Most Popular Bible Verses in Numbers

Numbers Rank:

1

Take the full number of the children of Israel, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, every male by name;

2

May the Lord send his blessing on you and keep you:

4

Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say,

5

I see him, but not now: looking on him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a rod of authority out of Israel, sending destruction to the farthest limits of Moab and on the head of all the sons of Sheth.

6

Of the children of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur,

7

All those of twenty years old and over, who are able to go to war in Israel, are to be numbered by you and Aaron.

8

From Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

9

Now when Israel was living in Shittim the people became false to the Lord, doing evil with the daughters of Moab:

10

Now Miriam and Aaron said evil against Moses, because of the Cushite woman to whom he was married, for he had taken a Cushite woman as his wife.

11

These are the names of those who are to be your helpers: from Reuben, Elizur, the son of Shedeur;

12

Am I the father of all this people? have I given them birth, that you say to me, Take them in your arms, like a child at the breast, to the land which you gave by an oath to their fathers?

13

From Judah, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab;

14

And Moses, crying to the Lord, said, Let my prayer come before you, O God, and make her well.

15

And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel.

16

From Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zuar;

17

He may not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, his sister or his brother, if death comes to them; because he is under an oath to keep himself separate for God.

18

Let me go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway till we have gone past the limits of your land.

19

The law and the rule are to be the same for you and for those from other lands living with you.

20

See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.

21

And four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari for their work, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

22

From Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

23

Where am I to get flesh to give to all this people? For they are weeping to me and saying, Give us flesh for our food.

24

From Dan, Ahiezer, the son of Ammi-shaddai;

25

Now in the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud was taken up from over the Tent of witness.

26

And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had put a mark of shame on her, would she not be shamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days, and after that she may come in again.

27

And Moses and Aaron took these men, marked out by name;

28

Say to the children of Israel, If any one of you or of your families is unclean because of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, still he is to keep the Passover to the Lord:

29

And they got together all the people on the first day of the second month; and everyone made clear his family and his father's house, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and over.

30

From Gad, Eliasaph, the son of Reuel;

31

All the time he is separate he is holy to the Lord.

32

These are the men named out of all the people, chiefs of their fathers' houses, heads of the tribes of Israel.

33

Let them say openly what they have done; and make payment for the wrong done, with the addition of a fifth part, and give it to him to whom the wrong was done.

34

In the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the evening, they are to keep it, taking it with unleavened bread and bitter-tasting plants;

35

From Asher, Pagiel, the son of Ochran;

36

From Naphtali, Ahira, the son of Enan.

37

And the Lord said to Moses,

38

Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land.

39

The generations of the sons of Gad were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

40

When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it;

41

I am not able by myself to take the weight of all this people, for it is more than my strength.

42

Forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty of the tribe of Gad were numbered.

43

These are the families of the Zebulunites as they were numbered, sixty thousand, five hundred.

44

Forty-six thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Reuben were numbered.

45

As the Lord had given orders to Moses, so they were numbered by him in the waste place of Sinai.

46

And Sihon would not let Israel go through his land; but got all his people together and went out against Israel into the waste land, as far as Jahaz, to make war on Israel.

47

The generations of the sons of Simeon were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over, who was able to go to war;

48

All the lifted offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as a right for ever. This is an agreement made with salt before the Lord, to you and to your seed for ever.

49

And the children of Israel went on their journey out of the waste land of Sinai; and the cloud came to rest in the waste land of Paran.

50

But if the man has no relation to whom the payment may be made, then the payment for sin made to the Lord will be the priest's, in addition to the sheep offered to take away his sin.

51

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord waiting in the road with his sword in his hand; and turning from the road, the ass went into the field; and Balaam gave the ass blows, to get her back on to the road.

52

The generations of the sons of Judah were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

53

So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

54

Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.

55

And the Lord said to Aaron, You will have no heritage in their land, or any part among them; I am your part and your heritage among the children of Israel.

56

And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together:

57

And a separate tenth part for every one of the seven lambs;

58

And the Lord said to Moses,

59

Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,

60

Fifty-nine thousand, three hundred of the tribe of Simeon were numbered.

61

And I will come down and have talk with you there: and I will take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them, and they will take part of the weight of the people off you, so that you do not have to take it by yourself.

62

But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing; because they had the care of the holy place, taking it about on their backs.

63

And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people.

64

After that, the people went on from Hazeroth and put up their tents in the waste land of Paran.

65

Nothing of it is to be kept till the morning, and no bone of it is to be broken: they are to keep it by the rules of the Passover.

66

The generations of the sons of Issachar were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

67

So Edom would not let Israel go through his land; and Israel went in another direction.

69

And the Lord said to Moses,

70

If the spirit of doubt comes into her husband's heart, and he has doubts of his wife, with good cause; or if he has doubts of her without cause:

71

And Moses went out and gave the people the words of the Lord: and he took seventy of the responsible men of the people, placing them round the Tent.

72

If this is to be my fate, put me to death now in answer to my prayer, if I have grace in your eyes; and let me not see my shame.

73

Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.

74

Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi.

75

The generations of the sons of Zebulun were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

76

And every man's holy things will be his: whatever a man gives to the priest will be his.

77

So Miriam was shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days: and the people did not go forward on their journey till Miriam had come in again.

79

Fifty-seven thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Zebulun were numbered.

80

And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting.

81

These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua.

82

Then Balaam got up and went back to his place: and Balak went away.

83

If death comes suddenly to a man at his side, so that he becomes unclean, let his hair be cut off on the day when he is made clean, on the seventh day.

84

And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place.

85

So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:

86

Not for one day only, or even for five or ten or twenty days;

87

But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.

88

And you are to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put their hands on them:

89

Seventy-four thousand, six hundred of the tribe of Judah were numbered.

90

Fifty-four thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Issachar were numbered.

91

And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns;

92

And say to the people, Make yourselves clean before tomorrow and you will have flesh for your food: for in the ears of the Lord you have been weeping and saying, Who will give us flesh for food? for we were well off in Egypt: and so the Lord will give you flesh, and it will be your food;

93

And on the day when the House was put up, the cloud came down on it, on the Tent of witness; and in the evening there was a light like fire over the House till the morning.

94

And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of the best meal mixed with oil, and thin unleavened cakes covered with oil, with their meal offering and drink offerings.

95

First the flag of the children of Judah went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

96

And he who made his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:

97

And on the eighth day let him take to the priest, at the door of the Tent of meeting, two doves or two young pigeons;

98

So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath.

99

Then let his long hair, the sign of his oath, be cut off at the door of the Tent of meeting, and let him put it on the fire on which the peace-offerings are burning.

100

But every day for a month, till you are tired of it, turning from it in disgust: because you have gone against the Lord who is with you, and have been weeping before him saying, Why did we come out of Egypt?

101

They went forward for the first time on their journey as the Lord had given orders by the hand of Moses.

102

Make the tribe of Levi come near, and put them before Aaron the priest, to be his helpers,

103

In order that they may be responsible to him and to all Israel for the care of the Tent of meeting, and to do the work of the House;

104

And every offering lifted up of all the holy things which the children of Israel give to the priest, will be his.

105

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

106

And his offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;

107

Then Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, I will give them flesh to be their food for a month.

108

And seventy-two thousand oxen,

109

And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places.

110

So they overcame him and his sons and his people, driving them all out: and they took his land for their heritage.

111

But Israel overcame him, and took all his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the country of the children of Ammon, for the country of the children of Ammon was strongly armed.

112

And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number;

113

From generation to generation you are to give to the Lord a lifted offering from the first of your rough meal.

114

Are flocks and herds to be put to death for them? or are all the fish in the sea to be got together so that they may be full?

115

And at the head of the army of the children of Issachar was Nethanel, the son of Zuar.

116

And this is the law for him who is separate, when the necessary days are ended: he is to come to the door of the Tent of meeting,

117

And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the House, then the children of Israel went journeying on; and in the place where the cloud came to rest, there the children of Israel put up their tents.

118

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and had talk with him, and put on the seventy men some of the spirit which was on him: now when the spirit came to rest on them, they were like prophets, but only at that time.

119

They are wounded with our arrows; destruction has come on Heshbon, even to Dibon; and we have made the land waste as far as Nophah, stretching out to Medeba.

120

And so it was at all times: it was covered by the cloud, and by a light as of fire by night.

121

And at the head of the army of the children of Zebulun was Eliab, the son of Helon.

122

The sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim.

123

And the priest will give one for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to take away the sin which came on him on account of the dead, and he will make his head holy that same day.

124

And the mixed band of people who went with them were overcome by desire: and the children of Israel, weeping again, said, Who will give us flesh for our food?

125

So Israel put up their tents in the land of the Amorites.

126

And the chiefs gave an offering for the altar on the day when the holy oil was put on it; they made their offering before the altar.

127

And they will have the care of all the vessels of the Tent of meeting, and will do for the children of Israel all the necessary work of the House.

128

Sometimes the cloud was resting on the House for two or three days; then, by the order of the Lord, they kept their tents in that place, and when the Lord gave the order they went on.

129

One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;

130

And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them;

131

When the cloud was resting on the House for a long time the children of Israel, waiting for the order of the Lord, did not go on.

132

And the Lord said to Moses, Has the Lord's hand become short? Now you will see if my word comes true for you or not.

133

When a loud note is sounded, the tents placed on the east side are to go forward.

134

Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses, in the day when the word of the Lord came to Moses on Mount Sinai.

135

And they went on from Ezion-geber, and put up their tents in the waste land of Zin (which is Kadesh).

136

And they went on from Kadesh, and came, with all their people, to Mount Hor.

137

Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; so that they may be his without question from among the children of Israel.

138

Then let them take a young ox and its meal offering, crushed grain mixed with oil, and take another ox for a sin-offering.

139

And Moses sent men secretly to Jazer, and they took its towns, driving out the Amorites who were living there.

140

Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of his father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, We are journeying to that place of which the Lord has said, I will give it to you: so come with us, and it will be for your profit: for the Lord has good things in store for Israel.

141

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and went near the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall; and he gave her more blows.

142

And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you done me this evil? and why have I not grace in your eyes, that you have put on me the care of all this people?

143

The generations of the sons of Dan were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years and over who was able to go to war;

144

Then the House was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were responsible for moving the House, went forward.

145

And at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

146

Then the flag of the children of Ephraim went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Elishama, the son of Ammihud.

147

And he will give to the Lord his days of being separate, offering a he-lamb of the first year as an offering for error: but the earlier days will be a loss, because he became unclean.

149

And Moses said to him, Are you moved by envy on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them!

150

The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir was the father of Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.

151

And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's work.

152

Then Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been Moses' servant from the time when he was a child, said, My lord Moses, let them be stopped.

153

And a young man went running to Moses and said, Eldad and Medad are acting as prophets in the tent-circle.

154

And the Lord said to Moses, in the waste land of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt,

155

And sometimes the cloud was there only from evening to morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning they went on their journey again: or if it was resting there by day and by night, whenever the cloud was taken up they went forward.

156

Sixty-two thousand, seven hundred of the tribe of Dan were numbered.

157

So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country;

158

But two men were still in the tent-circle one of them named Eldad and the other Medad: and the spirit came to rest on them; they were among those who had been sent for, but they had not gone out to the Tent: and the prophet's power came on them in the tent-circle.

159

Sweet is the memory of the fish we had in Egypt for nothing, and the fruit and green plants of every sort, sharp and pleasing to the taste:

160

All the laws which the Lord has given you by the hand of Moses, from the day when the Lord gave them, and ever after from generation to generation;

161

And at the head of the army of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.

162

See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel;

163

Now Balak, hearing that Balaam had come, went to the chief town of Moab, on the edge of the Arnon, in the farthest part of the land, for the purpose of meeting him.

164

And the Lord said to Moses,

165

But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

166

Then let him take her to the priest, offering for her the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal, without oil or perfume; for it is a meal offering of a bitter spirit, a meal offering keeping wrongdoing in mind.

167

At the head of the army of the children of Gad was Eliasaph, the son of Reuel.

168

Then, if the wrong is done in error, without the knowledge of the meeting of the people, let all the meeting give a young ox as a burned offering, a sweet smell to the Lord, with its meal offering and its drink offering, as is ordered in the law, together with a he-goat for a sin-offering.

169

With him I will have talk mouth to mouth, openly and not in dark sayings; and with his eyes he will see the form of the Lord: why then had you no fear of saying evil against my servant Moses?

170

And the Lord said to Moses,

171

Then the flag of the children of Reuben went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Elizur, the son of Shedeur.

172

And make his offering to the Lord; one he-lamb of the first year, without a mark, for a burned offering, and one female lamb of the first year, without a mark, for a sin-offering, and one male sheep, without a mark, for peace-offerings,

173

Now the manna was like a seed of grain, like small clear drops.

174

And the Lord said to Moses, Let every chief on his day give his offering to make the altar holy.

176

And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it:

177

Say to the children of Israel, When you come into the land where I am guiding you,

178

He is to keep himself from wine and strong drink, and take no mixed wine or strong drink or any drink made from grapes, or any grapes, green or dry.

179

And at the sound of the people weeping, every man at his tent-door, the wrath of the Lord was great, and Moses was very angry.

180

And the Lord said to Moses,

181

When they are sounded, all the people are to come together to you at the door of the Tent of meeting.

182

Say to the children of Israel, If any man's wife does wrong, sinning against him

183

And he said, Do not go from us; for you will be eyes for us, guiding us to the right places in the waste land to put up our tents.

184

And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.

185

The number of his army was seventy-four thousand, six hundred.

186

So Moses did as the Lord said, numbering them as he had been ordered.

187

And the Lord said to Moses, Have no fear of him: for I have given him up into your hands, with all his people and his land; do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, at Heshbon.

188

And the priest will take away the sin of the person who has done wrong, if the wrong was done unconsciously, and he will have forgiveness.

189

And if you go to war in your land against any who do you wrong, then let the loud note of the horn be sounded; and the Lord your God will keep you in mind and give you salvation from those who are against you.

190

But the man who, not being unclean or on a journey, does not keep the Passover, will be cut off from his people: because he did not make the offering of the Lord at the regular time, his sin will be on him.

191

When the dew came down on the tents at night, the manna came down with it.

192

And the people made an outcry to Moses, and Moses made prayer to the Lord, and the fire was stopped.

193

By taking as her lover another man, and keeps it secret so that her husband has no knowledge of it, and there is no witness against her, and she is not taken in the act;

194

And Israel took all their towns, living in Heshbon and all the towns and small places of the Amorites.

195

Then the Kohathites went forward with the holy place; the others put up the House ready for their coming.

196

But now our soul is wasted away; there is nothing at all: we have nothing but this manna before our eyes.

197

This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.

198

And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen, and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites.

199

At the head of the army of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.

200

These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the oldest, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

201

And they said, Have the words of the Lord been given to Moses only? have they not come to us? And the Lord took note of it.

202

And on days of joy and on your regular feasts and on the first day of every month, let the horns be sounded over your burned offerings and your peace-offerings; and they will put the Lord in mind of you: I am the Lord your God.

203

Give orders to the children of Israel to put outside the tent-circle every leper, and anyone who has any sort of flow from his body, and anyone who is unclean from the touch of the dead;

204

And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper.

205

At the head of the army of the children of Benjamin was Abidan, the son of Gideoni.

206

Make two silver horns of hammered work, to be used for getting the people together and to give the sign for the moving of the tents.

207

And the flag of the children of Dan, whose tents were moved last of all, went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.

208

So that place was named Taberah, because of the fire of the Lord which had been burning among them.

209

And nearest to him will be the tribe of Issachar, with Nethanel, the son of Zuar, as their chief.

210

And the Lord said to Moses,

211

But he said, I will not go with you, I will go back to the land of my birth and to my relations.

212

For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord.

213

This was the order in which the children of Israel were journeying by armies; so they went forward.

214

All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame.

215

So you are to make the Levites separate from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine.

216

And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:

217

And the Lord said to Moses in the waste land of Sinai,

218

Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half wasted when he comes out from the body of his mother.

219

And if a man from another country is among you and has a desire to keep the Passover to the Lord, let him do as is ordered in the law of the Passover: there is to be the same rule for the man from another nation and for him who had his birth in the land.

220

And if one person does wrong, without being conscious of it, then let him give a she-goat of the first year for a sin-offering.

221

Let all the children of Levi be numbered by their families and their fathers' houses; let every male of a month old and over be numbered.

223

All the time he is separate he may not come near any dead body.

224

The law in connection with wrong done unconsciously is to be the same for him who is an Israelite by birth and for the man from another country who is living among them.

225

And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.

226

Then the priest will put the oath of the curse on the woman, and say to her, May the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, sending on you wasting of the legs and disease of the stomach;

227

And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines.

228

Then Moses, with the responsible men of Israel, went back to the tent-circle.

229

And the sons of Kohath, by their families: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel.

230

Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?

231

And all the meeting of the children of Israel, as well as those from other lands living among them, will have forgiveness; for it was an error on the part of the people.

232

And those who saw him getting sticks took him before Moses and Aaron and all the people.

233

From everything given to you, let the best of it, the holy part of it, be offered as a lifted offering to the Lord.

234

From Gershon come the Libnites and the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites.

235

Then Aaron said to Moses, O my lord, let not our sin be on our heads, for we have done foolishly and are sinners.

236

The people went about taking it up from the earth, crushing it between stones or hammering it to powder, and boiling it in pots, and they made cakes of it: its taste was like the taste of cakes cooked with oil.

237

May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now.

238

Then, when you take for your food the produce of the land, you are to give an offering lifted up before the Lord.

239

At the head of the army of the children of Asher was Pagiel, the son of Ochran.

240

The generations of the sons of Manasseh were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

241

Then the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the Lord.

242

These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests, on whom the holy oil was put, who were marked out as priests.

243

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

244

The generations of the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over, who was able to go to war;

245

And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the oxen, for the male sheep, and for the lambs, in relation to their number, as it is ordered:

246

And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites: of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.

247

One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice for burning;

248

And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites in the order of their fathers' houses.

249

These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.

250

And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of meeting. And the three of them went out.

251

And at the head of the army of the children of Naphtali was Ahira, the son of Enan.

252

And the priest will take holy water in a pot and put in it dust from the floor of the House;

253

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

254

So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest.

255

And the Lord said to Moses,

256

The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:

257

And in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho, the Lord said to Moses,

258

And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, taking his place at the door of the Tent, and made Aaron and Miriam come before him.

259

Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.

260

Then the Lord said to Moses, Certainly the man is to be put to death: let him be stoned by all the people outside the tent-circle.

261

And he will make the woman come before the Lord with her hair loose, and will put the meal offering, the offering of a bitter spirit, in her hands; and the priest will take in his hand the bitter water causing the curse;

262

And news of the coming of the children of Israel came to the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who was living in the South in the land of Canaan.

263

The generations of the sons of Asher were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

264

Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five.

265

And this water of the curse will go into your body, causing disease of your stomach and wasting of your legs: and the woman will say, So be it.

266

And burning with wrath against them, the Lord went away.

267

Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman takes an oath to keep himself separate and give himself to the Lord;

268

And the priest will put these curses in a book, washing out the writing with the bitter water;

269

On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places.

270

So Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, all the land with its towns and the country round them.

271

And the priest will make her come near and put her before the Lord;

272

Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old at the time of his death in Mount Hor.

273

And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:

274

The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two;

275

But when all the people are to come together, the horn is to be sounded but not loudly.

276

For they have been given to me from among the children of Israel; in place of every mother's first son, the first to come to birth in Israel, I have taken them for myself.

277

The chief of the Gershonites is Eliasaph, the son of Lael.

278

After that, the Levites will go in to do whatever has to be done in the Tent of meeting; you are to make them clean and give them as a wave offering.

279

And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

280

And the Lord said to Moses,

281

From Kohath come the Amramites and the Izharites and the Hebronites and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.

282

Giving the sheep of the peace-offerings, with the basket of unleavened bread; and at the same time, the priest will make his meal offering and his drink offering.

283

If only one of them is sounded, then the chiefs, the heads of the thousands of Israel, are to come to you.

284

And when Moses had put up the House completely, and had put oil on it and made it holy, with all the things in it, and had made the altar and all its vessels holy with oil;

285

All the time he is under his oath let no blade come near his head; till the days while he is separate are ended he is holy and his hair may not be cut.

286

Of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites: and of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.

287

At the sound of a second loud note, the tents on the south side are to go forward: the loud note will be the sign to go forward.

288

It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting.

289

The tents of the Gershonites are to be placed at the back of the House, to the west.

290

And it will be that if the woman has become unclean, sinning against her husband, when she has taken the bitter water it will go into her body, causing disease of the stomach and wasting of the legs, and she will be a curse among her people.

291

And the Lord said to Moses,

292

And he will give to the woman the bitter water for drink; and the bitter water causing the curse will go into her.

293

But if you have been with another in place of your husband and have made yourself unclean with a lover:

294

Say to Aaron and his sons, These are the words of blessing which are to be used by you in blessing the children of Israel; say to them,

295

In their care are the ark, and the table, and the lights, and the altars, and all the vessels used in the holy place, and the veil, and all they are used for.

296

All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame.

297

And they went on from the mountains of Abarim, and put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho;

298

But to them you are to give the care of the Tent of meeting with its vessels and everything in it: they are to take up the Tent, and be responsible for everything to do with it, and put up their tents round it.

299

Their chief is Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.

300

Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were seven thousand, five hundred.

301

And from Dibon-gad they went on, and put up their tents in Almon-diblathaim.

302

For every mother's first son among the children of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine.

303

And sixteen thousand persons;)

304

And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it;

305

Waving them for a wave offering before the Lord; this is holy for the priest, together with the waved breast and the leg which is lifted up; after that, the man may take wine.

306

Male or female they are to be put outside the tent-circle, so that they may not make unclean my resting-place among them.

307

And the Lord said to Moses,

308

And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place.

309

And from Mount Hor they went on, and put up their tents in Zalmonah.

310

But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death.

311

And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things.

312

All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

313

(Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

314

The horns are to be sounded by the sons of Aaron, the priests; this is to be a law for you for ever, from generation to generation.

315

For Heshbon was the town of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had made war against an earlier king of Moab and taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

316

The tents of the Kohathites are to be placed on the south side of the House.

317

In the Tent of meeting, the Gershonites are to have the care of the House, and the Tent with its cover, and the veil for the door of the Tent of meeting,

318

This is the law for him who takes an oath to keep himself separate, and for his offering to the Lord on that account, in addition to what he may be able to get; this is the law of his oath, which he will have to keep.

319

And they went on from Jotbathah, and put up their tents in Abronah.

320

So the children of Israel did as the Lord had said to Moses, and put them outside the tent-circle.

321

The generations of the sons of Benjamin were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

322

Let the sons of Kohath, from among the sons of Levi, be numbered by their families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

323

And if in error you go against any of these laws which the Lord has given to Moses,

324

Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

325

And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, and all the cords needed for its use.

326

But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?

327

And the priest will take them before the Lord, and make his sin-offering and his burned offering;

328

Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.

329

And the priest will take from her hand the meal offering of doubt, waving it before the Lord, and will take it to the altar;

330

And the priest will take the cooked leg of the sheep and one unleavened cake and one thin cake out of the basket, and put them on the hands of the separate one after his hair has been cut,

331

Of the first of your rough meal you are to give a cake for a lifted offering, lifting it up before the Lord as the offering of the grain-floor is lifted up.

332

This is the law for testing a wife who goes with another in place of her husband and becomes unclean;

333

Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were eight thousand, six hundred, who were responsible for the care of the holy place.

334

And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs.

335

And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean.

336

And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care.

337

But if she is clean she will be free and will have offspring.

338

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

339

And he will make her take an oath, and say to her, If no man has been your lover and you have not been with another in place of your husband, you are free from this bitter water causing the curse;

340

All these things Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel did to the Levites; as the Lord gave orders to Moses about the Levites, so the children of Israel did.

341

On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of Issachar, made his offering:

342

All the time he is separate he may take nothing made from the grape-vine, from its seeds to its skin.

344

Then the Lord gave the ass the power of talking, and opening her mouth she said to Balaam, What have I done to you that you have given me blows these three times?

345

And the Lord said to Moses,

346

And the Lord said to Moses,

347

Say to Aaron, When you put the lights in their places, the seven lights will give light in front of the support.

348

Thirty-two thousand, two hundred of the tribe of Manasseh were numbered.

349

And in place of the first sons among the children of Israel, I have taken the Levites.

350

Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places.

351

Forty thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Ephraim were numbered.

352

These are the sons of Benjamin by their families: and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand, six hundred.

353

And the Levites were made clean from sin, and their clothing was washed, and Aaron gave them for a wave offering before the Lord; and Aaron took away their sin and made them clean.

354

One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;

355

Then the angel of the Lord took up his position in a narrow road through the vine-gardens, with a wall on this side and on that.

356

Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;

357

And he will take some of it in his hand, burning it on the altar as a sign, and then he will give the woman the bitter water.

358

Then the man will be free from all wrong, and the woman's sin will be on her.

359

Or for a husband who, in a bitter spirit, has doubts in his heart about his wife; let him take her to the priest, who will put in force this law.

360

This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

361

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

362

The generations of the sons of Joseph were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

363

May the Lord's approval be resting on you and may he give you peace.

364

This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting;

365

For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon: for the destruction of Ar in Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon.

366

The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

367

Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites;

368

Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

369

So they will put my name on the children of Israel, and I will give them my blessing.

370

Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

371

The support for the lights was of hammered gold work, from its base to its flowers it was of hammered work; from the design which the Lord had given to Moses, he made the support for the lights.

372

But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up;

373

And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Go with the men; but say only what I give you to say. Then Balaam went on with the chiefs of Balak.

374

Then the Lord sent a wind, driving little birds from the sea, so that they came down on the tents, and all round the tent-circle, about a day's journey on this side and on that, in masses about two cubits high over the face of the earth.

375

And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready.

376

And the Lord said to Moses,

377

At the order of the Lord the children of Israel went forward, and at the order of the Lord they put up their tents: as long as the cloud was resting on the House, they did not go away from that place.

378

One male of the goats for a sin-offering;

379

And the Lord said to Moses,

380

All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

381

But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more;

382

And then the Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons: all the orders which the Lord had given Moses about the Levites were put into effect.

383

And Aaron did so; he put the lights in their places so that they gave light in front of the support, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

384

He gave one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;

385

Then the chiefs of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, made offerings; these were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered.

386

Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean.

387

And they went on from Abronah, and put up their tents in Ezion-geber.

388

In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin.

389

Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.

390

This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up.

391

They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting;

392

And Nadab and Abihu were put to death before the Lord when they made an offering of strange fire before the Lord, in the waste land of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar did the work of priests before Aaron their father.

393

Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon for their work;

394

On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the children of Zebulun:

395

One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;

396

Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

397

And the children of Gad were the builders of Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer;

398

From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders.

399

So the children of Israel did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

400

And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.

401

Now while the children of Israel were in the waste land, they saw a man who was getting sticks on the Sabbath day.

402

But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.

403

Take the things from them, to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting; and give them to the Levites, to every man what is needed for his work.

404

Aaron will be put to rest with his people; he will not go into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you went against my word at the waters of Meribah.

405

And the Lord said to Moses in the waste land of Sinai, in the Tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt,

406

Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.

407

And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar.

408

So the makers of wise sayings say, Come to Heshbon, building up the town of Sihon and making it strong:

409

And for the peace-offerings, two oxen, five male sheep, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab, the son of Helon.

410

The children of Israel are to put up their tents in the order of their families, by the flags of their fathers' houses, facing the Tent of meeting on every side.

411

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord and went down on the earth under Balaam; and full of wrath, Balaam gave her hard blows with his stick.

412

Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready,

413

Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it.

414

They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.)

415

And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land.

416

But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men.

417

And they came with their offerings before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for every two of the chiefs, and for every one an ox.

418

Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.

419

When a man takes an oath to the Lord, or gives an undertaking having the force of an oath, let him not go back from his word, but let him do whatever he has said he will do.

420

So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.

421

So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.

422

And the Lord said to Moses,

423

One young ox, one male sheep, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burned offering;

424

On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, chief of the children of Reuben:

425

They will not see the land about which I made an oath to their fathers; not one of these by whom I have not been honoured will see it.

426

Were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.

427

But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.

428

And one he-goat for a sin-offering; in addition to the regular burned offering, its meal offering, and its drink offerings.

429

At the word of the Lord they put up their tents, and at the word of the Lord they went forward on their journey: they kept the orders of the Lord as he gave them by Moses.

430

One gold spoon of ten shekels, full of spice;

431

Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping.

432

The number of his army was fifty-four thousand, four hundred.

433

Thirty-five thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Benjamin were numbered.

434

But the person who does wrong in the pride of his heart, if he is one of you or of another nation by birth, is acting without respect for the Lord, and will be cut off from his people.

435

And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners.

436

One male of the goats for a sin-offering;

437

And the Lord said to Moses,

438

And there were certain men who were unclean because of a dead body, so that they were not able to keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

439

Say to the children of Israel that through all their generations they are to put on the edges of their robes an ornament of twisted threads, and in every ornament a blue cord;

440

His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;

441

Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its regular time.

442

Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho.

443

Or if the cloud came to rest on the House for two days or a month or a year without moving, the children of Israel went on waiting there and did not go on; but whenever it was taken up they went forward on their journey.

444

And when the Tent of meeting goes forward, the Levites are to take it down; and when it is to be put up, they are to do it: any strange person who comes near it is to be put to death.

445

His offering was one silver plate, a hundred and thirty shekels in weight, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by the scale of the holy place; the two of them full of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering;

446

For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

447

In the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you are to keep it at the regular time, and in the way ordered in the law.

448

Not one will come into the land which I gave my word you would have for your resting-place, but only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

449

So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.

450

Your dead bodies will be stretched out in this waste land; and of all your number, all those of twenty years old and over who have been crying out against me,

451

But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him, and has been true to me with all his heart, him I will take into that land into which he went, and his seed will have it for their heritage.

452

After him, the tribe of Zebulun, with Eliab, the son of Helon, as their chief.

453

One male of the goats for a sin-offering;

454

Then the angel of the Lord went further, stopping in a narrow place where there was no room for turning to the right or to the left.

455

And the Lord said to Moses,

457

Those whose tents are on the east side, looking to the dawn, will be round the flag of the children of Judah, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, as their chief.

458

So they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the waste land of Sinai: as the Lord gave orders to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

459

These are in addition to the regular burned offering and its meal offering; take care that they are without any mark, and let them be offered with their drink offerings.

460

And the Lord said to Moses,

461

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.

462

And all that day and all night and the day after, the people were taking up the birds; the smallest amount which anyone got was ten homers: and they put them out all round the tents.

463

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

464

And the Lord said to Moses,

465

But God was moved to wrath because he went: and the angel of the Lord took up a position in the road to keep him from his purpose. Now he was seated on his ass, and his two servants were with him.

466

And Moses said to them, Do nothing till the Lord gives me directions about you.

467

And these men said to him, We have been made unclean by the dead body of a man; why may we not make the offering of the Lord at the regular time among the children of Israel?

468

And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you given your ass blows these three times? See, I have come out against you to keep you back, because your purpose is not pleasing to me.

469

Then the Lord said to Moses,

470

So take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, up into Mount Hor;

471

Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord.

472

Then the Lord made Balaam's eyes open, and he saw the angel of the Lord in the way with his sword in his hand: and he went down on his face to the earth.

473

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

474

And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well.

475

There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.

476

And Moses gave orders to the children of Israel to keep the Passover.

477

As it says in the book of the Wars of the Lord, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valley of the Amon;

478

And to give you help, take one man from every tribe, the head of his father's house.

479

So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.

480

Sorrow is yours, O Moab! Destruction is your fate, O people of Chemosh: his sons have gone in flight, and his daughters are prisoners, in the hands of Sihon, king of the Amorites.

481

And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it.

482

And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.

483

Then the Lord sent poison-snakes among the people; and their bites were a cause of death to numbers of the people of Israel.

484

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a great number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle;

485

And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins.

486

Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman does any of the sins of men, going against the word of the Lord, and is in the wrong;

487

And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land.

488

For the Lord said to Moses,

489

Then turning they went up by the way of Bashan; and Og, king of Bashan, went out against them with all his people, to the fight at Edrei.

491

And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;

492

On the south side is the flag of the children of Reuben, in the order of their armies, with Elizur, the son of Shedeur, as their chief.

493

At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land.

494

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

495

So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab.

496

And the ass saw me, turning to one side from me three times: if she had not gone to one side, I would certainly have put you to death and kept her safe.

497

And Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, but only daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

498

How long am I to put up with this evil people and their outcries against me? The words which they say against me have come to my ears.

499

And the Lord said to Moses, Send for seventy of the responsible men of Israel, who are in your opinion men of weight and authority over the people; make them come to the Tent of meeting and be there with you.

500

And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you.

501

In the first month all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Zin, and put up their tents in Kadesh; there death came to Miriam, and they put her body to rest in the earth.

502

Then Moses sent men from Kadesh to the king of Edom to say to him, Your brother Israel says, You have knowledge of all the things we have been through;

503

Fifty-three thousand, four hundred of the tribe of Naphtali were numbered.

504

And Balaam said to the ass, You have made me seem foolish: if only I had a sword in my hand I would put you to death.

505

So Moses did as the Lord had said, and before the eyes of all the people they went up Mount Hor.

506

Only the tribe of Levi is not to be numbered among the children of Israel,

507

And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

508

Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are in the valley; tomorrow, turning round, go into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea.

509

And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.

510

So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people.

511

And he said, Now give ear to my words: if there is a prophet among you I will give him knowledge of myself in a vision and will let my words come to him in a dream.

512

So all those who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their families, all those of twenty years old and over who were able to go to war,

513

And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size.

514

Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, came forward: their names are Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

515

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, let there be a holy meeting; on it you may do no field-work; let the day be marked by the blowing of horns;

516

The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation.

517

And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us.

518

Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites.

519

From Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon;

520

No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what God has done!

521

And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them?

522

If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me.

523

The number of all the armies of Judah was a hundred and eighty-six thousand, four hundred. They go forward first.

524

Because he had no respect for the word of the Lord, and did not keep his law, that man will be cut off without mercy and his sin will be on him.

525

And take Aaron's robes off him and put them on Eleazar, his son: and death will come to Aaron there, and he will be put to rest with his people.

526

So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

527

The number of his army was fifty-seven thousand, four hundred.

528

And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests.

529

The generations of the sons of Naphtali were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war;

530

These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites: of Becher, the family of the Becherites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

531

And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and put your hand on him;

532

And the ass said to Balaam, Am I not your ass upon which you have gone all your life till this day? and have I ever done this to you before? And he said, No.

533

Forty-one thousand, five hundred of the tribe of Asher were numbered.

534

But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there.

535

Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, as certainly as your words have come to my ears, so certainly will I do this to you:

536

And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself.

537

And on the seventh day seven oxen, two male sheep, fourteen he-lambs of the first year, without any mark:

538

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them.

539

And the Lord said to Moses, Go up into this mountain of Abarim so that you may see the land which I have given to the children of Israel.

540

And when the ark went forward Moses said, Come up, O Lord, and let the armies of those who are against you be broken, and let your haters go in flight before you.

541

Then Moab said to the responsible men of Midian, It is clear that this great people will be the destruction of everything round us, making a meal of us as the ox does of the grass of the field. At that time Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moab.

542

And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the Lord's Passover.

543

So he sent men to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor by the River in the land of the children of his people, saying to him, See, a people has come out of Egypt, covering all the face of the earth, and they have put up their tents opposite to me:

544

Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.

545

And the Lord said to Moses,

546

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was tasted, the wrath of the Lord was moved against the people and he sent a great outburst of disease on them.

547

That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there.

548

From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.

549

And Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah;

550

So they went forward three days' journey from the mountain of the Lord; and the ark of the Lord's agreement went three days' journey before them, looking for a resting-place for them;

551

Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns.

552

And nearest to him, the tribe of Simeon, with Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, as their chief.

553

This is the rule of the law which the Lord has made, saying, Give orders to the children of Israel to give you a red cow without any mark on her, and on which the yoke has never been put:

554

But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.

555

They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord?

556

Then one of the children of Israel came to his brothers, taking with him a woman of Midian, before the eyes of Moses and all the meeting of the people, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of meeting.

557

And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons.

558

So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

559

And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan.

560

And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have.

561

And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.

562

The children of Israel are to put up their tents, every man in his tent-circle round his flag.

563

From Kibroth-hattaavah the people went on to Hazeroth; and there they put up their tents.

564

And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief,

566

Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father's house, making twelve rods; let every man's name be placed on his rod.

567

And the Lord said to Aaron, See, I have given into your care my lifted offerings; even all the holy things of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons as your right for ever, because you have been marked with the holy oil.

568

And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all.

569

Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.

570

On the west side will be the flag of the children of Ephraim, with Elishama, the son of Ammihud, as their chief.

571

And of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

572

He will take his place before Eleazar the priest, so that he may get directions from the Lord for him, with the Urim: at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, he and all the children of Israel.

573

And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,

574

Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness.

575

It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.

576

And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!

577

Peoples will be in fear before his strength, his arm will be on great nations: his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom made great in honour.

578

And the Lord said to Moses,

579

And in the morning Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal, and from there he was able to see the outer limits of the people.

580

And at the time of the first-fruits, when you give an offering of new meal to the Lord at your feast of weeks, there is to be a holy meeting: you may do no field-work:

581

And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have done wrong, for I did not see that you were in the way against me: but now, if it is evil in your eyes, I will go back again.

582

And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male.

583

Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

584

Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.

585

And the Lord said to Moses,

586

Take the rod, you and Aaron, your brother, and make all the people come together, and before their eyes give orders to the rock to give out its water; and so make water come out of the rock for them, and give the people and their cattle drink.

587

And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.

588

The number of all the armies of Reuben together came to a hundred and fifty-one thousand, four hundred and fifty. They go forward second.

589

Now after the disease was over, the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,

590

It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.

591

And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

592

And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them;

593

And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month let there be a holy meeting; do no field-work, and keep a feast to the Lord for seven days;

594

And the Lord said to Moses,

595

And when Moses went into the Tent of meeting to have talk with him, then the Voice came to his ears from over the cover which was on the ark of witness, from between the two winged ones. And he had talk with him.

596

And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel there, with their tents in the order of their tribes: and the spirit of God came on him.

597

And on the Sabbath day, two he-lambs of the first year, without any mark, and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering:

598

So the priest will make the people free from sin, and they will have forgiveness; for it was an error, and they have given their offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin-offering before the Lord, on account of their error:

599

And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.

600

Now when Balaam saw that it was the Lord's pleasure to give his blessing to Israel, he did not, as at other times, make use of secret arts, but turning his face to the waste land,

601

And there was no water for the people: and they came together against Moses and against Aaron.

602

Through Phinehas, and because of his passion for my honour, my wrath has been turned away from the children of Israel, so that I have not sent destruction on them all in my wrath.

603

Then the Tent of meeting is to go forward, with the tents of the Levites, in the middle of the armies; in the same order as their tents are placed, they are to go forward, every man under his flag.

604

And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough.

605

Give orders to the children of Israel and say to them, Let it be your care to give me my offerings at their regular times, the food of the offerings made by fire to me for a sweet smell.

606

And Nebo and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the towns they made.

607

And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man.

608

Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them.

609

Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun.

610

And the children of Reuben were the builders of Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim;

611

On the eighth day let there be a holy meeting: you may do no field-work;

612

But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.

613

These are they who were numbered by Moses and Aaron and by the twelve chiefs of Israel, one from every tribe.

614

And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.

615

And Moses took off Aaron's robes, and put them on Eleazar, his son; and there on the top of the mountain death came to Aaron: then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

616

The number of his army was fifty-nine thousand, three hundred.

617

Then the tribe of Gad, with Eliasaph, son of Reuel, as their chief.

618

Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock?

619

Now on the day after, Moses went into the Tent of witness; and he saw that Aaron's rod, the rod of the house of Levi, had put out buds, and was covered with buds and flowers and fruit.

620

And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.

621

On the fifteenth day of the first month they went out from Rameses; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out by the power of the Lord before the eyes of all the Egyptians,

622

So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they put in the earth the bodies of the people who had given way to their desires.

623

It is God who has taken him out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox; the nations warring against him will be his food, their bones will be broken, they will be wounded with his arrows.

624

Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!

625

This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.

626

Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord.

627

And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

628

These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt in their armies, under the direction of Moses and Aaron.

629

Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.

630

Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

631

Then he went on with his story and said, These are the words of Balaam, the son of Beor, the words of him whose eyes are open:

632

And if you come with us, we will give you a part in whatever good the Lord does for us.

634

But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land.

635

They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.

636

But all the people said they were to be stoned. Then the glory of the Lord was seen in the Tent of meeting, before the eyes of all the children of Israel.

637

And Aaron the priest went up into the mountain at the order of the Lord, and came to his death there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.

638

On the north side will be the flag of the children of Dan, with Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, as their chief.

639

And Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran: walled towns and shut-in places for sheep.

640

And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

641

And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war.

642

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.

643

Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it:

644

But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

645

So the responsible men of Moab and Midian went away, taking in their hands rewards for the prophet; and they came to Balaam and said to him what Balak had given them orders to say.

646

And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, seeing it, got up from among the people and took a spear in his hand,

647

There is to be one law for you and for the man of another country living with you, one law for ever from generation to generation; as you are, so is he to be before the Lord.

648

He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them

649

And the Lord said to Moses,

650

Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them.

651

And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting.

652

The first birth of every living thing which is offered to the Lord, of man or beast, is to be yours; but for the first sons of man payment is to be made, and for the first young of unclean beasts.

653

If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;

654

So that, looking on these ornaments, you may keep in mind the orders of the Lord and do them; and not be guided by the desires of your hearts and eyes, through which you have been untrue to me:

655

And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah.

656

And the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were living there.

657

So Israel had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor: and the Lord was moved to wrath against Israel.

658

Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, put a man at the head of this people,

659

And the Lord said to Moses,

660

And moved by the spirit, he said, These are the words of Balaam, son of Beor, the words of the man whose eyes are open:

661

And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him.

662

Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom he had in Egypt: by Amram she had Moses and Aaron and their sister Miriam.

663

And by him the tribe of Manasseh with Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, as their chief.

664

And are going to make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burned offering or an offering in connection with an oath, or an offering freely given, or at your regular feasts, an offering for a sweet smell to the Lord, from the herd or the flock:

665

And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:

666

And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.

667

The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one.

668

To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.

669

Then Moses said to the Lord,

670

The number of his army was forty-six thousand, five hundred.

671

Then the tribe of Benjamin, with Abidan, the son of Gideoni, as their chief.

672

And the Lord said to Moses,

673

Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.

674

From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:

675

Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land.

676

But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God.

677

The number of his army was forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty.

678

Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

679

And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,

680

And the Lord said to Moses,

681

And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people.

682

Now the heads of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came to Moses, the chiefs and the heads of families of the children of Israel being present,

683

Reuben, the first son of Israel: the sons of Reuben by their families: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:

684

Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.

685

Then, turning his eyes to Amalek, he went on with his story and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his part will be destruction for ever.

686

And by this agreement, he and his sons after him have the right to be priests for ever; because, by his care for the honour of his God, he took away the sin of the children of Israel.

687

But if you are slow in driving out the people of the land, then those of them who are still there will be like pin-points in your eyes and like thorns in your sides, troubling you in the land where you are living.

688

And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.

689

These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel went against the Lord, and they saw that he was holy among them.

690

And for the drink offering, you are to give with the burned offering or other offering, the fourth part of a hin of wine for every lamb.

691

Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

692

Then Balaam said to Balak, Now I have come to you; but have I power to say anything? Only what God puts into my mouth may I say.

693

Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.

694

And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.

695

And on the first day of every month you are to give a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark;

696

Then the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, hanging them up in the sun before the Lord, so that the wrath of the Lord may be turned from Israel.

697

And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth.

698

Then let the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and red thread, and put them into the fire where the cow is burning.

699

They are stretched out like valleys, like gardens by the riverside, like flowering trees planted by the Lord, like cedar-trees by the waters.

700

He took his sleep stretched out like a lion, and like a she-lion: by whom will his rest be broken? May a blessing be on everyone who gives you blessing, and a curse on everyone by whom you are cursed.

701

But the tents of the Levites are to be round the Tent of meeting, so that wrath may not come on the children of Israel: the Tent of meeting is to be in the care of the Levites.

702

Come now, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people, for they are greater than I: and then I may be strong enough to overcome them and send them out of the land: for it is clear that good comes to him who has your blessing, but he on whom you put your curse is cursed.

703

Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, will be head over all the Levites and overseer of those responsible for the care of the holy place.

704

Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

705

And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.

706

And by day the cloud of the Lord went over them, when they went forward from the place where they had put up their tents.

707

But twenty-four thousand of them had come to their death by the disease.

708

How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your houses, O Israel!

709

And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron's rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.

710

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

711

And looking on the Kenites he went on with his story and said, Strong is your living-place, and your secret place is safe in the rock.

712

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

713

And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,

714

Then Moses and Aaron went away from the people to the door of the Tent of meeting; and, falling on their faces there, they saw the glory of the Lord.

715

And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe?

716

But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves.

717

And give a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord: one ox, one male sheep, seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark:

718

He says, whose ears are open to the words of God, who has seen the vision of the Ruler of all, falling down, but having his eyes open:

719

But ships will come from the direction of Kittim, troubling Asshur and troubling Eber, and like the others their fate will be destruction.

720

Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people.

721

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.

722

So the children of Israel did as the Lord said to Moses, so they put up their tents by their flags, and they went forward in the same order, by their families, and by their fathers' houses.

723

And say to the children of Israel, If a man has no son at the time of his death, let his heritage go to his daughter.

724

Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people.

725

Say to them, This is the offering made by fire which you are to give to the Lord; he-lambs of the first year without any mark, two every day as a regular burned offering.

726

Then your south quarter will be from the waste land of Zin by the side of Edom, and your limit on the south will be from the east end of the Salt Sea,

727

And they went on from Kadesh, and put up their tents in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

728

And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the oxen, for the male sheep, and for the lambs, in relation to their number, as it is ordered:

729

So Eleazar the priest took the brass vessels which had been offered by those who were burned up, and they were hammered out to make a cover for the altar:

730

Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead.

731

And if a man from another country or any other person living among you, through all your generations, has the desire to give an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord, let him do as you do.

732

And the Lord gave ear to the voice of our cry, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt: and now we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land;

733

Nearest to him will be the tribe of Asher, with Pagiel, the son of Ochran, as their chief.

734

So all the people took him outside the tent-circle and he was stoned to death there, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

735

Then with the ox give a meal offering of three tenth parts of a measure of the best meal mixed with half a hin of oil.

736

And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.

737

Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael

738

For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.

739

The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:

740

Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth.

741

The sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites: of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites: of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

742

Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.

743

For they sent for the people to be present at the offerings made to their gods; and the people took part in their feasts and gave honour to their gods.

744

So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them.

745

And that night God came to Balaam and said to him, If these men have come for you, go with them: but do only what I say to you.

746

All those who are Israelites by birth are to do these things in this way, when giving an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord.

747

And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

748

The number of his army was forty thousand, five hundred.

749

And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:

750

The number of all the armies of Ephraim was a hundred and eight thousand, one hundred. They go forward third.

751

So say to them that I will make with him an agreement of peace:

752

And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?

753

Then let him who is making his offering, give to the Lord a meal offering of a tenth part of a measure of the best meal mixed with a fourth part of a hin of oil:

754

The number of his army was thirty-two thousand, two hundred.

755

Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.

756

And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord.

757

And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;

758

Payment is to be made for these when they are a month old, at the value fixed by you, a price of five shekels by the scale of the holy place, that is, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

759

From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.

760

If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,

761

These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand, seven hundred.

762

I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they.

763

And in Moab there was great fear of the people, because their numbers were so great: and the feeling of Moab was bitter against the children of Israel.

764

And Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-huzoth.

765

Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:

766

Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;

767

So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar

768

Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.

769

See that all the people of the land are forced out from before you, and put to destruction all their pictured stones, and all their metal images, and all their high places:

770

But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord.

771

And when it came to rest, he said, Take rest, O Lord, and give a blessing to the families of Israel.

772

Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?

773

Now the man of Israel who was put to death with the woman of Midian was Zimri, the son of Salu, a chief of one of the families of the Simeonites.

774

Let all the children of Israel be numbered, by the names of their fathers' families, all those of twenty years old and over who are able to go to war in Israel.

775

Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart;

776

Say to the children of Israel, When you have come into the land which I am giving to you for your resting-place,

777

And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt.

778

The chief of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail: their tents are to be placed on the north side of the House.

779

Going down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain, and on as far as the east side of the sea of Chinnereth:

780

Then the Lord said to Moses,

781

How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

782

And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

783

And the sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelahites: of Perez, the family of the Perezites: of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.

784

While the Egyptians were placing in the earth the bodies of their sons on whom the Lord had sent destruction: and their gods had been judged by him.

785

For they are a danger to you with their false ways, causing sin to come on you in the question of Peor, and because of Cozbi, their sister, the daughter of the chief of Midian, who was put to death at the time of the disease which came on you because of Peor.

786

The sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites: of Puvah, the family of the Punites:

787

The sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites: of Haggi, the family of the Haggites: of Shuni, the family of the Shunites:

788

And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites:

789

And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing.

790

All the best of the oil and the wine and the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to the Lord, to you have I given them.

791

So now I will go back to my people: but first let me make clear to you what this people will do to your people in days to come.

792

Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to go outside the orders of the Lord, doing good or evil at the impulse of my mind; whatever the Lord says I will say?

793

And they went on from Zalmonah, and put up their tents in Punon.

794

And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took the towns of Gilead, naming them Havvoth-Jair.

795

And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me, saying,

796

And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening.

797

And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?

798

And they went on from Succoth and put up their tents in Etham on the edge of the waste land.

799

And the stages of their journey on their way out were put down in writing by Moses at the order of the Lord: these are the stages of their journey and the way they went.

800

Why have you made us come out of Egypt into this evil place? This is no place of seed or figs or vines or other fruits, and there is no water for drinking.

801

Because in the waste land of Zin, when the people were angry, you and he went against my word and did not keep my name holy before their eyes, at the waters. (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the waste land of Zin.)

802

And one he-goat for a sin-offering; in addition to the regular burned offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.

803

Then Balak was full of wrath against Balaam, and angrily waving his hands he said to Balaam, I sent for you so that those who are against me might be cursed, but now, see, three times you have given them a blessing.

804

Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.

805

And this is yours: the lifted offering which they give and all the wave offerings of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as your right for ever: everyone in your house who is clean may have them for food.

806

And they went on from Rissah, and put up their tents in Kehelathah.

807

As it is ordered by the decision of the Lord, let distribution be made between those who are more in number and those who are less.

808

And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram who had a place in the meeting of the people, who together with Korah made an outcry against Moses and Aaron and against the Lord:

809

From Merari come the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.

810

The number of his army was sixty-two thousand, seven hundred.

811

Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones;

812

Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.

813

Everything given by oath to the Lord in Israel is to be yours.

814

And the woman of Midian who was put to death was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was the head of a family in Midian.

815

To go out and come in before them and be their guide; so that the people of the Lord may not be like sheep without a keeper.

816

Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.

817

For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.

818

For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, took as their husbands the sons of their father's brothers:

819

And Nobah went and took Kenath and its small towns, naming it Nobah, after himself.

820

So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron's rod was among them.

821

And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east.

822

And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.

823

And went after the man of Israel into the tent, driving the spear through the two of them, through the man of Israel and through the stomach of the woman. So the disease was stopped among the children of Israel.

824

And from Etham, turning back to Pi-hahiroth which is before Baal-zephon, they put up their tents before Migdol.

825

And every daughter owning property in any tribe of the children of Israel is to be married to one of the family of her father's tribe, so that every man of the children of Israel may keep the heritage of his fathers.

826

And round to the south of the slope of Akrabbim, and on to Zin: and its direction will be south of Kadesh-barnea, and it will go as far as Hazar-addar and on to Azmon:

827

These are the families of the sons of Asher as they were numbered, fifty-three thousand, four hundred.

828

And they came to Balaam and said, Balak, son of Zippor, says, Let nothing keep you from coming to me:

829

And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.

830

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:

831

And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

832

You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel.

833

The number of his army was thirty-five thousand, four hundred.

834

These are the laws and the orders which the Lord gave to the children of Israel by Moses, in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho.

835

But he said, You are not to go through. And Edom came out against them in his strength, with a great army.

836

And the Lord said to Moses,

837

Then the tribe of Naphtali, with Ahira, the son of Enan, as their chief.

838

So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others.

839

And when you make ready a young ox for a burned or other offering, or for the effecting of an oath, or for peace-offerings to the Lord:

840

And journeying on from before Hahiroth, they went through the sea into the waste land: they went three days' journey through the waste land of Etham and put up their tents in Marah.

841

See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.

842

Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?

843

This is to be done for every young ox and for every male sheep or he-lamb or young goat.

844

So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us.

845

These are all who were numbered of the children of Israel, in the order of their fathers' families: all the armies in their tents together came to six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.

846

And the children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway: and if we or our cattle take of your water, we will give you a price for it: only let us go through on our feet, nothing more.

847

And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.

848

And Balak made offerings of oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and the chiefs who were with him.

849

They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you.

850

And Balak said to Balaam, Did I not send to you, requesting you with all my heart to come to me? why did you not come? am I not able to give you a place of honour?

851

The slope of the valleys going down to the tents of Ar and touching the edge of Moab.

852

And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.

853

The sons of Simeon by their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites: of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites: of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites:

854

But death did not overtake the sons of Korah.

855

And let the vessels of those men, who with their lives have made payment for their sin, be hammered out into plates as a cover for the altar; for they have been offered before the Lord and are holy; so that they may be a sign to the children of Israel.

856

And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh; and he made it his living-place.

857

He says, whose ear is open to the words of God, who has knowledge of the Most High, who has seen the vision of the Ruler of all, falling down and having his eyes open:

858

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Let everyone put to death those of his men who have had relations with the women of Moab in honour of the Baal of Peor.

859

And he put his hands on him and gave him his orders, as the Lord had said by Moses.

860

Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us?

861

Then from the Red Sea they went on and put up their tents in the waste land of Sin.

862

And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:

863

Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.

864

So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?

865

They came before Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs and all the people at the door of the Tent of meeting, and said,

866

Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.

867

These are the families of Naphtali by their families: and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand, four hundred.

868

Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.

869

Let us now go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, till we have gone past the limits of your land.

870

And you are to give an offering made by fire, a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark:

871

And they went on from Oboth, and put up their tents in Iye-abarim at the edge of Moab.

872

So Moses gave the children of Israel all these directions as the Lord had given him orders.

873

And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;

874

And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.

875

And they had him shut up, because they had no directions about what was to be done with him.

876

Death overtook our father in the waste land; he was not among those who were banded together with Korah against the Lord; but death came to him in his sin; and he had no sons.

877

Edom will be his heritage, and he will put an end to the last of the people of Seir.

878

This is the order of the Lord about the daughters of Zelophehad: The Lord says, Let them take as their husbands whoever is most pleasing to them, but only among the family of their father's tribe.

879

For the tribe of the children of Reuben, by their fathers' families, and the tribe of the children of Gad, by their fathers' families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have been given their heritage:

880

And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.

881

And for the drink offering: give half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire for a sweet smell to the Lord.

882

Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.

883

And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar

884

And let Aaron's name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.

885

So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;

886

Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs);

887

The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves;

888

The number of all the armies in the tents of Dan was a hundred and fifty-seven thousand, six hundred. They will go forward last, by their flags.

889

Then let Eleazar the priest take some of her blood on his finger, shaking the blood seven times in the direction of the front of the Tent of meeting:

890

But if her father, hearing of it, makes her take back her word, then the oaths or the undertakings she has given will have no force; and she will have forgiveness from the Lord, because her oath was broken by her father.

891

These are the families of Ephraim as they were numbered, thirty-two thousand, five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.

892

But still the Kenites will be wasted, till Asshur takes you away prisoner.

893

This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

894

Or for a male sheep, give as a meal offering two tenth parts of a measure of the best meal mixed with a third part of a hin of oil:

895

This is to be yours of the most holy things, out of the fire offerings; every offering of theirs, every meal offering and sin-offering, and every offering which they make on account of error, is to be most holy for you and your sons.

896

The sons of Judah, Er and Onan: and Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan.

897

And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases;

898

Give her to Eleazar the priest and let him take her outside the tent-circle and have her put to death before him.

899

Take up arms against the Midianites and overcome them;

900

Give orders to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land which is to be your heritage, the land of Canaan inside these limits,)

901

And from Mount Hor the line will go in the direction of Hamath; the farthest point of it will be at Zedad:

902

And Edom said, You are not to go through my land, for if you do I will come out against you with the sword.

903

Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.

904

From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war.

905

Say to the children of Israel, When you go over Jordan into the land of Canaan,

906

And in their care are to be all the boards of the Tent, with their rods and pillars and bases, and all the instruments, and all they are used for,

907

The number of his army was forty-one thousand, five hundred;

908

And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.

909

These were those of the Levites who were numbered by their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

910

And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered.

911

And if he has no brothers, then give his heritage to his father's brothers.

912

And from Azmon it will go round to the stream of Egypt as far as the sea.

913

And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.

914

All the Levites numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord, all the males of one month old and over numbered in the order of their families, were twenty-two thousand.

915

And put your honour on him, so that all the children of Israel may be under his authority.

916

And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here?

917

Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people:

918

But an oath made by a widow or one who is no longer married to her husband, and every undertaking she has given, will have force.

919

And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.

920

And they went down into the open mouth of the earth, together with Korah, when death overtook him and all his band; at the time when two hundred and fifty men were burned in the fire, and they became a sign.

921

And they went on from the waste land of Sinai and put up their tents in Kibroth-hattaavah.

922

He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

923

So Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the people took in hand the numbering of the sons of the Kohathites, by families, in the order of their fathers' houses;

924

I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.

925

And they went on from Elim and put up their tents by the Red Sea.

926

These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.

927

I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, so that I might be your God: I am the Lord your God.

928

And the people were angry with Moses and said, If only death had overtaken us when our brothers came to their death before the Lord!

929

And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he gave him orders.

930

Planting their tents by the side of Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the lowlands of Moab.

931

The sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites: of Elon, the family of the Elonites: of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

932

And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi.

933

But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease.

934

Those who were numbered of them, the males of a month old and over, were six thousand, two hundred.

935

Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.

936

And give a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord, thirteen oxen, two male sheep, fourteen he-lambs of the first year, all without any mark on them;

937

And at the time of the Jubilee of the children of Israel, their property will be joined to the heritage of the tribe of which they are part and will be taken away from the heritage of the tribe of our fathers.

938

But if the days go on, and her husband says nothing whatever to her, then he is giving the support of his authority to her oaths and undertakings, because at the time of hearing them he said nothing to her.

939

See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land.

940

And give to the Lord a burned offering for a sweet smell; one ox, one male sheep, seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark on them:

941

Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle.

942

On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a feast; for seven days let your food be unleavened cakes.

943

And they went on from Iyim, and put up their tents in Dibon-gad.

944

And the Lord said to Moses, Let all the first male children be numbered, and take the number of their names.

945

And on the east, your limit will be marked out from Hazar-enan to Shepham,

946

And the land is under the rule of the Lord: then after that you may come back, having done no wrong to the Lord and to Israel; and this land will be yours for your heritage before the Lord.

947

And the tenth part of an ephah of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with the fourth part of a hin of clear oil.

948

And her husband, hearing of it, said nothing to her and did not put a stop to it, then all her oaths and every undertaking she gave will have force.

949

Let all the people of twenty years old and over be numbered, as the Lord has given orders to Moses and the children of Israel who have come out of Egypt.

950

The sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites: of Guni, the family of the Gunites:

951

On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

952

And the Lord said to Moses,

953

So Moses put their cause before the Lord.

954

Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war,

955

They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you.

956

This Moses did: as the Lord gave orders, so he did.

957

And for its drink offering take the fourth part of a hin for one lamb: in the holy place let the wine be drained out for a drink offering for the Lord.

958

And those whose tents are to be placed on the east side of the House in front of the Tent of meeting, looking to the dawn, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, who will do the work of the holy place for the children of Israel; and any strange person who comes near will be put to death.

959

Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?

960

On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the children of Simeon:

961

But if at some time after hearing of them, he makes them without force, then he is responsible for her wrongdoing.

962

Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

963

These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand, two hundred.

964

But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,

965

Let one be offered in the morning, and the other at evening;

966

The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.

967

And your limit on the north will be the line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor:

968

Of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

969

And he said to them, Take your rest here tonight, and I will give you an answer after hearing what the Lord says; so the chiefs of Moab kept there with Balaam that night.

970

And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

971

So the children of Israel went from Rameses and put up their tents in Succoth.

972

And thirty-six thousand oxen,

973

In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you.

974

And the cow is to be burned before him, her skin and her flesh and her blood and her waste are to be burned:

975

And for the drink offering give a third part of a hin of wine, for a sweet smell to the Lord.

976

Go back quickly to the place you came from: it was my purpose to give you a place of honour, but now the Lord has kept you back from honour.

977

And the price you have to give for the two hundred and seventy-three first sons of the children of Israel which are in addition to the number of the Levites,

978

Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.

979

But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord said to Moses.

980

If her husband, hearing of it, says nothing to her at the time, then the oaths she made and the undertakings she gave will have force.

981

And they went on from the waste land of Sin, and put up their tents in Dophkah.

982

Then he went on with his story and said, But who may keep his life when God does this?

983

On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, chief of the children of Manasseh:

984

Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

985

On the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the children of Ephraim:

986

And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people.

987

These are the laws which the Lord gave Moses in relation to a man and his wife, or a father and a young daughter who is under his authority.

988

And they went on from Punon, and put up their tents in Oboth.

989

And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.

990

You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

991

Now if they get married to any of the sons of other tribes of the children of Israel, then their property will be taken away from the heritage of our fathers, and become part of the heritage of the tribe into which they get married: and their heritage will be taken away from the heritage of our tribe.

992

So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

993

And they went on from Moseroth, and put up their tents in Bene-jaakan.

994

So Moses did as the Lord said: he took Joshua and put him before Eleazar the priest and the meeting of the people:

995

Death overtook Nadab and Abihu when they made an offering of strange fire before the Lord.

996

But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.

997

On the first day there is to be a holy meeting: you may do no sort of field-work:

998

All the families of the Shuhamites, as they were numbered, were sixty-four thousand, four hundred.

999

These are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families.

1000

So Moses and Eleazar the priest gave them the order in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho, saying,