But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle (sanctuary) of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings and all things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle [when traveling] and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and camp around it.

When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to [be set up for] camp, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman (non-Levite) who approaches the tabernacle shall be put to death.

Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day when the Lord spoke [by special revelation] with Moses on Mount Sinai.

But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered strange (unholy, unacceptable, inappropriate) fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence and under the supervision of Aaron their father.

“When the camp prepares to move out, Aaron and his sons shall come into the sanctuary and take down the veil (curtain) screening off the Holy of Holies, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;

When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furniture, as the camp sets out, after all that [is done, but not before], the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them [using the poles], so that they do not touch the holy things, and die. These are the things in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march].

This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying [when on the march]:

“Say to the Israelites, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind [against other people], thus breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is guilty,

(then the priest shall have the woman swear the oath of the curse, and say to the woman), “The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell;

When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, that if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the curse water will go into her and cause bitterness and cause her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife goes astray [while married] and defiles herself,

or when a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy and suspicion comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this law to her.

“Say to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, that is, one separated and dedicated to the Lord,

He shall not make himself [ceremonially] unclean for his father, mother, brother, or sister, when they die, because [the responsibility for] his separation to God is on his head.

‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation and dedication are fulfilled: he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

This was the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel on the day when it was anointed: twelve dishes of silver, twelve silver basins, twelve golden bowls;

Now when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat (the gold cover) that was on the ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim; and He spoke [by special revelation] to him.

“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps will shine in front of the lampstand.’”

Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), but you shall cleanse them [first] and present them as a wave offering;

Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the Lord and not set out.

If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.

Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out.

When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out.

When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys].

When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm.

When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out.

This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they moved out.

The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

And when the ark rested, Moses said,

“Return, O Lord,
To the myriad (many) thousands of Israel.”

Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.

So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire died out.

When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took some of the Spirit who was upon Moses and put Him upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [praising God and declaring His will], but they did not do it again.

But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.”

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the Lord,

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you,

then, when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering (heave offering) to the Lord.

‘But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses,

The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven.

And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward;

When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared.

So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household (family) with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary [that is, through your service as priests you will atone for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood [that is, your own unintentional offenses].

“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe [paid by the people].

Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered the best from it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.

You will bear no sin because of it when you have offered the best of it; but you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the children of Israel, or you will die [because of it].’”

‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days.

The people contended with Moses, and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished [in the plague] before the Lord!

But when we cried out to the Lord [for help], He heard us and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept (mourned) for him thirty days.

When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it.”

So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on the pole, and it happened that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it, and he struck her again.

When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, so Balaam was angry and he struck the donkey [a third time] with his staff.

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border at the Arnon [River], at the farthest end of the border.

When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as he had done each time before [superstitiously] to seek omens and signs [in the natural world], but he set his face toward the wilderness (desert).

Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?

When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the congregation and took a spear in his hand,

The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord,

and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, so that they became a [warning] sign.

But Nadab and Abihu died [in the presence of God] when they offered [in their ceremonial censers] strange [unholy, unacceptable, unauthorized] fire before the Lord.

But among these there was not a man [left] of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the first time] in the Wilderness of Sinai.

When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother was gathered;

He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment (decision) of the Urim. At Joshua’s command the people shall go out and at his command they shall come in, he and all the congregation of Israel with him.”

‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work.

“Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge [of abstinence], while living in her father’s house in her youth,

This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land!

For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them.

Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

“Say to the children of Israel, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

“Command the Israelites, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall be yours as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries,

“Tell the Israelites, ‘When you cross the Jordan [River] into the land of Canaan,

The blood avenger shall himself put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him.

or if, in enmity, he struck the victim down with his hand, and he died, the one that struck the victim shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

When the [year of] Jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added [permanently] to that of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be taken away from that of the tribe of our fathers (tribal ancestors).”