small>ORD</small>, in the Tent of the Pact.
The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds.
Moses then brought out all the staffs from before the L<small>ORD</small> to all the Israelites; each identified and recovered his staff.
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.”
This Moses did; just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded him, so he did.
But the Israelites said to Moses, “Lo, we perish! We are lost, all of us lost!
Everyone who so much as ventures near the L<small>ORD</small>’s Tabernacle must die. Alas, we are doomed to perish!”

Chapter 18

The L<small>ORD</small> said to Aaron: You and your sons and the ancestral house under your charge shall bear any guilt connected with the sanctuary; you and your sons alone shall bear any guilt connected with your priesthood.
You shall also associate with yourself your kinsmen the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, to be attached to you and to minister to you, while you and your sons under your charge are before the Tent of the Pact.<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of latter part of verse uncertain.</i>
They shall discharge their duties to you and to the Tent as a whole, but they must not have any contact with the furnishings of the Shrine or with the altar, lest both they and you die.
They shall be attached to you and discharge the duties of the Tent of Meeting, all the service of the Tent; but no outsider shall intrude upon you
as you discharge the duties connected with the Shrine and the altar, that wrath may not again strike the Israelites.
I hereby take your fellow Levites from among the Israelites; they are assigned to you in dedication to the L<small>ORD</small>, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting;
while you and your sons shall be careful to perform your priestly duties in everything pertaining to the altar and to what is behind the curtain. I make your priesthood a service of dedication; any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke further to Aaron: I hereby give you charge of My gifts, all the sacred donations of the Israelites; I grant them to you and to your sons as a perquisite,<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 7.35.</i> a due for all time.
This shall be yours from the most holy sacrifices, <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. uncertain; lit. “from the fire.”</i>the offerings by fire:<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> every such offering that they render to Me as most holy sacrifices, namely, every meal offering, sin offering, and guilt offering of theirs, shall belong to you and your sons.
You shall partake of them as most sacred donations: only males may eat them; you shall treat them as consecrated.<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Or “they are consecrated for your use.”</i>
This, too, shall be yours: the gift offerings<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Lev. 7.29 ff.</i> of their contributions, all the elevation offerings of the Israelites, I give to you, to your sons, and to the daughters that are with you, as a due for all time; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.
All the best of the new oil, wine, and grain—the choice parts that they present to the L<small>ORD</small>—I give to you.
The first fruits of everything in their land, that they bring to the L<small>ORD</small>, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat them.
Everything that has been proscribed in Israel<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">See Lev. 27.28.</i> shall be yours.
The first issue of the womb of every being, man or beast, that is offered to the L<small>ORD</small>, shall be yours; but you shall have the first-born of man redeemed, and you shall also have the firstling of unclean animals redeemed.
Take as their redemption price,<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., for human first-born; cf. Num. 3.44 ff. For animals see Exod. 34.19 f.</i> from the age of one month up, the money equivalent of five shekels by the sanctuary weight, which is twenty <i>gerah</i>s.
But the firstlings of cattle, sheep, or goats may not be redeemed; they are consecrated. You shall dash their blood against the altar, and turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire for a pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
But their meat shall be yours: it shall be yours like the breast of elevation offering and like the right thigh.
All the sacred gifts that the Israelites set aside for the L<small>ORD</small> I give to you, to your sons, and to the daughters that are with you, as a due for all time. It shall be an everlasting covenant of salt<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">See Lev. 2.13.</i> before the L<small>ORD</small> for you and for your offspring as well.
And the L<small>ORD</small> said to Aaron: You shall, however, have no territorial share among them or own any portion in their midst; I am your portion and your share among the Israelites.
And to the Levites I hereby give all the tithes in Israel as their share in return for the services that they perform, the services of the Tent of Meeting.
Henceforth, Israelites shall not trespass on the Tent of Meeting, and thus incur guilt and die:
only Levites shall perform the services of the Tent of Meeting; others<sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “they.”</i> would incur guilt. It is the law for all time throughout the ages. But they shall have no territorial share among the Israelites;
for it is the tithes set aside by the Israelites as a gift to the L<small>ORD</small> that I give to the Levites as their share. Therefore I have said concerning them: They shall have no territorial share among the Israelites.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Levites and say to them: When you receive from the Israelites their tithes, which I have assigned to you as your share, you shall set aside from them one-tenth of the tithe as a gift to the L<small>ORD</small>.
This shall be accounted to you as your gift. As with the new grain from the threshing floor or the flow from the vat,
so shall you on your part set aside a gift for the L<small>ORD</small> from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and from them you shall bring the gift for the L<small>ORD</small> to Aaron the priest.
You shall set aside all gifts due to the L<small>ORD</small> from everything that is donated to you, from each thing its best portion, the part thereof that is to be consecrated.
Say to them further: When you have removed the best part from it, you Levites may consider it the same as the yield of threshing floor or vat.
You and your households may eat it anywhere, for it is your recompense for your services in the Tent of Meeting.
You will incur no guilt through it, once you have removed the best part from it; but you must not profane the sacred donations of the Israelites, lest you die.

Chapter 19

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
This is the ritual law that the L<small>ORD</small> has commanded:<br>Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.
You shall give it to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.
The cow shall be burned in his sight—its hide, flesh, and blood shall be burned, its dung included—
and the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff, and throw them into the fire consuming the cow.
The priest shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; after that the priest may reenter the camp, but he shall be unclean until evening.
He who performed the burning shall also wash his garments in water, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, to be kept for water of lustration<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “water for impurity.”</i> for the Israelite community. It is for cleansing.
He who gathers up the ashes of the cow shall also wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.<br>This shall be a permanent law for the Israelites and for the strangers who reside among you.
He who touches the corpse of any human being shall be unclean for seven days.
He shall cleanse himself with it<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the ashes, as in v. 9.</i> on the third day and on the seventh day, and then be clean; if he fails to cleanse himself on the third and seventh days, he shall not be clean.
Whoever touches a corpse, the body of a person who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the L<small>ORD</small>’s Tabernacle; that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water of lustration was not dashed on him, he remains unclean; his uncleanness is still upon him.
This is the ritual: When a person dies in a tent, whoever enters the tent and whoever is in the tent shall be unclean seven days;
and every open vessel, with no lid fastened down, shall be unclean.
And in the open, anyone who touches a person who was killed<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “slain by the sword.”</i> or who died naturally, or human bone, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
Some of the ashes<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “earth” or “dust.”</i> from the fire of cleansing shall be taken for the unclean person, and fresh water shall be added to them in a vessel.
A person who is clean shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle on the tent and on all the vessels and people who were there, or on him who touched the bones or the person who was killed or died naturally or the grave.
The clean person shall sprinkle it upon the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, thus cleansing him by the seventh day. He<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the person being cleansed.</i> shall then wash his clothes and bathe in water, and at nightfall he shall be clean.
If anyone who has become unclean fails to cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the congregation, for he has defiled the L<small>ORD</small>’s sanctuary. The water of lustration was not dashed on him: he is unclean.
That shall be for them a law for all time. Further, he who sprinkled the water of lustration shall wash his clothes; and whoever touches the water of lustration shall be unclean until evening.
Whatever that unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches him shall be unclean until evening.

Chapter 20

The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Of the fortieth year; cf. Num. 33.36–38.</i> and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.
The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron.
The people quarreled with Moses, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>!
Why have you brought the L<small>ORD</small>’s congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there?
Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink!”
Moses and Aaron came away from the congregation to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. The Presence of the L<small>ORD</small> appeared to them,
and the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their beasts.”
Moses took the rod from before the L<small>ORD</small>, as He had commanded him.
Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?”
And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.
But the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”
Those are the Waters of Meribah<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., “Quarrel”; cf. Exod. 17.7 and note b there.</i>—meaning that the Israelites quarrelled with the L<small>ORD</small>—through which He affirmed His sanctity.
From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardships that have befallen us;
that our ancestors went down to Egypt, that we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and that the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our ancestors.
We cried to the L<small>ORD</small> and He heard our plea, and He sent a messenger<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Or “angel.”</i> who freed us from Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh, the town on the border of your territory.
Allow us, then, to cross your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells. We will follow the king’s highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the left until we have crossed your territory.”
But Edom answered him, “You shall not pass through us, else we will go out against you with the sword.”
“We will keep to the beaten track,” the Israelites said to them, “and if we or our cattle drink your water, we will pay for it. We ask only for passage on foot—it is but a small matter.”
But they replied, “You shall not pass through!” And Edom went out against them in heavy force, strongly armed.
So Edom would not let Israel cross their territory, and Israel turned away from them.
Setting out from Kadesh, the Israelites arrived in a body at Mount Hor.
At Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom, the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses and Aaron,
“Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you disobeyed my command about the Waters of Meribah.
Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up on Mount Hor.
Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar. There Aaron shall be gathered <sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “and die.”</i>unto the dead.”<sup class="endFootnote">-d</sup>
Moses did as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded. They ascended Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.
Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the summit of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,
the whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last. All the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days.

Chapter 21

When the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, learned that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. ha-’atharim uncertain. Targum and other ancient versions render “the way [taken by] the scouts.”</i> he engaged Israel in battle and took some of them captive.
Then Israel made a vow to the L<small>ORD</small> and said, “If You deliver this people into our hand, we will proscribe<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., utterly destroy, reserving no booty except what is deposited in the Sanctuary; see Josh. 6.24.</i> their towns.”
The L<small>ORD</small> heeded Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites; and they and their cities were proscribed. So that place was named Hormah.<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Connected with heḥerim “to proscribe.”</i>
They set out from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">See Exod. 10.19 note.</i> to skirt the land of Edom. But the people grew restive on the journey,
and the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.”
The L<small>ORD</small> sent <i>seraph</i><sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Isa. 14.29; 30.6. Others “fiery”; exact meaning of Heb. saraph uncertain.</i> serpents against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned by speaking against the L<small>ORD</small> and against you. Intercede with the L<small>ORD</small> to take away the serpents from us!” And Moses interceded for the people.
Then the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Make a <i>seraph</i> figure and mount it on a standard. And if anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover.”
Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when anyone was bitten by a serpent, he would look at the copper serpent and recover.
The Israelites marched on and encamped at Oboth.
They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering on Moab to the east.
From there they set out and encamped at the wadi Zered.
From there they set out and encamped beyond the Arnon, that is, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Therefore the Book of the Wars of the L<small>ORD</small> speaks of <sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">The quotation that follows is a fragment; text and meaning are uncertain.</i>“…Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis: the Arnon
with its tributary wadis, stretched along the settled country of Ar, hugging the territory of Moab…”
And from there to Beer,<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “well.”</i> which is the well where the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Assemble the people that I may give them water.”
Then Israel sang this song:<br>Spring up, O well—sing to it—
The well which the chieftains dug,<br>Which the nobles of the people started<br>With maces, with their own staffs.<br>And from Midbar<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Septuagint “the well” (=Beer); cf. v. 16.</i> to Mattanah,
and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, at the peak of Pisgah, overlooking the wasteland.<sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Jeshimon.”</i>
Israel now sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
“Let me pass through your country. We will not turn off into fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from wells. We will follow the king’s highway until we have crossed your territory.”
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz and engaged Israel in battle.
But Israel put them to the sword, and took possession of their land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as [Az] of the Ammonites, for Az<sup class="footnote-marker">j</sup><i class="footnote">Septuagint “Jazer,” cf. v. 32. Others “for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.”</i> marked the boundary of the Ammonites.
Israel took all those towns. And Israel settled in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies.
Now Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against a former king of Moab and taken all his land from him as far as the Arnon.
Therefore the bards would recite:<br><sup class="footnote-marker">k</sup><i class="footnote">The meaning of several parts of this ancient poem is no longer certain.</i>“Come to Heshbon; firmly built<br>And well founded is Sihon’s city.
For fire went forth from Heshbon,<br>Flame from Sihon’s city,<br>Consuming Ar of Moab,<br>The lords of Bamoth<sup class="footnote-marker">l</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. vv. 19 and 20 and Num. 22.21.</i> by the Arnon.
Woe to you, O Moab!<br>You are undone, O people of Chemosh!<br>His sons are rendered fugitive<br>And his daughters captive<br>By an Amorite king, Sihon.”
<sup class="footnote-marker">m</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of verse uncertain. Alternatively:</i>Yet we have cast them down utterly,<br>Heshbon along with Dibon;<br>We have wrought desolation at Nophah,<br>Which is hard by Medeba.
So Israel occupied the land of the Amorites.
Then Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its dependencies and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
They marched on and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan, with all his people, came out to Edrei to engage them in battle.
But the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I give him and all his people and his land into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites who dwelt in Heshbon.”
They defeated him and his sons and all his people, until no remnant was left him; and they took possession of his country. 

Chapter 22

The Israelites then marched on and encamped in the steppes of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho.
Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
Moab was alarmed because that people was so numerous. Moab dreaded the Israelites,
and Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick clean all that is about us as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”<br>Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor in Pethor, which is by the Euphrates,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “the River.”</i> in the land of his kinsfolk, to invite him, saying, “There is a people that came out of Egypt; it hides the earth from view, and it is settled next to me.
Come then, put a curse upon this people for me, since they are too numerous for me; perhaps I can thus defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed indeed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, <sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “with divination in their power (hand).”</i>versed in divination,<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup> set out. They came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.
He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I shall reply to you as the L<small>ORD</small> may instruct me.” So the Moabite dignitaries stayed with Balaam.
God came to Balaam and said, “What do these people want of you?”
Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:
Here is a people that came out from Egypt and hides the earth from view. Come now and curse them for me; perhaps I can engage them in battle and drive them off.”
But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not curse that people, for they are blessed.”
Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s dignitaries, “Go back to your own country, for the L<small>ORD</small> will not let me go with you.”
The Moabite dignitaries left, and they came to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
Then Balak sent other dignitaries, more numerous and distinguished than the first.
They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: Please do not refuse to come to me.
I will reward you richly and I will do anything you ask of me. Only come and damn this people for me.”
Balaam replied to Balak’s officials, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, big or little, contrary to the command of the L<small>ORD</small> my God.
So you, too, stay here overnight, and let me find out what else the L<small>ORD</small> may say to me.”
That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If these men have come to invite you, you may go with them. But whatever I command you, that you shall do.”
When he arose in the morning, Balaam saddled his ass and departed with the Moabite dignitaries.
But God was incensed at his going; so an angel of the L<small>ORD</small> placed himself in his way as an adversary.<br>He was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants alongside,
when the ass caught sight of the angel of the L<small>ORD</small> standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. The ass swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat the ass to turn her back onto the road.
The angel of the L<small>ORD</small> then stationed himself in a lane between the vineyards, with a fence on either side.
The ass, seeing the angel of the L<small>ORD</small>, pressed herself against the wall and squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he beat her again.
Once more the angel of the L<small>ORD</small> moved forward and stationed himself on a spot so narrow that there was no room to swerve right or left.
When the ass now saw the angel of the L<small>ORD</small>, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam was furious and beat the ass with his stick.
Then the L<small>ORD</small> opened the ass’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
Balaam said to the ass, “You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I’d kill you.”
The ass said to Balaam, “Look, I am the ass that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing thus to you?” And he answered, “No.”
Then the L<small>ORD</small> uncovered Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the L<small>ORD</small> standing in the way, his drawn sword in his hand; thereupon he bowed <sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “and prostrated himself to his nostrils.”</i>right down to the ground.<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup>
The angel of the L<small>ORD</small> said to him, “Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who came out as an adversary, for the errand is obnoxious<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Precise meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i> to me.
And when the ass saw me, she shied away because of me those three times. If she had not shied away from me, you are the one I should have killed, while sparing her.”
Balaam said to the angel of the L<small>ORD</small>, “I erred because I did not know that you were standing in my way. If you still disapprove, I will turn back.”
But the angel of the L<small>ORD</small> said to Balaam, “Go with the men. But you must say nothing except what I tell you.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s dignitaries.
When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, which is on the Arnon border, at its farthest point.
Balak said to Balaam, “When I first sent to invite you, why didn’t you come to me? Am I really unable to reward you?”
But Balaam said to Balak, “And now that I have come to you, have I the power to speak freely? I can utter only the word that God puts into my mouth.”
Balaam went with Balak and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.
Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and had them served to Balaam and the dignitaries with him.
In the morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see a portion of the people.

Chapter 23

Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and have seven bulls and seven rams ready here for me.”
Balak did as Balaam directed; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offerings while I am gone. Perhaps the L<small>ORD</small> will grant me a manifestation, and whatever He reveals to me I will tell you.” And he went off alone.<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Others “to a bare height”; exact meaning of Heb. shephi uncertain.</i>
God manifested Himself to Balaam, who said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”
And the L<small>ORD</small> put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak thus.”
So he returned to him and found him standing beside his offerings, and all the Moabite dignitaries with him.
He took up his theme, and said:<br>From Aram has Balak brought me,<br>Moab’s king from the hills of the East:<br>Come, curse me Jacob,<br>Come, tell Israel’s doom!
How can I damn whom God<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. El, as often in these poems.</i> has not damned,<br>How doom when the L<small>ORD</small> has not doomed?
As I see them from the mountain tops,<br>Gaze on them from the heights,<br>There is a people that dwells apart,<br>Not reckoned among the nations,
Who can count the dust<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Gen. 13.16.</i> of Jacob,<br>Number<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “and the number of.”</i> the dust-cloud of Israel?<br>May I die the death of the upright,<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. yesharim, a play on yeshurun (Jeshurun in Deut. 32.15), a name for Israel.</i><br>May my fate be like theirs!
Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? Here I brought you to damn my enemies, and instead you have blessed them!”
He replied, “I can only repeat faithfully what the L<small>ORD</small> puts in my mouth.”
Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you can see them—you will see only a portion of them; you will not see all of them—and damn them for me from there.”
With that, he took him to Sedehzophim,<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Lookout Point.”</i> on the summit of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
And [Balaam] said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offerings, while I seek a manifestation yonder.”
The L<small>ORD</small> manifested Himself to Balaam and put a word in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak thus.”
He went to him and found him standing beside his offerings, and the Moabite dignitaries with him. Balak asked him, “What did the L<small>ORD</small> say?”
And he took up his theme, and said:<br>Up, Balak, attend,<br>Give ear unto me, son of Zippor!
God is not man to be capricious,<br>Or mortal to change His mind.<br>Would He speak and not act,<br>Promise and not fulfill?
My message was to bless:<br>When He blesses, I cannot reverse it.
No harm is in sight for Jacob,<br>No woe in view for Israel.<br>The L<small>ORD</small> their God is with them,<br>And their King’s acclaim in their midst.
God who freed them from Egypt<br>Is for them like the horns<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “eminences,” used figuratively.</i> of the wild ox.
Lo, there is no augury in Jacob,<br>No divining in Israel:<sup class="footnote-marker">h</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Deut. 18.10–15.</i><br>Jacob is told at once,<br>Yea Israel, what God has planned.<sup class="footnote-marker">i</sup><i class="footnote">Or, “Else would it be told to Jacob, / Yea to Israel, what God has planned.”</i>
Lo, a people that rises like a lion,<br>Leaps up like the <sup class="footnote-marker">j</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. ’ari, another term for “lion.”</i>king of beasts,<sup class="endFootnote">-j</sup><br>Rests not till it has feasted on prey<br>And drunk the blood of the slain.
Thereupon Balak said to Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
In reply, Balaam said to Balak, “But I told you: Whatever the L<small>ORD</small> says, that I must do.”
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will deem it right that you damn them for me there.”
Balak took Balaam to the peak of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.<sup class="footnote-marker">k</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. note on 21.20.</i>
Balaam said to Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and have seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.”
Balak did as Balaam said: he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

Now Balaam, seeing that it pleased the L<small>ORD</small> to bless Israel, did not, as on previous occasions, go in search of omens, but turned his face toward the wilderness.
As Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him.
Taking up his theme, he said:<br><sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Some of the poetic portions of this chapter are unclear.</i>Word of Balaam son of Beor,<br>Word of the man whose eye is true,<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Others “whose eye is (or, eyes are) open”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.</i>
Word of him who hears God’s speech,<br>Who beholds visions from the Almighty,<br>Prostrate, but with eyes unveiled:
How fair are your tents, O Jacob,<br>Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like palm-groves that stretch out,<br>Like gardens beside a river,<br>Like aloes planted by the L<small>ORD</small>,<br>Like cedars beside the water;
Their boughs drip with moisture,<br>Their roots<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “and its seed.”</i> have abundant water.<br>Their king shall rise above Agag,<br>Their kingdom shall be exalted.
God who freed them from Egypt<br>Is for them like the horns<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">See note at 23.22.</i> of the wild ox.<br>They shall devour enemy nations,<br>Crush their bones,<br>And smash their arrows.
They crouch, they lie down like a lion,<br>Like the king of beasts;<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Heb. labi, another word for “lion”; cf. note at 23.24.</i> who dare rouse them?<br>Blessed are they who bless you,<br>Accursed they who curse you!
Enraged at Balaam, Balak struck his hands together. “I called you,” Balak said to Balaam, “to damn my enemies, and instead you have blessed them these three times!
Back with you at once to your own place! I was going to reward you richly, but the L<small>ORD</small> has denied you the reward.”
Balaam replied to Balak, “But I even told the messengers you sent to me,
‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord do anything good or bad contrary to the L<small>ORD</small>’s command. What the L<small>ORD</small> says, that I must say.’
And now, as I go back to my people, let me inform you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”
He took up his theme, and said:<br>Word of Balaam son of Beor,<br>Word of the man whose eye is true,
Word of him who hears God’s speech,<br>Who obtains knowledge from the Most High,<br>And beholds visions from the Almighty,<br>Prostrate, but with eyes unveiled:
What I see for them is not yet,<br>What I behold will not be soon:<br>A star rises from Jacob,<br>A scepter comes forth from Israel;<br>It smashes the brow of Moab,<br>The foundation of<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">Samaritan “the pate of,” cf. Jer. 48.45; others “breaks down.”</i> all children of Seth.
Edom becomes a possession,<br>Yea, Seir a possession of its enemies;<br>But Israel is triumphant.
A victor issues from Jacob<br>To wipe out what is left of Ir.
He saw Amalek and, taking up his theme, he said:<br>A leading nation is Amalek;<br>But its fate is to perish forever.
He saw the Kenites and, taking up his theme, he said:<br>Though your abode be secure,<br>And your nest be set among cliffs,
Yet shall Kain<sup class="footnote-marker">g</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the Kenites.</i> be consumed,<br>When Asshur takes you captive.
He took up his theme and said:<br>Alas, who can survive except God has willed it!
Ships come from the quarter of Kittim;<br>They subject Asshur, subject Eber.<br>They, too, shall perish forever.
Then Balaam set out on his journey back home; and Balak also went his way.

Chapter 25

While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Others “began to commit harlotry.”</i>profaned themselves by whoring<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> with the Moabite women,
who invited the people to the sacrifices for their god. The people partook of them and worshiped that god.
Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and the L<small>ORD</small> was incensed with Israel.
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Take all the ringleaders<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “heads of the people.”</i> and have them publicly<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Others “in face of the sun.”</i> impaled before the L<small>ORD</small>, so that the L<small>ORD</small>’s wrath may turn away from Israel.”
So Moses said to Israel’s officials, “Each of you slay those of his men who attached themselves to Baal-peor.”
Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
When Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand,
he followed the Israelite into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked.
Those who died of the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion.
Say, therefore, ‘I grant him My pact of friendship.
It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelites.’”
The name of the Israelite who was killed, the one who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, chieftain of a Simeonite ancestral house.
The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was the tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Assail the Midianites and defeat them—
for they assailed you by the trickery they practiced against you—because of the affair of Peor and because of the affair of their kinswoman Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite chieftain, who was killed at the time of the plague on account of Peor.”

Chapter 26

When the plague was over, the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,
“Take a census of the whole Israelite community from the age of twenty years up, by their ancestral houses, all Israelites able to bear arms.”
<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of parts of vv. 3 and 4 uncertain.</i>So Moses and Eleazar the priest, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho, gave instructions about them, namely,
those from twenty years up, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.<br>The descendants of the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were:
Reuben, Israel’s first-born. Descendants of Reuben: [Of] Enoch,<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Hanoch.”</i> the clan of the Enochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites;
of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites.
Those are the clans of the Reubenites. The persons enrolled came to 43,730.
<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Or “descendants of.”</i>Born to<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> Pallu: Eliab.
The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen in the assembly, who agitated against Moses and Aaron as part of Korah’s band when they agitated against the L<small>ORD</small>.
Whereupon the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with Korah—when that band died, when the fire consumed the two hundred and fifty men—and they became an example.
The sons of Korah, however, did not die.
Descendants of Simeon by their clans: Of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites;
of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites; of Saul,<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Shaul.”</i> the clan of the Saulites.
Those are the clans of the Simeonites; [persons enrolled:] 22,200.
Descendants of Gad by their clans: Of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites;
of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites;
of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites.
Those are the clans of Gad’s descendants; persons enrolled: 40,500.
<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Or “descendants of.”</i>Born to<sup class="endFootnote">-c</sup> Judah: Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
Descendants of Judah by their clans: Of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites.
Descendants of Perez: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites.
Those are the clans of Judah; persons enrolled: 76,500.
Descendants of Issachar by their clans: [Of] Tola, the clan of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the clan of the Punites;
of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites.
Those are the clans of Issachar; persons enrolled: 64,300.
Descendants of Zebulun by their clans: Of Sered, the clan of the Seredites; of Elon, the clan of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites.
Those are the clans of the Zebulunites; persons enrolled: 60,500.
The sons of Joseph were Manasseh and Ephraim—by their clans.
Descendants of Manasseh: Of Machir, the clan of the Machirites.—Machir begot Gilead.—Of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites.
These were the descendants of Gilead: [Of] Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites;
[of] Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; [of] Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites;
[of] Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; [of] Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites.—
Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters. The names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.—
Those are the clans of Manasseh; persons enrolled: 52,700.
These are the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: Of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the clan of the Becherites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites.
These are the descendants of Shuthelah: Of Eran, the clan of the Eranites.
Those are the clans of Ephraim’s descendants; persons enrolled: 32,500.<br>Those are the descendants of Joseph by their clans.
The descendants of Benjamin by their clans: Of Bela, the clan of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites;
of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites.
The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: [Of Ard,] the clan of the Ardites; of Naaman, the clan of the Naamanites.
Those are the descendants of Benjamin by their clans; persons enrolled: 45,600.
These are the descendants of Dan by their clans: Of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamites. Those are the clans of Dan,<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of parts of vv. 42 and 43 uncertain.</i> by their clans.
All the clans of the Shuhamites; persons enrolled: 64,400.
Descendants of Asher by their clans: Of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriites.
Of the descendants of Beriah: Of Heber, the clan of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites.—
The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.—
These are the clans of Asher’s descendants; persons enrolled: 53,400.
Descendants of Naphtali by their clans: Of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the clan of the Gunites;
of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites.
Those are the clans of the Naphtalites, clan by clan; persons enrolled: 45,400.
This is the enrollment of the Israelites: 601,730.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Among these shall the land be apportioned as shares, according to the listed names:
with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share. Each is to be assigned its share according to its enrollment.
The land, moreover, is to be apportioned by lot; and the allotment shall be made according to the listings of their ancestral tribes.
Each portion shall be assigned by lot, whether for larger or smaller groups.”
This is the enrollment of the Levites by their clans: Of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites.
These are the clans of Levi: The clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites.—Kohath begot Amram.
The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.
To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Nadab and Abihu died when they offered alien fire before the L<small>ORD</small>.—
Their enrollment of 23,000 comprised all males from a month up. They were not part of the regular enrollment of the Israelites, since no share was assigned to them among the Israelites.
These are the persons enrolled by Moses and Eleazar the priest who registered the Israelites on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.
Among these there was not one of those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest when they recorded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai.
For the L<small>ORD</small> had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 27

The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said,
“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of the faction, Korah’s faction, which banded together against the L<small>ORD</small>, but died for his own sin; and he has left no sons.
Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!”
Moses brought their case before the L<small>ORD</small>.
And the L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses,
“The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them.
“Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: ‘If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter.
If he has no daughter, you shall assign his property to his brothers.
If he has no brothers, you shall assign his property to his father’s brothers.
If his father had no brothers, you shall assign his property to his nearest relative in his own clan, and he shall inherit it.’ This shall be the law of procedure for the Israelites, in accordance with the L<small>ORD</small>’s command to Moses.”
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses, “Ascend these heights of Abarim and view the land that I have given to the Israelite people.
When you have seen it, you too shall be gathered to your kin, just as your brother Aaron was.
For, in the wilderness of Zin, when the community was contentious, you disobeyed My command to uphold My sanctity in their sight by means of the water.” Those are the Waters of Meribath-kadesh,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See note at 20.13.</i> in the wilderness of Zin.
Moses spoke to the L<small>ORD</small>, saying,
“Let the L<small>ORD</small>, Source of the breath of all flesh, appoint someone over the community
<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., who shall lead them in all matters and whom they shall follow in all matters.</i>who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in,<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup> so that the L<small>ORD</small>’s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”
And the L<small>ORD</small> answered Moses, “Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man, and lay your hand upon him.
Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission him in their sight.
Invest him with some of your authority, so that the whole Israelite community may obey.
But he shall present himself to Eleazar the priest, who shall on his behalf seek the decision of the Urim before the L<small>ORD</small>. By such instruction they shall go out and by such instruction they shall come in, he and all the Israelites, the whole community.”
Moses did as the L<small>ORD</small> commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community.
He laid his hands upon him and commissioned him—as the L<small>ORD</small> had spoken through Moses.

Chapter 28

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Command the Israelite people and say to them: Be punctilious in presenting to Me at stated times <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “My offering, My food.”</i>the offerings of food due Me,<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup> as offerings by fire of pleasing odor to Me.
Say to them: These are the offerings by fire that you are to present to the L<small>ORD</small>:<br>As a regular burnt offering every day, two yearling lambs without blemish.
You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.
And as a meal offering, there shall be a tenth of an <i>ephah</i> of choice flour with a quarter of a <i>hin</i> of beaten oil mixed in—
the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Exod. 29.38–41.</i>—an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
The libation with it shall be a quarter of a <i>hin</i> for each lamb, to be poured in the sacred precinct as an offering of fermented drink<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., wine.</i> to the L<small>ORD</small>.
The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, preparing the same meal offering and libation as in the morning—an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
On the sabbath day: two yearling lambs without blemish, together with two-tenths of a measure<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., of an ephah.</i> of choice flour with oil mixed in as a meal offering, and with the proper libation—
a burnt offering for every sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.
On your new moons you shall present a burnt offering to the L<small>ORD</small>: two bulls of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, without blemish.
As meal offering for each bull: three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in. As meal offering for each ram: two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in.
As meal offering for each lamb: a tenth of a measure of fine flour with oil mixed in. Such shall be the burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the L<small>ORD</small>.
Their libations shall be: half a <i>hin</i> of wine for a bull, a third of a <i>hin</i> for a ram, and a quarter of a <i>hin</i> for a lamb. That shall be the monthly burnt offering for each new moon of the year.
And there shall be one goat as a sin offering to the L<small>ORD</small>, to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, there shall be a passover sacrifice to the L<small>ORD</small>,
and on the fifteenth day of that month a festival. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.
The first day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.
You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering, to the L<small>ORD</small>: two bulls of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs—<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “they shall be to you.”</i>see that they are<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup> without blemish.
The meal offering with them shall be of choice flour with oil mixed in: prepare three-tenths of a measure for a bull, two-tenths for a ram;
and for each of the seven lambs prepare one-tenth of a measure.
And there shall be one goat for a sin offering, to make expiation in your behalf.
You shall present these in addition to the morning portion of the regular burnt offering.
You shall offer the like daily for seven days as food, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>; they shall be offered, with their libations, in addition to the regular burnt offering.
And the seventh day shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall not work at your occupations.
On the day of the first fruits, your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to the L<small>ORD</small>, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.
You shall present a burnt offering of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>: two bulls of the herd, one ram, seven yearling lambs.
The meal offering with them shall be of choice flour with oil mixed in, three-tenths of a measure for a bull, two-tenths for a ram,
and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.
And there shall be one goat for expiation in your behalf.
You shall present them—<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “they shall be to you.”</i>see that they are<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup> without blemish—with their libations, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its meal offering.

Chapter 29

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. You shall observe it as <sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Or “a day of festivity.”</i>a day when the horn is sounded.<sup class="endFootnote">-a</sup>
You shall present a burnt offering of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>: one bull of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, without blemish.
The meal offering with them—choice flour with oil mixed in—shall be: three-tenths of a measure for a bull, two-tenths for a ram,
and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.
And there shall be one goat for a sin offering, to make expiation in your behalf—
in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon with its meal offering and the regular burnt offering with its meal offering, each with its libation as prescribed, offerings by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>.
On the tenth day of the same seventh month you shall observe a sacred occasion when you shall practice self-denial. You shall do no work.
You shall present to the L<small>ORD</small> a burnt offering of pleasing odor: one bull of the herd, one ram, seven yearling lambs; see that they are<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">See note at 28.19.</i> without blemish.
The meal offering with them—of choice flour with oil mixed in—shall be: three-tenths of a measure for a bull, two-tenths for the one ram,
one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.
And there shall be one goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of expiation and the regular burnt offering with its meal offering, each with its libation.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.—Seven days you shall observe a festival of the L<small>ORD</small>.—
You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>: Thirteen bulls of the herd, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs; they shall be without blemish.
The meal offerings with them—of choice flour with oil mixed in—shall be: three-tenths of a measure for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,
and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs.
And there shall be one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
Second day: Twelve bulls of the herd, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libations.
Third day: Eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
Fourth day: Ten bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
Fifth day: Nine bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
Sixth day: Eight bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libations.
Seventh day: Seven bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
On the eighth day you shall hold a solemn gathering;<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 23.36.</i> you shall not work at your occupations.
You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L<small>ORD</small>; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish;
the meal offerings and libations for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, in the quantities prescribed;
and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
All these you shall offer to the L<small>ORD</small> at the stated times, in addition to your votive and freewill offerings, be they burnt offerings, meal offerings, libations, or offerings of well-being. 

Chapter 30

So Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.
Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what the L<small>ORD</small> has commanded:
If a man makes a vow to the L<small>ORD</small> or takes an oath imposing an obligation<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Or “a prohibition.”</i> on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has <sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “come out of his mouth.”</i>crossed his lips.<sup class="endFootnote">-b</sup>
If a woman makes a vow to the L<small>ORD</small> or assumes an obligation while still in her father’s household by reason of her youth,
and her father learns of her vow or her self-imposed obligation and offers no objection, all her vows shall stand and every self-imposed obligation shall stand.
But if her father restrains her on the day he finds out, none of her vows or self-imposed obligations shall stand; and the L<small>ORD</small> will forgive her, since her father restrained her.
If she should marry while her vow or the commitment<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “utterance of her lips.”</i> to which she bound herself is still in force,
and her husband learns of it and offers no objection on the day he finds out, her vows shall stand and her self-imposed obligations shall stand.
But if her husband restrains her on the day that he learns of it, he thereby annuls her vow which was in force or the commitment<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “utterance of her lips.”</i> to which she bound herself; and the L<small>ORD</small> will forgive her.—
The vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, however, whatever she has imposed on herself, shall be binding upon her.—
So, too, if, while in her husband’s household, she makes a vow or imposes an obligation on herself by oath,
and her husband learns of it, yet offers no objection—thus failing to restrain her—all her vows shall stand and all her self-imposed obligations shall stand.
But if her husband does annul them on the day he finds out, then nothing that has crossed her lips shall stand, whether vows or self-imposed obligations. Her husband has annulled them, and the L<small>ORD</small> will forgive her.
Every vow and every sworn obligation of self-denial may be upheld by her husband or annulled by her husband.
If her husband offers no objection from that day to the next, he has upheld all the vows or obligations she has assumed: he has upheld them by offering no objection on the day he found out.
But if he annuls them after [the day] he finds out, he shall bear her guilt.
Those are the laws that the L<small>ORD</small> enjoined upon Moses between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter while in her father’s household by reason of her youth.

Chapter 31

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying,
“Avenge the Israelite people on the Midianites; then you shall be gathered to your kin.”
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Let men be picked out from among you for a campaign, and let them fall upon Midian to wreak the L<small>ORD</small>’s vengeance on Midian.
You shall dispatch on the campaign a thousand from every one of the tribes of Israel.”
So a thousand from each tribe were furnished from the divisions of Israel, twelve thousand picked for the campaign.
Moses dispatched them on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar serving as a priest on the campaign, equipped with the sacred utensils<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Perhaps the Urim; cf. 27.21.</i> and the trumpets for sounding the blasts.
They took the field against Midian, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses, and slew every male.
Along with their other victims, they slew the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.
The Israelites took the women and children of the Midianites captive, and seized as booty all their beasts, all their herds, and all their wealth.
And they destroyed by fire all the towns in which they were settled, and their encampments.
They gathered all the spoil and all the booty, man and beast,
and they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the whole Israelite community, at the camp in the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.
Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the chieftains of the community came out to meet them outside the camp.
Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who had come back from the military campaign.
Moses said to them, “You have spared every female!
Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. hayu…limsor uncertain.</i> the Israelites to trespass against the L<small>ORD</small> in the matter of Peor, so that the L<small>ORD</small>’s community was struck by the plague.
Now, therefore, slay every male among the children, and slay also every woman who has known a man carnally;
but spare every young woman who has not had carnal relations with a man.
“You shall then stay outside the camp seven days; every one among you or among your captives who has slain a person or touched a corpse shall cleanse himself on the third and seventh days.
You shall also cleanse every cloth, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and every object of wood.”
Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had taken part in the fighting, “This is the ritual law that the L<small>ORD</small> has enjoined upon Moses:
Gold and silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead—
any article that can withstand fire—these you shall pass through fire and they shall be clean, except that they must be cleansed with water of lustration; and anything that cannot withstand fire you must pass through water.
On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes and be clean, and after that you may enter the camp.”
The L<small>ORD</small> said to Moses:
“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community take an inventory of the booty that was captured, man and beast,
and divide the booty equally between the combatants who engaged in the campaign and the rest of the community.
You shall exact a levy for the L<small>ORD</small>: in the case of the warriors who engaged in the campaign, one item in five hundred, of persons, oxen, asses, and sheep,
shall be taken from their half-share and given to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the L<small>ORD</small>;
and from the half-share of the other Israelites you shall withhold one in every fifty human beings as well as cattle, asses, and sheep—all the animals—and give them to the Levites, who attend to the duties of the L<small>ORD</small>’s Tabernacle.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the L<small>ORD</small> commanded Moses.
The amount of booty, other than the spoil that the troops had plundered, came to 675,000 sheep,
72,000 head of cattle,
61,000 asses,
and a total of 32,000 human beings, namely, the women who had not had carnal relations.
Thus, the half-share of those who had engaged in the campaign [was as follows]: The number of sheep was 337,500,
and the L<small>ORD</small>’s levy from the sheep was 675;
the cattle came to 36,000, from which the L<small>ORD</small>’s levy was 72;
the asses came to 30,500, from which the L<small>ORD</small>’s levy was 61.
And the number of human beings was 16,000, from which the L<small>ORD</small>’s levy was 32.
Moses gave the contributions levied for the L<small>ORD</small> to Eleazar the priest, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.
As for the half-share of the other Israelites, which Moses withdrew from the men who had taken the field,
that half-share of the community consisted of 337,500 sheep,
36,000 head of cattle,
30,500 asses,
and 16,000 human beings.
From this half-share of the Israelites, Moses withheld one in every fifty humans and animals; and he gave them to the Levites, who attended to the duties of the L<small>ORD</small>’s Tabernacle, as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses.
The commanders of the troop divisions, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, approached Moses.
They said to Moses, “Your servants have made a check of the warriors in our charge, and not one of us is missing.
So we have brought as an offering to the L<small>ORD</small> such articles of gold as each of us came upon: armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants,<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Exod. 35.22.</i> that expiation may be made for our persons before the L<small>ORD</small>.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles.
All the gold that was offered by the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds as a contribution to the L<small>ORD</small> came to 16,750 shekels.—
But in the ranks, everyone kept his booty for himself.—
So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, as a reminder in behalf of the Israelites before the L<small>ORD</small>.

Chapter 32

The Reubenites and the Gadites owned cattle in very great numbers. Noting that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were a region suitable for cattle,
the Gadites and the Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chieftains of the community, and said,
“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—
the land that the L<small>ORD</small> has conquered for the community of Israel is cattle country, and your servants have cattle.
It would be a favor to us,” they continued, “if this land were given to your servants as a holding; do not move us across the Jordan.”
Moses replied to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here?
Why will you turn the minds of the Israelites from crossing into the land that the L<small>ORD</small> has given them?
That is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to survey the land.
After going up to the wadi Eshcol and surveying the land, they turned the minds of the Israelites from invading the land that the L<small>ORD</small> had given them.
Thereupon the L<small>ORD</small> was incensed and He swore,
‘None of the men from twenty years up who came out of Egypt shall see the land that I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they did not remain loyal to Me—
none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they remained loyal to the L<small>ORD</small>.’
The L<small>ORD</small> was incensed at Israel, and for forty years He made them wander in the wilderness, until the whole generation that had provoked the L<small>ORD</small>’s displeasure was gone.
And now you, a breed of sinful men, have replaced your fathers, to add still further to the L<small>ORD</small>’s wrath against Israel.
If you turn away from Him and He abandons them once more in the wilderness, you will bring calamity upon all this people.”
Then they stepped up to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children.
And we will hasten<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Meaning of Heb. hushim uncertain.</i> as shock-troops in the van of the Israelites until we have established them in their home, while our children stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.
We will not return to our homes until every one of the Israelites is in possession of his portion.
But we will not have a share with them in the territory beyond the Jordan, for we have received our share on the east side of the Jordan.”
Moses said to them, “If you do this, if you go to battle as shock-troops, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>,
and every shock-fighter among you crosses the Jordan, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>, until He has dispossessed His enemies before Him,
and the land has been subdued, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>, and then you return—you shall be clear before the L<small>ORD</small> and before Israel; and this land shall be your holding under the L<small>ORD</small>.
But if you do not do so, you will have sinned against the L<small>ORD</small>; and know that your sin will overtake you.
Build towns for your children and sheepfolds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”
The Gadites and the Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.
Our children, our wives, our flocks, and all our other livestock will stay behind<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “there.”</i> in the towns of Gilead;
while your servants, all those recruited for war, cross over, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>, to engage in battle—as my lord orders.”
Then Moses gave instructions concerning them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes.
Moses said to them, “If every shock-fighter among the Gadites and the Reubenites crosses the Jordan with you to do battle, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>, and the land is subdued before you, you shall give them the land of Gilead as a holding.
But if they do not cross over with you as shock-troops, they shall receive holdings among you in the land of Canaan.”
The Gadites and the Reubenites said in reply, “Whatever the L<small>ORD</small> has spoken concerning your servants, that we will do.
We ourselves will cross over as shock-troops, at the instance of the L<small>ORD</small>, into the land of Canaan; and we shall keep our hereditary holding across the Jordan.”<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., in Transjordan.</i>
So Moses assigned to them—to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land with its various cities and the territories of their surrounding towns.
The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified towns or as enclosures for flocks.
The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
Nebo, Baal-meon—some names being changed—and Sibmah; they gave [their own] names to towns that they rebuilt.<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. vv. 41, 42.</i>
The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, dispossessing the Amorites who were there;
so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there.
Jair son of Manasseh went and captured <sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">Or “the villages of Ham”; cf. Gen. 14.5.</i>their villages,<sup class="endFootnote">-e</sup> which he renamed Havvoth-jair.<sup class="footnote-marker">f</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., “the villages of Jair.”</i>
And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its dependencies, renaming it Nobah after himself.

Chapter 33

These were the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron.
Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by the L<small>ORD</small>. Their marches, by starting points, were as follows:
They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. It was on the morrow of the passover offering that the Israelites started out defiantly,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Exod. 14.8.</i> in plain view of all the Egyptians.
The Egyptians meanwhile were burying those among them whom the L<small>ORD</small> had struck down, every first-born—whereby the L<small>ORD</small> executed judgment on their gods.
The Israelites set out from Rameses and encamped at Succoth.
They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
They set out from Etham and turned about toward Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they encamped before Migdol.
They set out from Pene<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Many Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions read “Pi.”</i>-hahiroth and passed through the sea into the wilderness; and they made a three-days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and encamped at Marah.
They set out from Marah and came to Elim. There were twelve springs in Elim and seventy palm trees, so they encamped there.
They set out from Elim and encamped by the Sea of Reeds.<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Exod. 10.19.</i>
They set out from the Sea of Reeds and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.
They set out from the wilderness of Sin and encamped at Dophkah.
They set out from Dophkah and encamped at Alush.
They set out from Alush and encamped at Rephidim; it was there that the people had no water to drink.
They set out from Rephidim and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.
They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and encamped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and encamped at Hazeroth.
They set out from Hazeroth and encamped at Rithmah.
They set out from Rithmah and encamped at Rimmon-perez.
They set out from Rimmon-perez and encamped at Libnah.
They set out from Libnah and encamped at Rissah.
They set out from Rissah and encamped at Kehelath.
They set out from Kehelath and encamped at Mount Shepher.
They set out from Mount Shepher and encamped at Haradah.
They set out from Haradah and encamped at Makheloth.
They set out from Makheloth and encamped at Tahath.
They set out from Tahath and encamped at Terah.
They set out from Terah and encamped at Mithkah.
They set out from Mithkah and encamped at Hashmonah.
They set out from Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth.
They set out from Moseroth and encamped at Bene-jaakan.
They set out from Bene-jaakan and encamped at Hor-haggidgad.
They set out from Hor-haggidgad and encamped at Jotbath.
They set out from Jotbath and encamped at Abronah.
They set out from Abronah and encamped at Ezion-geber.
They set out from Ezion-geber and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh.
They set out from Kadesh and encamped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command of the L<small>ORD</small> and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.
Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
And the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, learned of the coming of the Israelites.<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">See 21.1–3.</i>
They set out from Mount Hor and encamped at Zalmonah.
They set out from Zalmonah and encamped at Punon.
They set out from Punon and encamped at Oboth.
They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab.
They set out from Iyim and encamped at Dibon-gad.
They set out from Dibon-gad and encamped at Almon-diblathaim.
They set out from Almon-diblathaim and encamped in the hills of Abarim, before Nebo.
They set out from the hills of Abarim and encamped in the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho;
they encamped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim, in the steppes of Moab.
In the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho, the L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land; you shall destroy all their figured<sup class="footnote-marker">e</sup><i class="footnote">See note at Lev. 26.1.</i> objects; you shall destroy all their molten images, and you shall demolish all their cult places.
And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to possess.
You shall apportion the land among yourselves by lot, clan by clan: with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. You shall have your portions according to your ancestral tribes.
But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land, those whom you allow to remain shall be stings in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land in which you live;
so that I will do to you what I planned to do to them.

Chapter 34

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
Instruct the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as your portion, the land of Canaan with its various boundaries:
Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom. Your southern boundary shall start on the east from the tip of the Dead Sea.
Your boundary shall then turn to pass south of the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its limits shall be south of Kadesh-barnea, reaching Hazar-addar and continuing to Azmon.
From Azmon the boundary shall turn toward the Wadi of Egypt and terminate at the Sea.<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the Mediterranean Sea.</i>
For the western boundary you shall have the coast of the Great Sea;<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the Mediterranean Sea.</i> that shall serve as your western boundary.
This shall be your northern boundary: Draw a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor;
from Mount Hor draw a line to Lebo-hamath,<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">See note at 13.21.</i> and let the boundary reach Zedad.
The boundary shall then run to Ziphron and terminate at Hazar-enan. That shall be your northern boundary.
For your eastern boundary you shall draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham.
From Shepham the boundary shall descend to Riblah on the east side of Ain; from there the boundary shall continue downward and abut on the eastern slopes of the Sea of Chinnereth.<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., the Sea (or Lake) of Galilee.</i>
The boundary shall then descend along the Jordan and terminate at the Dead Sea.<br>That shall be your land as defined by its boundaries on all sides.
Moses instructed the Israelites, saying: This is the land you are to receive by lot as your hereditary portion, which the L<small>ORD</small> has commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.
For the Reubenite tribe by its ancestral houses, the Gadite tribe by its ancestral houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their portions:
those two and a half tribes have received their portions across the Jordan, opposite Jericho, on the east, the orient side.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses, saying:
These are the names of the men through whom the land shall be apportioned for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.
And you shall also take a chieftain from each tribe through whom the land shall be apportioned.
These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh.
From the Simeonite tribe: Samuel<sup class="footnote-marker">d</sup><i class="footnote">Or “Shemuel.”</i> son of Ammihud.
From the tribe of Benjamin: Elidad son of Chislon.
From the Danite tribe: a chieftain, Bukki son of Jogli.
For the descendants of Joseph: from the Manassite tribe: a chieftain, Hanniel son of Ephod;
and from the Ephraimite tribe: a chieftain, Kemuel son of Shiphtan.
From the Zebulunite tribe: a chieftain, Elizaphan son of Parnach.
From the Issacharite tribe: a chieftain, Paltiel son of Azzan.
From the Asherite tribe: a chieftain, Ahihud son of Shelomi.
From the Naphtalite tribe: a chieftain, Pedahel son of Ammihud.
It was these whom the L<small>ORD</small> designated to allot portions to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Chapter 35

The L<small>ORD</small> spoke to Moses in the steppes of Moab at the Jordan near Jericho, saying:
Instruct the Israelite people to assign, out of the holdings apportioned to them, towns for the Levites to dwell in; you shall also assign to the Levites pasture land around their towns.
The towns shall be theirs to dwell in, and the pasture shall be for the cattle they own and all their other beasts.
The town pasture that you are to assign to the Levites shall extend a thousand cubits outside the town wall all around.
You shall measure off two thousand cubits outside the town on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west side, and two thousand on the north side, with the town in the center. That shall be the pasture for their towns.
The towns that you assign to the Levites shall comprise the six cities of refuge that you are to designate for a manslayer to flee to, to which you shall add forty-two towns.
Thus the total of the towns that you assign to the Levites shall be forty-eight towns, with their pasture.
In assigning towns from the holdings of the Israelites, take more from the larger groups and less from the smaller, so that each assigns towns to the Levites in proportion to the share it receives.
The L<small>ORD</small> spoke further to Moses:
Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
you shall provide yourselves with places to serve you as cities of refuge to which a manslayer who has killed a person unintentionally may flee.
The cities shall serve you as a refuge from the avenger,<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “redeemer,” i.e., next of kin; cf. note at Lev. 25.25.</i> so that the manslayer may not die unless he has stood trial before the assembly.
The towns that you thus assign shall be six cities of refuge in all.
Three cities shall be designated beyond the Jordan, and the other three shall be designated in the land of Canaan: they shall serve as cities of refuge.
These six cities shall serve the Israelites and the resident aliens among them for refuge, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
Anyone, however, who strikes another with an iron object so that death results is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.
If he struck him with a stone tool<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “of the hand.”</i> that could cause death, and death resulted, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.
Similarly, if the object with which he struck him was a wooden tool<sup class="footnote-marker">b</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “of the hand.”</i> that could cause death, and death resulted, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.
The blood-avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; it is he who shall put him to death upon encounter.
So, too, if he pushed him in hate or hurled something at him on purpose and death resulted,
or if he struck him with his hand in enmity and death resulted, the assailant shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood-avenger shall put the murderer to death upon encounter.
But if he pushed him without malice aforethought or hurled any object at him unintentionally,
or inadvertently<sup class="footnote-marker">c</sup><i class="footnote">Lit. “without seeing.”</i> dropped upon him any deadly object of stone, and death resulted—though he was not an enemy of his and did not seek his harm—
in such cases the assembly shall decide between the slayer and the blood-avenger.
The assembly shall protect the manslayer from the blood-avenger, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and there he shall remain until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil.
But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled,
and the blood-avenger comes upon him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the blood-avenger kills the manslayer, there is no bloodguilt on his account.
For he must remain inside his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; after the death of the high priest, the manslayer may return to his land holding.
Such shall be your law of procedure throughout the ages in all your settlements.
If anyone kills a person, the manslayer may be executed only on the evidence of witnesses; the testimony of a single witness against a person shall not suffice for a sentence of death.
You may not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of a capital crime; he must be put to death.
Nor may you accept ransom in lieu of flight to a city of refuge, enabling one to return to live on his land before the death of the priest.
You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and the land can have no expiation for blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I Myself abide, for I the L<small>ORD</small> abide among the Israelite people.

Chapter 36

The family heads in the clan of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the Josephite clans, came forward and appealed to Moses and the chieftains, family heads<sup class="footnote-marker">a</sup><i class="footnote">I.e., tribal heads.</i> of the Israelites.
They said, “The L<small>ORD</small> commanded my lord to assign the land to the Israelites as shares by lot, and my lord was further commanded by the L<small>ORD</small> to assign the share of our kinsman Zelophehad to his daughters.
Now, if they marry persons from another Israelite tribe, their share will be cut off from our ancestral portion and be added to the portion of the tribe into which they marry; thus our allotted portion will be diminished.
And even when the Israelites observe the jubilee, their share will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their share will be cut off from the ancestral portion of our tribe.”
So Moses, at the L<small>ORD</small>’s bidding, instructed the Israelites, saying: “The plea of the Josephite tribe is just.
This is what the L<small>ORD</small> has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they wish, provided they marry into a clan of their father’s tribe.
No inheritance of the Israelites may pass over from one tribe to another, but the Israelites must remain bound each to the ancestral portion of his tribe.
Every daughter among the Israelite tribes who inherits a share must marry someone from a clan of her father’s tribe, in order that every Israelite may keep his ancestral share.
Thus no inheritance shall pass over from one tribe to another, but the Israelite tribes shall remain bound each to its portion.”
The daughters of Zelophehad did as the L<small>ORD</small> had commanded Moses:
Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, were married to sons of their uncles,
marrying into clans of descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph; and so their share remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
These are the commandments and regulations that the L<small>ORD</small> enjoined upon the Israelites, through Moses, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.<br><br>