When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.

Korah, you and all your followers are to do this: take firepans, and tomorrow

“Separate yourselves from this community so I may consume them instantly.”

Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord sent me to do all these things and that it was not of my own will:

“Get away from this community so that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell facedown.

The Levites will do the work of the tent of meeting, and they will bear the consequences of their sin. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites; this is a permanent statute throughout your generations.

“This is the legal statute that the Lord has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked.

Then the one who gathers up the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes, and he will remain unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner who resides among them.

“This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who enters the tent and everyone who is already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,

This is a permanent statute for them. The person who sprinkles the water for impurity is to wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening.

Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!”

Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?”

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us.

Then Israel made a vow to the Lord, “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will completely destroy their cities.”

The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

Then Israel sang this song:

Spring up, well—sing to it!

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”

Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab’s king at that time,

Balaam replied to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent this message to me:

Then God said to Balaam, “You are not to go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”

They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Let nothing keep you from coming to me,

But the donkey said, “Am I not the donkey you’ve ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?”

“No,” he replied.

Once more he proclaimed his poem:

Ah, who can live when God does this?

When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,

If his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative of his clan, and he will take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites.

And say to them: This is the fire offering you are to present to the Lord:

“Each day present two unblemished year-old male lambs as a regular burnt offering.

Their drink offerings are to be two quarts of wine with each bull, one and a third quarts with the ram, and one quart with each male lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering for all the months of the year.

On the fifteenth day of this month there will be a festival; unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days.

“You are to hold a sacred assembly in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, and you are not to do any daily work. This will be a day of joyful shouting for you.

“You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this seventh month and practice self-denial; you must not do any work.

Moses told the leaders of the Israelite tribes, “This is what the Lord has commanded:

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the legal statute the Lord commanded Moses:

They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”

If you turn back from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

Moses replied to them, “If you do this—if you arm yourselves for battle before the Lord,

and the land is subdued before the Lord—afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the Lord.

But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord; be sure your sin will catch up with you.

Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.

This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;

Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.

Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides.”

So Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.

Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe.

This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb: ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.

But in spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God,

‘None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers,

For this reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.

‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north.

For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you this past 40 years, and you have lacked nothing.’

This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim,

This was just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now.

“At that time we took possession of this land. I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Aroer by the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead along with its cities.

“I commanded you at that time: The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your fighting men will cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers the Israelites.

“But the Lord was angry with me on account of you and would not listen to me. The Lord said to me, ‘That’s enough! Do not speak to Me again about this matter.

Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west, north, south, and east, and see it with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.

But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit this land that you will see.’

Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

“Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created man on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

This is the law Moses gave the Israelites.

He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.

“This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.

Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn up their carved images.

You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’

When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

“Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place.

The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people.

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people’s stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin.

For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God told him.

“I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights like the first time. The Lord also listened to me on this occasion; He agreed not to annihilate you.

what He did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place;

Don’t worship the Lord your God this way.

All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.

you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened among you,

This will occur if you obey the Lord your God, keeping all His commands I am giving you today, doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the Lord’s release of debts has been proclaimed.

Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.

Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

You must only sacrifice the Passover animal at the place where Yahweh your God chooses to have His name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt.

and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.

When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.

Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many years over Israel.

This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’

This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

In this way, innocent blood will not be shed, and you will not become guilty of bloodshed in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.