But you with your sons will keep your priesthood to perform your priestly duties for everything at the altar and for {the area behind the curtain}. I give you the priesthood as a gift, but the stranger who approaches will be put to death."

Yahweh spoke to Aaron, "Behold, I myself have given to you the responsibility of my contributions for all the holy objects of the {Israelites}; I have given them as a portion to you and your sons as an eternal decree.

This will be for you from the sanctuary of the holy things from the fire; all of their offerings, from every grain offering, from every sin offering, and from every guilt offering which they will bring to me [is] {a most holy thing} for you and your sons.

This [is also] for you: the contribution of their gift of the wave offerings of the children Israel. I have given them to you and your sons and your daughters with you as an eternal decree; whoever [is] clean in your house may eat it.

[The] firstfruits of all that [is] in their land that they present to Yahweh will be for you; whoever [is] clean in your house may eat it.

As to their price of redemption, from {a one-month-old} you will redeem them according to your proper value, five shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which [is] twenty gerah.

Only the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you will not redeem; they [are] holy. Their blood you will sprinkle over the altar, and their fat you will turn into smoke [as] an offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh.

All the contributions of holiness that the {Israelites} offer to Yahweh I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you as an eternal decree; it [is] an eternal covenant of salt {before} Yahweh to you and your offspring with you."

"Behold, I have given to the descendants of Levi every tithe in Israel as an inheritance in return for their service, which they [are] doing, the work of the tent of assembly.

because the tithes of the {Israelites} that are {offered} to Yahweh as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I said to them, 'They will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the {Israelites}.'"

From all your gifts {you will present} every contribution of Yahweh, from all its fat, the part [that is] sacred.'

You may eat it anywhere, you and your household, because it [is] a wage in return for your service in the tent of assembly.

"This [is] the decree of the law that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 'Speak to the {Israelites} and let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect, on which a yoke {has not been placed}.

A clean man will gather the ashes of the heifer, and he will put [them] in a clean {place outside the camp}; it will be for the community of the {Israelites} as a requirement for waters of impurity; it [is] a purification [offering].

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his garments; he will be unclean until evening. It will be an eternal decree for the {Israelites} and for one who dwells as an alien in their midst.

Anyone who touches a corpse, the person of a human being who died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh, and that person will be cut off from Israel because the waters of impurity were not sprinkled on him. He will still be unclean, and uncleanness [is] on him.

" 'This [is] the law of a person who dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and all who [are] in the tent will be unclean seven days.

Every container that is opened that does not have a lid cord on it [is] unclean.

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh; the water of impurity was not sprinkled on him; he [is] unclean.

Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here?

Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink."

So Moses took the staff from {before} Yahweh just as he command him,

But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy {in the sight of} the {Israelites}, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them."

From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus your brother Israel has said, 'You know all the hardship that has found us;

our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt {a long time}, and the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors.

Then we cried to Yahweh, and he heard our voice; he sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt. And look, we [are] in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

Please let us go through your land. We will not go through a field or vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will go along the road of the king; we will not turn aside right or left until we have gone through your territory.'"

Then Edom said to him, "You will not pass through us lest {we will go out} to meet you with the sword."

The {Israelites} said to him, "We will go up on the main road, and if we and our livestock drink your water, we will pay [for it]. It is only a small matter; let us pass through on our feet."

So Moses did just as Yahweh commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all the community.

The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest [this] miserable food."

The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes from among us." So Moses prayed for the people.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Make for yourself a snake and place it on a pole. When anyone is bitten and looks at it, that person will live."

From there they set out and encamped beyond Arnon, which [is] in the desert that goes out from the boundary of the Amorites, because Arnon [is] the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Therefore thus it is said in the scroll of the Wars of Yahweh, "Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis of Arnon,

From there [they went] to Beer, which is the water well where Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Gather the people, that I may give them water."

and from Bamoth to the valley that [is] in the territory of Moab, [by] the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the surface of the wasteland.

"Let us go through your land; we will not turn aside into a field or vineyard; we will not drink well water along the way of the king until we have gone through your territory."

Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not fear him because I will give him and all his people and all his land into your hand. You will do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who was living in Heshbon."

And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now the crowd will lick up all around us, like a bull devours the grass of the field." And Balak son of Zippor [was] king of Moab at that time.

He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor [at] Pethor, which [is] by the river, in the land of the children of his people, to summon him, saying, "Look! A people went out from Egypt. Look! They cover {the surface of the land}; they [are about] to dwell opposite me.

Now, please go, curse this people for me because they [are] stronger than me; perhaps I will be able to strike them and drive them out from the land because I know whoever you bless [is] blessed, and whoever you cursed is cursed."

He said to them, "Spend the night here, and I will return, and I will return word to you, just as Yahweh speaks to me." So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

The princes of Moab got up and went to Balak, and they said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

But {God became angry} because he was going, and the angel of Yahweh stood in the road as an adversary to him; he [was] riding on his donkey, and two servants were with him.

The angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why have you struck this donkey three times? Look, I have come out as an adversary because your conduct is perverse before me.

Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, "I have sinned because I did not know that you [were] standing to meet me in the road. Now, {if it is displeasing to you}, I will turn back."

And Balak did just as Balaam spoke, and Balak offered Balaam a bull and a ram on the altar.

Who can count the dust of Jacob, or [as] a number the fourth part of Israel? Let my life die the death of an upright person, and let my end be like his!"

God [is] not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of humankind, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do [it]? And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it

He has no regard [for] evil in Jacob, and he does not see trouble in Israel; Yahweh his God [is] with him, and a shout of a king [is] among them.

God, who brings them out from Egypt, [is] like the strength of a wild ox for them.

Because [there is] no sorcery against Jacob, and [there is] no divination against Israel. Now it will be said to Jacob and Israel, what God has done!

Balak did just as Balaam said, and he offered a bull and a ram on [each] altar.

And Balaam saw that {it pleased} Yahweh to bless Israel, and he did not go {as other times} {to seek out} sorcery; instead, he set his face toward the desert.

He {uttered} his oracle and said, "The declaration of Balaam son Beor, the declaration of the man [whose] eyes are closed,

the declaration of the hearer of God's words, who sees the revelation of Shaddai, falling down but [whose] eyes are uncovered.

God, who brings him out from Egypt, [is] like the strength of a wild ox for him. He will devour [the] nations [who are] his enemies; he will break their bones; he will pierce [them with] his arrows.

And he {uttered} his oracle and said, "The declaration of Balaam son of Beor, and the declaration of the man whose eye is closed,

the declaration of the hearer of God's words, and the knower of the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of Shaddai, who is falling, and [his] eyes [are] revealed.

And he looked [at] Amalek, {uttered} his oracle, and said, "Amalek [is] first of [the] nations, but his future [will be] forever ruin."

And he looked [at] the Kenites, {uttered} his oracle, and said, "Steady [is] your dwelling place; in the rock is your nest.

"[Take a census of the community] from {those twenty years old} and above, just as Yahweh commanded Moses." The Israelites who went out from the land of Egypt [were]:

"For these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.

The name of the wife of Amram [was] Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whose [mother] bore her for Levi in Egypt; she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

Why should the name of our father disappear from the midst of his clan because he does not have a son? Give us property in the midst of the brothers of our father."

If his father has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his nearest relative from his own clan, and he will take possession of it. It will be as a decree of stipulation for the {Israelites}, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.'"

When you see it, you will be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother was gathered,

Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is [the] spirit, and place your hand on him.

Moses did just as Yahweh commanded him, and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before the entire community.

And he placed his hands on him and {commissioned him} just as Yahweh spoke by the hand of Moses.

You will say to them, 'This [is] the offering made by fire that you will offer to Yahweh: two male lambs without defect {in their first year} as a continual burnt offering each day.

and a tenth of an ephah of finely milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a measure of beaten oil.

It is a continual burnt offering that was {ordained} on Mount Sinai as a fragrance of appeasement, an offering made by fire for Yahweh.

And the second male lamb you will offer {at twilight}; as the grain offering of the morning and as its libation you will offer it, an offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh.

[This is] the burnt offering every Sabbath [in addition to] the continual burnt offering and its libation.

and a tenth of finely milled flour mixed with oil [as] a grain offering for each male lamb, for a burnt offering of a fragrance of appeasement, an offering of fire for Yahweh.

Their libations will be half a liquid measure of wine for the bull and a third of a liquid measure of wine for the ram and a fourth of a liquid measure of wine for the male lamb; this [is] the burnt offering for every month for the months of the year.

And one male goat as a sin offering for Yahweh; it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.

" 'On the fourteenth day of the first month [is] the Passover for Yahweh.

On the fifteenth day of this month [is] a religious feast, unleavened bread must be eaten for seven days.

You will offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which [is] for the continual burnt offering.

You will offer a burnt offering as a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh: one bull, one ram, [and] seven male lambs {in their first year}; they will be without defect.

in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their libations, according to their stipulations, as a fragrance of appeasement by fire for Yahweh.

You will present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh: thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs {in their first year}; they will be without defect.

You will present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs without defect {in their first year};

Then Moses spoke to {the leaders} of the tribes concerning the {Israelites}, saying, "This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded:

and her husband hears [of it] and is silent on the day he hears [it], her vows will stand, and her pledge that she bound upon herself will stand.

But if on the day her husband hears [of it], he forbids her, then he will nullify her vow that she is under, and the rash promise of her lips that she bound on herself; and Yahweh will forgive her.

"But the vow of a widow or a woman who is divorced, all that she binds on herself will stand on her.

But if her husband is completely silent from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges that [are] on her; he confirms them because he was silent to her on the day he heard [them].

These [are] the decrees that Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a husband and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, [while] her childhood [is in] her father's house.

And they fought against Midian just as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male.

Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of the battle who came from the war, "This [is] the decree of the law that Yahweh commanded Moses.

take from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest [as] a contribution to Yahweh.

Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

And Moses gave away the tribute of the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

From the half that belonged to the {Israelites}, Moses took one share drawn by lot out of every fifty humans and domestic animals, and he gave them to the Levites, who keep the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

and they said to Moses, "Your servants have {taken count} of the men of war who [were] {in our charge}, and no man is missing from us.