So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest.

Say to them, then, When the best of it is lifted up on high, it is to be put to the account of the Levites as the increase of the grain-floor and of the place where the grapes are crushed.

It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting.

And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.

This is the rule of the law which the Lord has made, saying, Give orders to the children of Israel to give you a red cow without any mark on her, and on which the yoke has never been put:

Then let Eleazar the priest take some of her blood on his finger, shaking the blood seven times in the direction of the front of the Tent of meeting:

And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening.

And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.

Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.

On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.

This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.

And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.

And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.

And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:

And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.

Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.

But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.

This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.

In the first month all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Zin, and put up their tents in Kadesh; there death came to Miriam, and they put her body to rest in the earth.

And the people were angry with Moses and said, If only death had overtaken us when our brothers came to their death before the Lord!

Then Moses and Aaron went away from the people to the door of the Tent of meeting; and, falling on their faces there, they saw the glory of the Lord.

Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock?

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them.

How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we were living in Egypt for a long time; and the Egyptians were cruel to us and to our fathers:

And the Lord gave ear to the voice of our cry, and sent an angel and took us out of Egypt: and now we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land;

And the children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway: and if we or our cattle take of your water, we will give you a price for it: only let us go through on our feet, nothing more.

But he said, You are not to go through. And Edom came out against them in his strength, with a great army.

So Edom would not let Israel go through his land; and Israel went in another direction.

And they went on from Kadesh, and came, with all their people, to Mount Hor.

And take Aaron's robes off him and put them on Eleazar, his son: and death will come to Aaron there, and he will be put to rest with his people.

And Moses took off Aaron's robes, and put them on Eleazar, his son; and there on the top of the mountain death came to Aaron: then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.

And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners.

Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns.

And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah.

Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.

And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us.

Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.

And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well.

So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.

Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth.

And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east.

And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered.

From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:

As it says in the book of the Wars of the Lord, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valley of the Amon;

From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.

The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:

And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.

And Sihon would not let Israel go through his land; but got all his people together and went out against Israel into the waste land, as far as Jahaz, to make war on Israel.

And Israel took all their towns, living in Heshbon and all the towns and small places of the Amorites.

For Heshbon was the town of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had made war against an earlier king of Moab and taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon: for the destruction of Ar in Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon.

Sorrow is yours, O Moab! Destruction is your fate, O people of Chemosh: his sons have gone in flight, and his daughters are prisoners, in the hands of Sihon, king of the Amorites.

They are wounded with our arrows; destruction has come on Heshbon, even to Dibon; and we have made the land waste as far as Nophah, stretching out to Medeba.

So Israel put up their tents in the land of the Amorites.

Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho.

And in Moab there was great fear of the people, because their numbers were so great: and the feeling of Moab was bitter against the children of Israel.

So he sent men to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor by the River in the land of the children of his people, saying to him, See, a people has come out of Egypt, covering all the face of the earth, and they have put up their tents opposite to me:

Come now, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people, for they are greater than I: and then I may be strong enough to overcome them and send them out of the land: for it is clear that good comes to him who has your blessing, but he on whom you put your curse is cursed.

So the responsible men of Moab and Midian went away, taking in their hands rewards for the prophet; and they came to Balaam and said to him what Balak had given them orders to say.

And he said to them, Take your rest here tonight, and I will give you an answer after hearing what the Lord says; so the chiefs of Moab kept there with Balaam that night.

See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land.

And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing.

In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you.

So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others.

For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people.

But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God.

So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab.

But God was moved to wrath because he went: and the angel of the Lord took up a position in the road to keep him from his purpose. Now he was seated on his ass, and his two servants were with him.

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord waiting in the road with his sword in his hand; and turning from the road, the ass went into the field; and Balaam gave the ass blows, to get her back on to the road.

Then the angel of the Lord took up his position in a narrow road through the vine-gardens, with a wall on this side and on that.

Then the angel of the Lord went further, stopping in a narrow place where there was no room for turning to the right or to the left.

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord and went down on the earth under Balaam; and full of wrath, Balaam gave her hard blows with his stick.

And Balaam said to the ass, You have made me seem foolish: if only I had a sword in my hand I would put you to death.

Then the Lord made Balaam's eyes open, and he saw the angel of the Lord in the way with his sword in his hand: and he went down on his face to the earth.

And the ass saw me, turning to one side from me three times: if she had not gone to one side, I would certainly have put you to death and kept her safe.

And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have done wrong, for I did not see that you were in the way against me: but now, if it is evil in your eyes, I will go back again.

And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Go with the men; but say only what I give you to say. Then Balaam went on with the chiefs of Balak.

Now Balak, hearing that Balaam had come, went to the chief town of Moab, on the edge of the Arnon, in the farthest part of the land, for the purpose of meeting him.

And in the morning Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal, and from there he was able to see the outer limits of the people.

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.

Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.

And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar

And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.

How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.

And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.

So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar

And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:

He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them

Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.

But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?

Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.

And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

Now when Balaam saw that it was the Lord's pleasure to give his blessing to Israel, he did not, as at other times, make use of secret arts, but turning his face to the waste land,

And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel there, with their tents in the order of their tribes: and the spirit of God came on him.