Category: Numbers

[14:26] The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

[14:27] “How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints!

[14:28] Now give them this answer: ‘I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the Lord, have spoken.

[14:29] You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land.

[14:30] I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua.

[14:31] You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home.

[14:32] You will die here in this wilderness.

[14:33] Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies.

[14:34] You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you!

[14:35] I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

[14:38] Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived.

[14:39] When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly.

[14:40] Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned.”

[14:41] But Moses said, “Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed!

[14:42] Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you.

[14:43] When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him.”

[14:44] Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp.

[14:45] Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

[15:1] The Lord gave Moses

[15:2] the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them.

[15:3] A bull, a ram, a sheep, or a goat may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering or as an offering at your regular religious festivals; the odor of these food offerings is pleasing to the Lord.

[15:6] When a ram is offered, 4 pounds of flour mixed with 3 pints of olive oil are to be presented as a grain offering,

[15:7] together with 3 pints of wine. The odor of these sacrifices is pleasing to the Lord.

[15:8] When a bull is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a fellowship offering,

[15:9] a grain offering of 6 pounds of flour mixed with 4 pints of olive oil is to be presented,

[15:10] together with 4 pints of wine. The odor of this sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord.

[15:11] That is what shall be offered with each bull, ram, sheep, or goat.

[15:12] When more than one animal is offered, the accompanying offering is to be increased proportionately.

[15:13] All native Israelites are to do this when they present a food offering, an odor pleasing to the Lord.

[15:14] And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations.

[15:15] For all time to come, the same rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight;

[15:16] the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.

[15:17] The Lord gave Moses

[15:18] the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them.

[15:19] When any food produced there is eaten, some of it is to be set aside as a special contribution to the Lord.

[15:20] When you bake bread, the first loaf of the first bread made from the new grain is to be presented as a special contribution to the Lord. This is to be presented in the same way as the special contribution you make from the grain you thresh.

[15:21] For all time to come, this special gift is to be given to the Lord from the bread you bake.

[15:22] But suppose someone unintentionally fails to keep some of these regulations which the Lord has given Moses.

[15:23] And suppose that in the future the community fails to do everything that the Lord commanded through Moses.

[15:24] If the mistake was made because of the ignorance of the community, they are to offer a bull as a burnt offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, with the proper grain offering and wine offering. In addition, they are to offer a male goat as a sin offering.

[15:25] The priest shall perform the ritual of purification for the community, and they will be forgiven, because the mistake was unintentional and they brought their sin offering as a food offering to the Lord.

[15:26] The whole community of Israel and the foreigners living among them will be forgiven, because everyone was involved in the mistake.

[15:27] If any of you sin unintentionally, you are to offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering.

[15:28] At the altar the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to purify you from your sin, and you will be forgiven.

[15:29] The same regulation applies to all who unintentionally commit a sin, whether they are native Israelites or resident foreigners.

[15:30] But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death,

[15:31] because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.

[15:32] Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath.

[15:33] He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community,

[15:34] and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him.

[15:35] Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp.”

[15:36] So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

[15:37] The Lord commanded Moses

[15:38] to say to the people of Israel: “Make tassels on the corners of your garments and put a blue cord on each tassel. You are to do this for all time to come.

[15:39] The tassels will serve as reminders, and each time you see them you will remember all my commands and obey them; then you will not turn away from me and follow your own wishes and desires.

[15:40] The tassels will remind you to keep all my commands, and you will belong completely to me.

[15:41] I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”

[16:3] They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?”

[16:4] When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed.

[16:5] Then he said to Korah and his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar.

[16:8] Moses continued to speak to Korah. “Listen, you Levites!

[16:9] Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them?

[16:10] He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor—and now you are trying to get the priesthood too!

[16:11] When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling.”

[16:12] Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, “We will not come!

[16:13] Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us?

[16:14] You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!”

[16:15] Moses became angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys.”

[16:16] Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there.

[16:17] Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar.”

[16:18] So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron.

[16:19] Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community,

[16:20] and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

[16:21] “Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately.”

[16:22] But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?”

[16:23] The Lord said to Moses,

[16:24] “Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

[16:25] Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram.

[16:26] He said to the people, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins.”

[16:27] So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children.

[16:28] Moses said to the people, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them.

[16:29] If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me.

[16:30] But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord.”

[16:31] As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open

[16:32] and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions.

[16:33] So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished.

[16:34] All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, “Run! The earth might swallow us too!”

[16:35] Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

[16:36] Then the Lord said to Moses,

[16:37] “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the bronze fire pans from the remains of those who have been burned, and scatter the coals from the fire pans somewhere else, because the fire pans are holy.

[16:38] They became holy when they were presented at the Lord's altar. So take the fire pans of these who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar. It will be a warning to the people of Israel.”

[16:39] So Eleazar the priest took the fire pans and had them beaten into thin plates to make a covering for the altar.

[16:40] This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.

[16:41] The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed some of the Lord's people.”

[16:42] After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord's presence had appeared.

[16:43] Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent,

[16:44] and the Lord said to Moses,

[16:45] “Move back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!” The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground,

[16:46] and Moses said to Aaron, “Take your fire pan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord's anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun.”

[16:47] Aaron obeyed, took his fire pan and ran into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and performed the ritual of purification for the people.

[16:48] This stopped the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the dead.

[16:49] The number of people who died was 14,700, not counting those who died in Korah's rebellion.

[16:50] When the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent.

[17:1] The Lord said to Moses,

[17:2] “Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick

[17:3] and then write Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader.

[17:4] Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you.

[17:5] Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you.”

[17:6] So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron's stick was put with them.

[17:7] Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the Lord's Covenant Box.

[17:8] The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!

[17:9] Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back.

[17:10] The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops.”

[17:11] Moses did as the Lord commanded.

[17:12] The people of Israel said to Moses, “Then that's the end of us!

[17:13] If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!”

[18:1] The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood.

[18:2] Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent.

[18:3] They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.

[18:4] They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you.

[18:5] You and your sons alone must fulfill the responsibilities for the Holy Place and the altar, so that my anger will not again break out against the people of Israel.

[18:6] I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They are dedicated to me, so that they can carry out their duties in the Tent.

[18:7] But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death.”