In the Sinai desert, the LORD spoke to Moses inside the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said,

just as the LORD had commanded Moses. He numbered them in the Sinai desert.

who were anointed priests and whom he consecrated as priests.

So Moses numbered them according to the instruction of the LORD, as he had been commanded.

The chief of all the leaders of the descendants of Levi was Aaron the priest's son Eleazar. He was assigned to oversee those who were in charge of the services of the sanctuary.

He is to confess the sin that he had committed, pay its full compensation, add one fifth to it, and give the compensation to whomever he offended.

But if the person has no related redeemer to whom compensation may be made, the payment is to be brought to the LORD and given to the priest, in addition to a ram for atonement with which he is to be atoned.

If an attitude of jealousy overcomes him so that he becomes jealous at his wife when she is defiled, or if an attitude of jealousy overcomes him and he becomes jealous of his wife even though she isn't defiled,

then that man is to bring his wife to the priest along with an offering for her consisting of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil or set frankincense over it, because it's to be a jealousy offering, a memorial offering that will serve as a reminder of iniquity.

The priest is to take a handful of grain from the memorial and offer a sacrifice on the altar, after which he is to have the woman drink the water.

When he has had her drink the water, if she was defiled and had acted unfaithfully toward her husband, then the contaminated water that brings a curse will enter her and infect her, causing her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away. Then she is to be a cursed woman among her people.

When a man becomes under the control of an attitude of jealousy regarding his wife, he is to present her to the Lord, and the priest is to apply this entire statute to her.

then is to remain separate from wine and strong drink. He is not to drink vinegar or strong drink made from wine. He is not to drink grape juice or eat grapes, whether fresh or dried.

During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to eat any product from the grapevine, from the seed to the skin.

During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to allow a razor to pass over his head until the days of his holy consecration to the LORD have been fulfilled. He is to let the locks on his head grow long.

"During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to come near a dead body.

He is not to defile himself on account of his father, mother, brother, and sister when they die, because the crown of his consecration to God is on his head.

During the entire time of his dedication, he is set apart to God.

When someone suddenly dies beside him, so that his consecrated head is defiled, then he is to shave his head on the day of his purification. Seven days later he is to shave it again.

On the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him because of the guilt he incurred on account of his contact with the dead body. Then he is to consecrate his head on that day.

He is to dedicate to the LORD the days of his consecration by bringing a year old male lamb as his offering. The previous time will have failed because his consecration became defiled.

"This is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his consecration are completed, he is to come to the entrance at the Tent of Meeting.

He is to bring an offering to the LORD, a year old male lamb, and a year old ewe female lamb, both without blemish, for a sin offering and a ram without blemish for a peace offering,

He is to offer the ram, a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest is to present his grain and drink offerings.

The Nazirite is then to shave his head of consecration at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to take the lock of his head of consecration and set it over the fire where the peace offering for sacrifice is.

Then the priest is to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake of unleavened bread from the basket, and one wafer of unleavened bread. He is to place them in the hands of the Nazirite, after he himself has shaved his symbol of consecration.

This is to be the law of the Nazirite when he commits his offering to the LORD on account of his consecration, over and beyond what he owns alone plus whatever he can provide, based on the vow from his own mouth that he vows to fulfill on account of the law of his consecration."

The same day that Moses finished setting up, anointing, and consecrating the tent and its utensils, he also anointed and consecrated the altar and its utensils.

But he gave none of them to the descendants of Kohath, because their responsibility was to carry the holy things on their shoulders.

When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the L ORD, he heard a voice speaking to him above the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Testimony. He spoke to him from between the two cherubim.

This was how the lamp stand was crafted from hammered gold: From its base to its flowers, it was made of hammered gold. Moses crafted the lamp stand just as the LORD had showed him.

This is how you are to separate the descendants of Levi from among the Israelis. The descendants of Levi belong to me.

"Now regarding a descendant of Levi who is 25 years and above, he is to enter work in the service at the appointed place of meeting,

but starting at 50 years of age, he is to retire from service and is no longer to work.

He may minister to his brothers at the Tent of Meeting by keeping watch, but he is not to engage in service. This is how you are to act with respect to the obligations of the descendants of Levi."

"Instruct the Israelis that when any of you or your descendants becomes unclean due to contact with a corpse, or if he is on a long journey, he nevertheless is to observe the LORD's Passover.

Now as to the person who is clean and isn't traveling, but fails to observe the Passover, that person is to be eliminated from his people, because he didn't bring an offering to the LORD at its appointed time. That person is to bear his sin.

But he said, "I won't go with you because I'm returning to my land and to my own family."

Whenever the ark was being readied to rest, he would say: "Return, LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel."

When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire stopped.

He then named that place Taberah, because the LORD's fire had incinerated some of them.

How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for free! And the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!

so he asked the LORD, "Why did you bring all this trouble to your servant? Why haven't I found favor in your eyes? After all, you're putting the burden of this entire people on me!

If this is how you treat me, please kill me right now, if I've found favor in your eyes, because I don't want to keep staring at all of this misery!"

So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He gathered 70 men from the elders of the people and stationed them around the tent.

Then Moses that is, he and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Miriam and Aaron rebelled against Moses on account of the Cushite woman that he had married.

They asked, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" But the LORD heard it.

Then he told the two of them: "Pay attention to what I have to say! When there is a prophet among you, won't I, the LORD, reveal myself to him in a vision? Won't I speak with him in a dream?

But that's not how it is with my servant Moses, since he has been entrusted with my entire household!

I speak to him audibly and in visions, not in mysteries. If he can gaze at the image of the LORD, why aren't you afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

Because the LORD was very angry with them, he left,

Moses renamed Nun's son Hoshea to Joshua. Then he sent them out to explore the land of Canaan. He instructed them, "Go up from here through the Negev, then ascend to the hill country.

If the LORD is pleased with us, he'll bring us into this land and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey.

Suddenly, the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all of the Israelis. "How long will this people keep on spurning me and refusing to trust me, despite all the miracles that I've done among them?" the LORD asked Moses.

"The LORD slaughtered this people in the wilderness because he wasn't able to bring them to the land that he promised them.'

"The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he won't acquit the guilty. He recalls the iniquity of fathers to the third and fourth generation.'

Now as to my servant Caleb, because a different spirit is within him and he has remained true to me, I'm going to bring him into the land that he explored, and his descendants are to inherit it.

"How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me.

So tell them that as long as I live consider this to be an oracle from the LORD as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you.

"Now, if a resident alien lives with you, or whoever else is with you throughout your generations, let him make an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Just as you do, so is he to do.

"Now when one person sins inadvertently, then he is to bring a one year old female goat for a sin offering.

Then, in the LORD's presence, the priest is to make atonement for the person who sinned inadvertently, that is, to make atonement on his behalf so he may be forgiven.

"But if some person acts with a high hand, whether a native-born or a resident alien, he blasphemes God, and that person is to be eliminated from among his people.

Because he has despised the law of the LORD and has broken his commands, that person is certainly to be eliminated. His iniquity will remain on him."

So the whole community brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones so that he died, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.

Then he addressed Korah and his entire company, "In the morning, may the LORD reveal who belongs to him and who is holy. May he cause that person to approach him. May he cause to approach him the one whom he has chosen.

He brought you near, along with all of your relatives, the descendants of Levi. Are you also seeking the priesthood?

Moses was very angry, so he told the LORD, "Please don't accept their offering. I haven't taken even one donkey from them nor have I hurt even one of them."

Then he told the community, "Move away from the camps of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. That way you won't be destroyed along with all their sins."

Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons, and little children. Then Moses said, "This is how you'll know that the LORD has sent me to do all these awesome works they're not coming merely from me.

Just as he finished saying all these things, the ground under them split open.

So they and all that belonged to them descended alive to Sheol. Then the earth closed over them. That's how they were annihilated from the assembly.

to serve as a memorial to the Israelis, a reminder that no unauthorized person, who isn't a descendant of Aaron, is to attempt to burn incense in the LORD'S presence, so that he may not become like Korah and his group, just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses.

So Aaron took the censer, just as Moses had spoken, and ran out to the center of the assembly, where a plague had begun among the people. He set the incense on fire and atoned for the people.

He stood between the dead and the living and restrained the plague.

The rod that belongs to the man whom I'll choose will burst into bloom. That's how I'll put a stop to the complaints of the Israelis, who are complaining against you."

The priest is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, after which he may enter the camp, but he is to remain unclean until evening.

He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can't purify himself on the third day then he can't be clean on the seventh day.

Anyone who comes in contact with a dead person (that is, with the corpse of a human being who has died), but who does not purify himself, defiles the LORD's tent. That person is to be eliminated from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He remains unclean and his uncleanness will remain with him.

Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.

The clean person is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and seventh day and then he is to purify himself on the seventh day, wash his clothes, and bathe with water. He is to be considered clean at evening.

"The person who is unclean but who doesn't purify himself is to be eliminated from contact with the assembly, since he has defiled the LORD's sanctuary and the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He is to be considered unclean

So Moses took the rod in the LORD's presence, just as he had commanded.

Because the Israelis argued with the LORD and he was set apart among them, this place was called the Meribah Springs.

Then we cried to the LORD and he heard our voice, sending us a messenger who brought us out of Egypt. Now look! We've arrived in Kadesh, a city at the extreme end of your territory.

Permit us now to pass through your land. We won't pass through your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink water from your wells. We'll keep to the King's Highway without turning either right or left until we have passed through your territory.'"

Then the Israelis replied, "Permit us to travel on the highway. If we and our cattle drink your water, we'll pay the price you ask. Only please let us walk through, and nothing more."

But still he replied, "No. You're not to pass through." Then Edom went out to meet Moses with a vast army and a lot of military might.

That's how Edom refused Israel passage through their territory. So Israel turned away from there.

"Aaron is to be gathered to his people, since he is not to enter the land that I'm about to give the Israelis. After all, you both rebelled against my command at the Meribah Springs.

When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the Atharim caravan route, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

When the LORD heard what Israel had decided to do, he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.

Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.

So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If a person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent, he lived.

"Permit us to pass through your land. We won't trespass in your fields or vineyards. We won't drink water from any well, and we'll only travel along the King's Highway until we've passed through your territory."

Instead of letting Israel pass through his territory, Sihon mustered his entire army and marched out to meet them in the wilderness. He arrived at Jahaz and attacked Israel.

A fire has gone out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places who lived in Arnon.