The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.

Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been promised to the Lord with an oath] shall be yours.

Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether it is man or animal, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall most certainly redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

And their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem, according to your valuation, for the [fixed] price of five shekels in silver, in accordance with the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

But the firstborn of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy [and belong to the Lord]. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

All the offerings of the holy things, which the Israelites offer to the Lord I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you as a continual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt [that cannot be dissolved or violated] before the Lord to you and to your descendants with you.”

Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], nor have any portion [of land] among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

The Israelites shall never again approach the Tent of Meeting [the covered sanctuary, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies], or they [who do] will incur sin and die.

Only the Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that the Levites shall have no inheritance [of land] among the children of Israel.

But the tithe of the Israelites, which they present as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the children of Israel.’”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“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].

Your offering shall be credited to you as the grain from the threshing floor or as the full produce from the wine vat.

Likewise you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the Israelites; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts, you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of it, even the sacred part from them.’

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].’”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

“This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Tell the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.

You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.

That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

Then the clean person shall sprinkle [the water for purification] on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day the unclean man shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be [ceremonially] clean at evening.

So it shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity [on another] shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness to die here, we and our livestock?

Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and fell on their faces [before the Lord in prayer]. Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to them;

and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock in front of them, so that it will pour out its water. In this way you shall bring water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their livestock drink [fresh water].”

and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?”

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed (trusted) Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, you therefore shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel, ‘You know all the hardship that has come upon us [as a nation];

that our fathers (ancestors) went down to Egypt, and we lived there for a long time, and the Egyptians treated [both] us and our fathers badly.

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.

Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through a field or through a vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning [off-course] to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’”

But [the king of] Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my territory, or I will come out against you with the sword.”

Again, the Israelites said to him, “We will go by the highway [trade route], and if I and my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.”

Thus [the king of] Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Now when they set out from Kadesh, the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

“Aaron will be gathered to his people [in death]; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you [both] rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor;

and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. So Aaron will be gathered to his fathers, and will die there.”

So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”

The Lord heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey.

So the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

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.

From there the Israelites went on to Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

Then Israel sang this song,

“Spring up, O well! Sing to it,

The well which the leaders dug,
Which the nobles of the people hollowed out
With the scepter and with their staffs.”

And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,

and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

Then Israel struck the king of the Amorites with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.

That is why those who use proverbs say,

“Come to Heshbon,
Let the city of Sihon be built and established.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh!
Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle],
And his daughters into captivity
To Sihon king of the Amorites.

“We have shot them down [with arrows];
Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon,
And we have laid them waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”

Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed over him and all his people and his land to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

And Balak [the king of Moab] the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, just as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time.

So he sent messengers to Balaam [a famous prophet-diviner] the son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the [Euphrates] River, in the land of the descendants of his people, to call for him, saying, “There is a people who have come out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me.

Now please come, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know [your reputation] that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

So the elders of Moab and of Midian departed with fees for divination (foretelling) in hand; and they came to Balaam and told him the words of Balak.

Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here and I will bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam [that night].

God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”

Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me:

‘Hear this, the people who came out of Egypt cover the surface of the land; come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”

God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people [of Israel], for they are blessed.”

Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, “Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘I beg you, let nothing hinder you from coming to me.

For I will give you a very great honor and I will do whatever you tell me; so please come, curse these people [of Israel] for me.’”

Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God.

Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.”

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you.”

But God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way and His drawn sword in His hand, the donkey turned off the path and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back toward the path.

The Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”

Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me.

Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the way against me. But now, if my going displeases You, I will turn back.”

The Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

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.

Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call you? Why did you not come to me [immediately]? Am I really unable to honor (pay) you?”

So Balaam said to Balak, “Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”

And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him.

Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal; from there he saw a portion of the Israelites.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here.”

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate hill.

Now God met Balaam, who said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

Then the Lord put a speech in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”