“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.

They are to perform duties for him and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle.

Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him from the Israelites.

So Moses registered every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him,

and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself—

“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.

When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him that way.

“Speak to Aaron and tell him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.”

and said to him, “We are unclean because of a human corpse. Why should we be excluded from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time with the other Israelites?”

But he replied to him, “I don’t want to go. Instead, I will go to my own land and my relatives.”

but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed the Spirit on the 70 elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they never did it again.

But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place His Spirit on them!”

He said:

“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.

I speak with him directly,
openly, and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.

So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!”

But since My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.

So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a negative report about the land—

The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. The Lord won’t be with you, since you have turned from following Him.”

The priest must then make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the person who acts in error sinning unintentionally, and when he makes atonement for him, he will be forgiven.

He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken His command; his guilt remains on him.”

Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the entire community.

They placed him in custody because it had not been decided what should be done to him.

Then the Lord told Moses, “The man is to be put to death. The entire community is to stone him outside the camp.”

So the entire community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to Him, who is set apart, and the one He will let come near Him. He will let the one He chooses come near Him.

Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the Lord! As for Aaron, who is he that you should complain about him?”

Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord and become like Korah and his followers.

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their ancestral houses, 12 staffs in all. Aaron’s staff was among them.

So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

Anyone who touches a body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person will be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean because the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.

But a person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as He had commanded him.

But Edom answered him, “You must not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

When the whole community saw that Aaron had passed away, the entire house of Israel mourned for him 30 days.

Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

So they struck him, his sons, and his whole army until no one was left, and they took possession of his land.

he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. Balak said to him: “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me.

The elders of Moab and Midian departed with fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and reported Balak’s words to him.

They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Let nothing keep you from coming to me,

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”

But God was incensed that Balaam was going, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand on the path to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

The Angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because what you are doing is evil in My sight.

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite city on the Arnon border at the edge of his territory.

Balaam said to him, “Look, I have come to you, but can I say anything I want? I must speak only the message God puts in my mouth.”

Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent for Balaam and the officials who were with him.

In the morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him to Bamoth-baal. From there he saw the outskirts of the people’s camp.

God met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”

So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”

When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him,

God brought him out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
He will feed on enemy nations
and gnaw their bones;
he will strike them with his arrows.

He crouches, he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
Those who bless you will be blessed,
and those who curse you will be cursed.

Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times.

I see him, but not now;
I perceive him, but not near.
A star will come from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will smash the forehead of Moab
and strike down all the Shethites.

Therefore declare: I grant him My covenant of peace.

It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

and the Lord answered him,

The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and commission him in their sight.

Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him.

He will stand before Eleazar who will consult the Lord for him with the decision of the Urim. He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”

Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire community,

laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

So Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him.

Moses took one out of every 50, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites’ half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded him.

and told him, “Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing.

If you turn back from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

Then they approached him and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our dependents.

The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him.

Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies,

or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.

“But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent

or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and wasn’t trying to harm him,

The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,

Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.