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.

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.

"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

the hangings of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard that surrounded the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, plus all the service connected with these things.

Then they must put over it a covering of fine leather and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue, and then they must insert its poles.

"The appointed responsibility of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is for the oil for the light, and the spiced incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil; he also has the appointed responsibility over all the tabernacle with all that is in it, over the sanctuary and over all its furnishings."

but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility.

They must carry the curtains for the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is over it, the curtains for the entrance of the tent of meeting,

the hangings for the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the court, which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their ropes, along with all the furnishings for their service and everything that is made for them. So they are to serve.

and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their sockets, tent pegs, and ropes, along with all their furnishings and everything for their service. You are to assign by names the items that each man is responsible to carry.

You must expel both men and women; you must put them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps, among which I live."

"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,

then he must confess his sin that he has committed and must make full reparation, add one fifth to it, and give it to whomever he wronged.

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

and a man has sexual relations with her without her husband knowing it, and it is hidden that she has defiled herself, since there was no witness against her, nor was she caught --

The priest will then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.

Then the priest will have the woman stand before the Lord, uncover the woman's head, and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion. The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.

Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say to the her, "If no other man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband's authority, may you be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.

and this water that causes the curse will go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot." Then the woman must say, "Amen, amen."

He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.

When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness -- her abdomen will swell, her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Then the man will be free from iniquity, but that woman will bear the consequences of her iniquity.'"

All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

"'All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body.

Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because of his transgression in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate his head on that day.

"This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. Thus he must fulfill his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation."

"Receive these gifts from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tent of meeting; and you must give them to the Levites, to every man as his service requires."

Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Thus he spoke to him.

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.

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.

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.

It happened that some men who were ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man could not keep the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

But the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. Because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin.

On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle -- the tent of the testimony -- and from evening until morning there was a fiery appearance over the tabernacle.

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.

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.

When you blow an alarm, then the camps that are located on the east side must begin to travel.

And when you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that are located on the south side must begin to travel. An alarm must be sounded for their journeys.

"Also in the time when you rejoice, such as on your appointed festivals or at the beginnings of your months, you must blow with your trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, so that they may become a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God."

And if you come with us, it is certain that whatever good things the Lord will favor us with, we will share with you as well."

So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

And Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your arms, as a foster father bears a nursing child,' to the land which you swore to their fathers?

From where shall I get meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, 'Give us meat, that we may eat!'

Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.

Moses said, "The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.'

And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.

Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!"

And the people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that craved different food.

After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

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

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.

Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.

Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?"

If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us -- a land that is flowing with milk and honey.

The Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!"

then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,

Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.'

For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me,

they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

"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.

But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised.

I, the Lord, have said, "I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!"'"

And early in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, saying, "Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, for we have sinned."

So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped down and attacked them as far as Hormah.

You must do so for each one according to the number that you prepare.

"'If you sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses --

all that the Lord has commanded you by the authority of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses and continuing through your future generations --

"'But the person who acts defiantly, whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults the Lord. That person must be cut off from among his people.

Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person must be completely cut off. His iniquity will be on him.'"

You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness.

And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?"

Then he said to Korah and to all his company, "In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him.

Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them?

Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron -- what is he that you murmur against him?"

Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us?

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up."

"Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant."

Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.

But if the Lord does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!"

When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open,

They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.

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.

"Get away from this community, so that I can consume them in an instant!" But they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

The Lord said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end before me, that they will not die."

"Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

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.

"All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you.

And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs).

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."

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.

You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him.

Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean.