Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it must be put to death.

Judah’s military divisions will camp on the east side toward the sunrise under their banner. The leader of the descendants of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab.

Reuben’s military divisions will camp on the south side under their banner. The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur.

Ephraim’s military divisions will camp on the west side under their banner. The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud.

Dan’s military divisions will camp on the north side under their banner. The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

The Gershonite clans camped behind the tabernacle on the west side,

The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle,

The leader of the family of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle.

The Lord said to Moses,

When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him that way.

“Speak to Aaron and tell him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.”

So Aaron did this; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

and said to him, “We are unclean because of a human corpse. Why should we be excluded from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time with the other Israelites?”

On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning.

Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped.

At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at the Lord’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.

Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the Lord’s requirement and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days. They would camp at the Lord’s command and set out at the Lord’s command.

Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. Or if it remained a day and a night, they moved out when the cloud lifted.

Whether it was two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. But when it was lifted, they set out.

They camped at the Lord’s command, and they set out at the Lord’s command. They carried out the Lord’s requirement according to His command through Moses.

“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to summon the community and have the camps set out.

“When you sound short blasts, the camps pitched on the east are to set out.

When you sound short blasts a second time, the camps pitched on the south are to set out. Short blasts are to be sounded for them to set out.

They set out for the first time according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

The military divisions of the camp of Judah with their banner set out first, and Nahshon son of Amminadab was over Judah’s divisions.

The tabernacle was then taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting the tabernacle.

The military divisions of the camp of Reuben with their banner set out, and Elizur son of Shedeur was over Reuben’s division.

The Kohathites then set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

Next the military divisions of the camp of Ephraim with their banner set out, and Elishama son of Ammihud was over Ephraim’s division.

The military divisions of the camp of Dan with their banner set out, serving as rear guard for all the camps, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was over Dan’s division.

This was the order of march for the Israelites by their military divisions as they set out.

Moses said to Hobab, son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite: “We’re setting out for the place the Lord promised: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

“Please don’t leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.

They set out from the mountain of the Lord on a three-day journey with the ark of the Lord’s covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

Meanwhile, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say:

Arise, Lord!
Let Your enemies be scattered,
and those who hate You flee from Your presence.

Contemptible people among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat?

The manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of bdellium.

They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?” And the Lord heard it.

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out.

He said:

“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.

and said to Moses, “My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed.

After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Gaddiel son of Sodi from the tribe of Zebulun;

Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”

So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them?

I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it.

The Lord said to Moses,

Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to Him, who is set apart, and the one He will let come near Him. He will let the one He chooses come near Him.

place fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have gone too far!”

Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come!

Then Moses became angry and said to the Lord, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”

But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You vent Your wrath on the whole community?”

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:

and the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your ancestral house will be responsible for sin against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for sin involving your priesthood.

The cow must be burned in his sight. Its hide, flesh, and blood, are to be burned along with its dung.

The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.

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.”

After they set out from Kadesh, the entire Israelite community came to Mount Hor.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom,

So Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.

Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.

The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that He will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.

They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east.

They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites.

even the slopes of the ravines
that extend to the site of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

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,

he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. Balak said to him: “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me.

He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will give you the answer the Lord tells me.” So the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.

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

So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your land, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

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

Please stay here overnight as the others did, so that I may find out what else the Lord has to tell me.”

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”

Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow passage between the vineyards, with a stone wall on either side.

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.

The Angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because what you are doing is evil in My sight.

Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the path to confront me. And now, if it is evil in Your sight, I will go back.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.

Balaam said to him, “Look, I have come to you, but can I say anything I want? I must speak only the message God puts in my mouth.”

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

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.

God met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”

The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”

Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.”

So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will be by abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,
and his kingdom will be exalted.

Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times.