Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites departed from the land of Egypt. He said:

"Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male.

All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel's army, were numbered according to their families.

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

"The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard.

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

The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses -- that is what they did.

"Every one of the Israelites must camp under his standard with the emblems of his family; they must camp at some distance around the tent of meeting.

These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.

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

So the Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.

And they are responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve in the tabernacle.

You are to assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they will be assigned exclusively to him out of all the Israelites.

"Look, I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

But those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons. They were responsible for the needs of the sanctuary and for the needs of the Israelites, but the unauthorized person who approached was to be put to death.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

And take the Levites for me -- I am the Lord -- instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites."

So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded him.

"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

And for the redemption of the 273 firstborn males of the Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites,

From the firstborn males of the Israelites he collected the money, 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

"Command the Israelites to expel from the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.

So the Israelites did so, and expelled them outside the camp. As the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

"Tell the Israelites, 'When a man or a woman commits any sin that people commit, thereby breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is found guilty,

Every offering of all the Israelites' holy things that they bring to the priest will be his.

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'If any man's wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,

"Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, 'When either a man or a woman takes a special vow, to take a vow as a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,

"Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

"Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them.

You are to bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire community of the Israelites.

Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites;

and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work of the Lord.

And so you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.

For they are entirely given to me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn sons of all the Israelites.

For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.

So I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons among the Israelites.

I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary."

So Moses and Aaron and the entire community of the Israelites did this with the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, this is what the Israelites did with them.

"The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.

So Moses instructed the Israelites to observe the Passover.

And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

And those men said to him, "We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord's offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?"

"Tell the Israelites, 'If any of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may observe the Passover to the Lord.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.

At the commandment of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

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

Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud prolonged its stay over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

So the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.

These were the traveling arrangements of the Israelites according to their companies when they traveled.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, "If only we had meat to eat!

"Send out men to investigate the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a leader among them."

So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

That place was called the Eshcol Valley, because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut from there.

They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, "The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.

And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!

Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites.

They said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.

However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

"How long must I bear with this evil congregation that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me.

When Moses told these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly.

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you enter the land to which I am bringing you

And the priest is to make atonement for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven, because it was unintentional and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their unintentional offense.

And the whole community of the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them will be forgiven, since all the people were involved in the unintentional offense.

You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

When the Israelites were in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tassels for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread on the tassel of the corners.

and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men.

All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "What if the earth swallows us too?"

As for the censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives, they must be made into hammered sheets for covering the altar, because they presented them before the Lord and sanctified them. They will become a sign to the Israelites."

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

But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the Lord's people!"

"Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, one from every tribal leader, twelve staffs; you must write each man's name on his staff.

And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you."

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, according to their tribes -- twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his staff.

The Israelites said to Moses, "We are bound to die! We perish, we all perish!

You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be no more wrath on the Israelites.

I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties of the tent of meeting.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, "See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

"And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you."

The Lord spoke to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property among them -- I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin and die.

But the Levites must perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites have no inheritance.

But I have given to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance."

"You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe.

Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord's raised offering from it to Aaron the priest.

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

"This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: 'Instruct the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has never carried a yoke.

"'Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification -- it is a purification for sin.

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

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

These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them.

Then the Israelites said to him, "We will go along the highway, and if we or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else."

So the entire company of Israelites traveled from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.

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

The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth.