and Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take the censer, and put on it fire from off the altar, and place perfume, and go, hasten unto the company, and make atonement for them, for the wrath hath gone out from the presence of Jehovah -- the plague hath begun.'

And Aaron taketh as Moses hath spoken, and runneth unto the midst of the assembly, and lo, the plague hath begun among the people; and he giveth the perfume, and maketh atonement for the people,

and standeth between the dead and the living, and the plague is restrained;

and those who die by the plague are fourteen thousand and seven hundred, apart from those who die for the matter of Korah;

and Aaron turneth back unto Moses, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and the plague hath been restrained.

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou dost write on his rod,

and Aaron's name thou dost write on the tribe of Levi; for one rod is for the head of their fathers' house:

and thou hast placed them in the tent of meeting, before the testimony, where I meet with you.

'And it hath come to pass, the man's rod on whom I fix doth flourish, and I have caused to cease from off me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you.'

And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel, and all their princes give unto him one rod for a prince, one rod for a prince, for their fathers' house, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron is in the midst of their rods;

and Moses placeth the rods before Jehovah, in the tent of the testimony.

And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses goeth in unto the tent of the testimony, and lo, the rod of Aaron hath flourished for the house of Levi, and is bringing out flourishing, and doth blossom blossoms, and doth produce almonds;

and Moses bringeth out all the rods from before Jehovah, unto all the sons of Israel, and they look, and take each his rod.

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, for a charge, for a sign to the sons of rebellion, and thou dost remove their murmurings from off me, and they do not die;'

and Moses doth as Jehovah hath commanded him; so he hath done.

And the sons of Israel speak unto Moses, saying, 'Lo, we have expired; we have perished; we have all of us perished;

any who is at all drawing near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth; have we not been consumed -- to expire?'

And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy father with thee, do bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou, and thy sons with thee, do bear the iniquity of your priesthood;

and also thy brethren, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, and they are joined unto thee, and serve thee, even thou and thy sons with thee, before the tent of the testimony.

'And they have kept thy charge, and the charge of all the tent; only, unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar they do not come near, and they die not, either they or you;

and they have been joined unto thee, and have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and a stranger doth not come near unto you;

and ye have kept the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar, and there is no more wrath against the sons of Israel.

'And I, lo, I have taken your brethren the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; to you a gift they are given by Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting;

and thou, and thy sons with thee, do keep your priesthood, for everything of the altar, and within the vail, and ye have served; a service of gift I make your priesthood; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.'

And Jehovah speaketh unto Aaron: 'And I, lo, I have given to thee the charge of My heave-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the sons of Israel -- to thee I have given them for the anointing, and to thy sons, by a statute age-during.

This is thine of the most holy things, from the fire: all their offering, to all their present, and to all their sin-offering, and to all their guilt-offering, which they give back to Me, is most holy to thee, and to thy sons;

And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, to all the wave-offerings of the sons of Israel, to thee I have given them, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute age-during; every clean one in thy house doth eat it;

all the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and wheat -- their first -fruits which they give to Jehovah -- to thee I have given them.

every one opening a womb of all flesh which they bring near to Jehovah, among man and among beast, is thine; only, thou dost certainly ransom the first-born of man, and the firstling of the unclean beast thou dost ransom.

And their ransomed ones from a son of a month, thou dost ransom with thy valuation, of silver, five shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary, twenty gerahs it is.

Only, the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou dost not ransom, holy they are: their blood thou dost sprinkle on the altar, and of their fat thou makest perfume, a fire-offering of sweet fragrance to Jehovah,

and their flesh is thine, as the breast of the wave-offering, and as the right leg, it is thine;

all the heave-offerings of the holy things which the sons of Israel lift up to Jehovah I have given to thee and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute age-during, a covenant of salt, age-during it is before Jehovah, to thee and to thy seed with thee.'

And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, 'In their land thou dost not inherit, and a portion thou hast not in their midst: I am thy portion, and thine inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel;

and to the sons of Levi, lo, I have given all the tenth in Israel for inheritance in exchange for their service which they are serving -- the service of the tent of meeting.

'And the sons of Israel come no more near unto the tent of meeting, to bear sin, to die,

and the Levites have done the service of the tent of meeting, and they -- they bear their iniquity; a statute age-during to your generations, that in the midst of the sons of Israel they have no inheritance;

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

'And unto the Levites thou dost speak; and thou hast said unto them, When ye take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given to you from them, for your inheritance, then ye have lifted up from it the heave-offering of Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe;

and your heave-offering hath been reckoned to you as corn from the threshing-floor, and as fulness from the wine-vat;

so ye do lift up -- ye also -- the heave-offering of Jehovah from all your tithes which ye receive from the sons of Israel; and ye have given from it the heave-offering of Jehovah to Aaron the priest;

'And thou hast said unto them, In your lifting up its fat out of it, then it hath been reckoned to the Levites, as increase of a threshing-floor, and as increase of a wine-vat;

and ye have eaten it in every place, ye and your households, for it is your hire in exchange for your service in the tent of meeting;

and ye bear no sin for it, in your lifting up its fat out of it, and the holy things of the sons of Israel ye do not pollute, and ye die not.'

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,

This is a statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee a red cow, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke hath gone up;

and ye have given it unto Eleazar the priest, and he hath brought it out unto the outside of the camp, and hath slaughtered it before him.

'And Eleazar the priest hath taken of its blood with his finger, and hath sprinkled over-against the front of the tent of meeting of her blood seven times;

and one hath burnt the cow before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, besides her dung, he doth burn;

and the priest hath taken cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and hath cast unto the midst of the burning of the cow;

and the priest hath washed his garments, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and afterwards doth come in unto the camp, and the priest is unclean till the evening;

and he who is burning it doth wash his garments with water, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and is unclean till the evening.

And a clean man hath gathered the ashes of the cow, and hath placed at the outside of the camp, in a clean place, and it hath become to the company of the sons of Israel a charge for waters of separation -- it is a cleansing;

and he who is gathering the ashes of the heifer hath washed his garments, and is unclean till the evening; and it hath been to the sons of Israel, and to the sojourner who is sojourning in their midst, for a statute age-during.

he doth cleanse himself for it on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean; and if he cleanse not himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean.

Any one who is coming against the dead, against the body of man who dieth, and cleanseth not himself -- the tabernacle of Jehovah he hath defiled, and that person hath been cut off from Israel, for water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean; his uncleanness is still upon him.

This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: every one who is coming in unto the tent, and all that is in the tent, is unclean seven days;

and every open vessel which hath no covering of thread upon it is unclean.

'And every one who cometh, on the face of the field, against the pierced of a sword, or against the dead, or against a bone of man, or against a grave, is unclean seven days;

and they have taken for the unclean person of the ashes of the burning of the cleansing, and he hath put upon it running water unto a vessel;

and a clean person hath taken hyssop, and hath dipped it in water, and hath sprinkled on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who have been there, and on him who is coming against a bone, or against one pierced, or against the dead, or against a grave.

And the clean hath sprinkled it on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day, and hath cleansed him on the seventh day, and he hath washed his garments, and hath bathed with water, and hath been clean in the evening.

And the man who is unclean, and doth not cleanse himself, even that person hath been cut off from the midst of the assembly; for the sanctuary of Jehovah he hath defiled; water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

'And it hath been to them for a statute age-during, that he who is sprinkling the water of separation doth wash his garments, and he who is coming against the water of separation is unclean till the evening,

and all against which the unclean person cometh is unclean, and the person who is coming against it is unclean till the evening.'

And the sons of Israel come in, -- all the company -- to the wilderness of Zin, in the first month, and the people abide in Kadesh, and Miriam dieth there, and is buried there.

And there hath been no water for the company, and they are assembled against Moses, and against Aaron,

and the people strive with Moses, and speak, saying, 'And oh that we had expired when our brethren expired before Jehovah!

and why have ye brought in the assembly of Jehovah unto this wilderness to die there, we and our beasts?

and why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? no place of seed, and fig, and vine, and pomegranate; and water there is none to drink.

And Moses and Aaron go in from the presence of the assembly unto the opening of the tent of meeting, and fall on their faces, and the honour of Jehovah is seen by them.

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

'Take the rod, and assemble the company, thou and Aaron thy brother; and ye have spoken unto the rock before their eyes, and it hath given its water, and thou hast brought out to them water from the rock, and hast watered the company, and their beasts.'

And Moses taketh the rod from before Jehovah, as He hath commanded him,

and Moses and Aaron assemble the assembly unto the front of the rock, and he saith to them, 'Hear, I pray you, O rebels, from this rock do we bring out to you water?'

and Moses lifteth up his hand, and smiteth the rock with his rod twice; and much water cometh out, and the company drink, also their beasts.

And Jehovah saith unto Moses, and unto Aaron, 'Because ye have not believed in Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore ye do not bring in this assembly unto the land which I have given to them.'

These are waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel have 'striven' with Jehovah, and He is sanctified upon them.

And Moses sendeth messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, 'Thus said thy brother Israel, Thou -- thou hast known all the travail which hath found us;

that our fathers go down to Egypt, and we dwell in Egypt many days, and the Egyptians do evil to us and to our fathers;

and we cry unto Jehovah, and He heareth our voice, and sendeth a messenger, and is bringing us out of Egypt; and lo, we are in Kadesh, a city in the extremity of thy border.

And Edom saith unto him, 'Thou dost not pass over through me, lest with sword I come out to meet thee.'

And the sons of Israel say unto him, 'In the highway we go, and if of thy waters we drink -- I and my cattle -- then I have given their price; only (it is nothing) on my feet I pass over.'

And he saith, 'Thou dost not pass over;' and Edom cometh out to meet him with much people, and with a strong hand;

and Edom refuseth to suffer Israel to pass over through his border, and Israel turneth aside from off him.

And the sons of Israel, the whole company, journey from Kadesh, and come in unto mount Hor,

and Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron in mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying,

'Aaron is gathered unto his people, for he doth not go in unto the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because that ye provoked My mouth at the waters of Meribah.

'Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and cause them to go up mount Hor,

and strip Aaron of his garments, and thou hast clothed with them Eleazar his son, and Aaron is gathered, and doth die there.'

And Moses doth as Jehovah hath commanded, and they go up unto mount Hor before the eyes of all the company,

and Moses strippeth Aaron of his garments, and clotheth with them Eleazar his son, and Aaron dieth there on the top of the mount; and Moses cometh down -- Eleazar also -- from the mount,

and all the company see that Aaron hath expired, and they bewail Aaron thirty days -- all the house of Israel.

And the Canaanite -- king Arad -- dwelling in the south, heareth that Israel hath come the way of the Atharim, and he fighteth against Israel, and taketh some of them captive.

And Israel voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, 'If Thou dost certainly give this people into my hand, then I have devoted their cities;'

and Jehovah hearkeneth to the voice of Israel, and giveth up the Canaanite, and he devoteth them and their cities, and calleth the name of the place Hormah.

And they journey from mount Hor, the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people is short in the way,

and the people speak against God, and against Moses, 'Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to die in a wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul hath been weary of this light bread.'

And Jehovah sendeth among the people the burning serpents, and they bite the people, and much people of Israel die;