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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, as the Lord said to Moses.

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.

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

And give orders that Aaron and his sons are to keep their place as priests; any strange person who comes near is to be put to death.

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

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

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.

Their chief is Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel.

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.

So Moses had all the first sons among the children of Israel numbered, as the Lord said to him.

Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs);

And this money, the price of those over the number of the Levites, is to be given to Aaron and his sons.

So Moses took the money, the price of those whose place had not been taken by the Levites;

And he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said.

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

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;

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.

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;

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

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.

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.

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

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;

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.

This is the number of those of the Kohathites who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

This is the number of the sons of Gershon who did the work in the Tent of meeting, as they were numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

This is the number of the sons of Merari, numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord.

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;

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

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;

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;

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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:

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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;

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?