But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them.

"Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites.

But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord's anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony."

But the Levites were not numbered among the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.

"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then the Kohathites will come to carry them; but they must not touch any holy thing, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

"Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off from among the Levites;

but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility.

But the Kohathites are not to go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, or they will die."

You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps, among which I live."

and if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is defiled; or if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is not defiled --

then the man must bring his wife to the priest, and he must bring the offering required for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he must not pour olive oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of suspicion, a grain offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance.

Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to the her, "If no other man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband's authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.

But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she will be free of ill effects and will be able to bear children.

All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

"'All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body.

He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, because the separation for his God is on his head.

He must rededicate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, but the former days will not be counted because his separation was defiled.

It happened that some men who were ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man could not keep the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover.

But the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. Because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin.

This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day, and there was a fiery appearance by night.

When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions of the Lord and did not journey.

And when the cloud remained only from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled.

But when you assemble the community, you must blow, but you must not sound an alarm.

But Hobab said to him, "I will not go, but I will go instead to my own land and to my kindred."

Moses said, "Do not leave us, because you know places for us to camp in the wilderness, and you could be our guide.

And when the dew came down on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.)

And Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

I am not able to bear this entire people alone, because it is too heavy for me!

But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble."

Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.

You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,

And the Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you will see whether my word to you will come true or not!"

And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.

But two men remained in the camp; one's name was Eldad, and the other's name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.

And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

They said, "Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?" And the Lord heard it.

My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house.

With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

So Aaron said to Moses, "O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned!

Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its mother's womb!"

The Lord said to Moses, "If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again."

So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in.

and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, and bring back some of the fruit of the land." Now it was the time of year for the first ripe grapes.

But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!"

Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.

Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!"

The Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.'

For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me,

But Moses said, "Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed!

Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be defeated before your enemies.

For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you."

"'If you sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses --

You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness.

Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up.

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up."

Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, "Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!"

And he said to the community, "Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins."

Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.

If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.

It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company -- just as the Lord had spoken by the authority of Moses.

The Lord said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end before me, that they will not die."

They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.'"

He must purify himself with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.

Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them."

Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King's Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.'"

But Edom said to him, "You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword."

But he said, "You may not pass through." Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful force.

"Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.

"Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King's Highway until we pass your borders."

But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

But God said to Balaam, "You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed."

And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak son of Zippor: 'Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me.

Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the Lord my God to do less or more.

Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me."

God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do."

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?" And he said, "No."

The donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive."

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home."

Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send again and again to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?"

How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?

For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations.

Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?"

Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there."

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?

He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them.

Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain."

But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the Lord speaks, I must do'?"

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me,

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth.

"Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal.

But the descendants of Korah did not die.