On the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.

This was the first time they set out on their journey according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority of Moses.

The standard of the camp of the Judahites set out first according to their companies, and over his company was Nahshon son of Amminadab.

Over the company of the tribe of Issacharites was Nathanel son of Zuar,

and over the company of the tribe of the Zebulunites was Elion son of Helon.

Then the tabernacle was dismantled, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle.

The standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their companies; over his company was Elizur son of Shedeur.

Over the company of the tribe of the Simeonites was Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,

and over the company of the tribe of the Gadites was Eliasaph son of Deuel.

And the Kohathites set out, carrying the articles for the sanctuary; the tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.

And the standard of the camp of the Ephraimites set out according to their companies; over his company was Elishama son of Ammihud.

Over the company of the tribe of the Manassehites was Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,

and over the company of the tribe of Benjaminites was Abidan son of Gideoni.

The standard of the camp of the Danites set out, which was the rear guard of all the camps by their companies; over his company was Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

Over the company of the tribe of the Asherites was Pagiel son of Ocran,

and over the company of the tribe of the Naphtalites was Ahira son of Enan.

So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days' journey, to find a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they traveled from the camp.

(Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased.

"And say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?" Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and he took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.

But two men remained in the camp; one's name was Eldad, and the other's name was Medad. And the spirit rested on them. (Now they were among those in the registration, but had not gone to the tabernacle.) So they prophesied in the camp.

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before they chewed it, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

So the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that craved different food.

(Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.)

When the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became leprous as snow. Then Aaron looked at Miriam, and she was leprous!

So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in.

and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, and bring back some of the fruit of the land." Now it was the time of year for the first ripe grapes.

That place was called the Eshcol Valley, because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut from there.

Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.'

And the priest is to make atonement for the whole community of the Israelites, and they will be forgiven, because it was unintentional and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their purification offering before the Lord, for their unintentional offense.

They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him.

Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, "Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!"

When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open,

It was a memorial for the Israelites, that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company -- just as the Lord had spoken by the authority of Moses.

So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, according to their tribes -- twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

The one who burns it must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening.

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from among the community, because he has polluted the sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

"'So this will be a perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening.

Then the entire community of Israel entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.

And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.

These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them.

When all the community saw that Aaron was dead, the whole house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

When the Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah.

But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.

For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, as far as the Arnon.

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field. Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time.

Then God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side.

Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. Then Balaam was angry, and he beat his donkey with a staff.

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?" And he said, "No."

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory.

So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, "What has the Lord spoken?"

Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: "Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish."

and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman's abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites.

Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed -- the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman -- was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites.

The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian.

because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor."

Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The Reubenites: from Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; from Pallu, the family of the Palluites;

Pallu's descendant was Eliab.

Eliab's descendants were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram who as leaders of the community rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord.

Now the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.

Now the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.

Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

But there was not a man among these who had been among those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai.

For the Lord had said of them, "They will surely die in the wilderness." And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

"Our father died in the wilderness, although he was not part of the company of those that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died for his own sin, and he had no sons.

When you have seen it, you will be gathered to your ancestors, as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors.

It is a continual burnt offering that was instituted on Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge of the holy articles and the signal trumpets.

But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war.

You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be ceremonially clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.'"

"You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals.

The spoil that remained of the plunder which the fighting men had gathered was 675,000 sheep,

the Lord's tribute from the sheep was 675.

The cattle numbered 36,000; the Lord's tribute was 72.

The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61.

The people were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 people.

So Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord's raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled that day, and he swore,

So the Lord's anger was kindled against the Israelites, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all that generation that had done wickedly before the Lord was finished.

They traveled from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died in Mount Hor.

or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm,

The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil.

They said, "The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

However, it was not until the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year that Moses addressed the Israelites just as the Lord had instructed him to do.

This took place after the defeat of King Sihon of the Amorites, whose capital was in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, whose capital was in Ashtaroth, specifically in Edrei.

So it was in the Transjordan, in Moab, that Moses began to deliver these words: